Volunteers from the Emmanuel Episcopal Church dropped off hot meals at last month's Helping Hands giveaway night. Helping Hands will be holding their monthly giveaway night at 6 p.m. on Thursday, February 20 at the Norwich Family YMCA. (Photo from the Helping Hands Norwich Facebook page)

NORWICH — Norwich-based nonprofit Helping Hands will be hosting their monthly giveaway at 6 p.m. on Thursday, February 20 at the Norwich Family YMCA, located at 68-70 North Broad Street in Norwich.

Volunteers set up stations in front of the YMCA where individuals can walk or drive through to pick up food, hygiene items, cleaning supplies, and pet food free of charge and no questions asked.

Volunteers also help out by shopping for giveaway items and pre-bagging them to help the giveaways run quickly and smoothly.

"Thanks to the community that provides donations we are able to give food items, such as macaroni, pasta, we always do breads, we do milk, we do eggs," said Helping Hands Founder Lorri Race. "Chobani is fantastic, they’re always there for us and they give us the yogurt."

In addition to individual volunteers, Helping Hands has received donations and volunteers from many community businesses and organizations, including NYCM Insurance, the Northeast American Dairy Association, cvFree Church, Chobani, Emmanuel Episcopal Church, the Broad Street United Methodist Church, City Church, NBT Bank, Valley Ridge Center for Intensive Treatment, Kerry Bio Science, Perkins School of the Arts, Achieve, and many more.

Individuals who would like to donate to Helping Hands can purchase items from their Amazon Wish List pinned to the top of the Helping Hands Norwich Facebook page. All items purchased through the Wish List will be sent directly to Helping Hands.

"We are always looking for any pantry items: soup cans, ramen noodles are really popular," said Race. "When you’re thinking of donating you have to kind of wrap your mind around what’s convenient, so soup cans with pop tops, things like that. A lot of your pastas and stuff, cereals, the bread is good. Peanut butter and jelly, that’s a popular one that we like to collect."

She said they're also always looking for hygiene items like shampoo, conditioner, deodorant, bar soap, and shaving razors, as well as cleaning supplies like bleach, disinfectant wipes, and hand sanitizer.

Other ways to support Helping Hands include dropping off used and new sneakers and cleats in the Go Sneakers donation bin at the YMCA. Shoes in good condition are cleaned and given to those who need them, while the rest are recycled. Helping Hands receives a small amount of money for each pair of recycled shoes, which helps them buy items for the giveaway nights.

Individuals can also return empty bottles and cans to the SOPO Redemption Center, located at 6653 NY-12 in Norwich and donate the proceeds to Helping Hands. Simply let an employee know the proceeds from returned bottles and cans are to benefit the organization.

Helping Hands giveaway nights are held on the third Thursday of each month at 6 p.m., rain or shine.

For more information on Helping Hands, visit the Helping Hands Norwich Facebook page.

Helping Hands 2025 giveaway nights:

Thursday, March 20

Thursday, April 17

Thursday, May 15

Thursday, June 19

Thursday, July 17

Thursday, August 21

Thursday, September 18

Thursday, October 16

Thursday, November 20

Thursday, December 18