A new phase in the ministry
Our current spaceWe have been so blessed to have a generous ministry partner provide free warehouse space for the past 14 years. Hundreds of thousands of people have been blessed with donations that have gone through the doors of this space. Thousands of volunteer hours have been donated here.
Because the Lord continues to grow Hands In Service, we find ourselves in need of more efficient space for our processes. In 2015 HIS processed 15 tractor-trailer loads of donations in this space. This year (2024) we will be processing more than 60 tractor-trailer loads of donation in this same space. Our goal is to be in a new space by the end of the first quarter, 2025. As the Lord grows His kingdom, He will be using this current space for a new ministry to bless those with different needs. |
Immediate Need:
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Future Need:
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What is the impact of the Donation Distribution Center?
170 Network Partners and counting!
We partner with ministries locally, regionally and internationally to help supply clothing, shoes, household goods, small appliances, toys and other material goods for distribution to their congregations and their specific outreach recipients. These ministries know their communities far better than we ever could, so they know how to best share the gospel with the material gifts. Here are a few of examples of the impact made through our Network Partners:
170 Network Partners and counting!
We partner with ministries locally, regionally and internationally to help supply clothing, shoes, household goods, small appliances, toys and other material goods for distribution to their congregations and their specific outreach recipients. These ministries know their communities far better than we ever could, so they know how to best share the gospel with the material gifts. Here are a few of examples of the impact made through our Network Partners:
Cornerstone Community Church, Kensington, PA: We serve with Cornerstone Community Church throughout the year, but in May, 2024 they hosted a Toys for Tots event with Toys donated by the U.S. Marines. Dozens of children joyfully received new toys! Hands in Service hosted five Toys for Tots events in 2024 alone.
Word of Life Church in Feasterville, PA opened their doors to refugees coming into the area from Ukraine. Many of the clothing items shown came from HIS.
Phoenixville Rescue Mission, Phoenixville, PA: "We are humbled at the generosity of the Hands in Service family in support of our local community and the grace of working with you to enable this. Hands in Service donations of household goods July-September 2024 helped provide for our distribution to 85 single mom/single elderly adults in the Phoenixville community each month. How popular is your donation? So popular that we have had to institute a lottery system to ensure equal opportunity for the community as the requests far exceed what is available each month and we praise God for that! May God’s grace & peace be with you & the Hands in Service family always! By being community, we are building community, in our community!"
SELF! Serves women in the Lehigh Valley reentering into society from traumatic experiences, such as, but not limited to, incarceration, domestic violence and homelessness
They recently sent us this note: "We're so grateful to Hands In Service for providing a simple gesture that made such a powerful impact on our residents. For them, Mother's Day is a complex day, and for many, it's a day they spend heartbroken and sad due to layers of trauma. This year, we took our three current residents out for brunch. There was so much laughter, storytelling, reminiscing, and good eats. Then I came out with four gift bags—one for each of our residents and one for Luna, who is also a reentrant. It was like Christmas morning watching them open their presents. The ladies traded scents and laughed. They were so grateful. Two of them began to cry because it was their first Mother's Day present in years. That led to everyone crying and hugging. This simple gesture of providing our residents with presents for Mother's Day gave them dignity, hope, empathy, and love."
They recently sent us this note: "We're so grateful to Hands In Service for providing a simple gesture that made such a powerful impact on our residents. For them, Mother's Day is a complex day, and for many, it's a day they spend heartbroken and sad due to layers of trauma. This year, we took our three current residents out for brunch. There was so much laughter, storytelling, reminiscing, and good eats. Then I came out with four gift bags—one for each of our residents and one for Luna, who is also a reentrant. It was like Christmas morning watching them open their presents. The ladies traded scents and laughed. They were so grateful. Two of them began to cry because it was their first Mother's Day present in years. That led to everyone crying and hugging. This simple gesture of providing our residents with presents for Mother's Day gave them dignity, hope, empathy, and love."
Salvation Army Allentown, PA. worked with Hands in Service to specifically support 16 families living in 4 homes that all burned in a row home fire. Many of them were immigrants who lost their paperwork in the fire and were afraid to get help. Salvation Army hosted an open house to get them needed resources without any requirements including home goods, diapers, clothing, linens, mattresses and more.
H.I.S., Liberia, Africa: Hands in Service started working with Osman Tyler in 2018. Initially, clothing was sent in boxes and distributed on a small scale. Overtime, Osman's outreach grew and H.I.S. Liberia was born. Now pallets of new clothing, shoes, bicycles and bibles reach some of the most economically depressed areas in Liberia several times a year. Teams distributing the donations also share the gospel with each community they enter.
COMMON GOOD
Common Good is located in Telford, Pennsylvania and is an extension of the Hands in Service Donation Distribution Center. This location is designed for local churches, agencies and public service organizations to send individuals in immediate need of basic living items. We offer a private setting where referred individuals can enter a safe and peaceful environment. Designed much like a boutique, our guests can select new items from our showroom to help meet some of their basic living needs, while providing an environment that offers dignity and respect to our guests. With each visit our hosts will offer an opportunity to pray for the individual and their family prior to them leaving. Here are some impact stories from a few of our clients:
- A Single mom with two 20-somethings and 6 month old baby. Starting a new job in June, hoping it will be a good fit for the family. "This is an answer to prayer. I was just praying this morning wondering how I was going to get a baby gate and here it is."
- Single guy living at St Luke's Penn Foundation for 1.5 years. Moving into his own place this weekend. Asked for prayers for the transition to go well.
- Family with 7 kids between the ages of newborn and 10 years old were homeless and were able to get permanent housing. They now have stairs and their little ones needed a gate for safety. We were able to get them 2 gates and some toys for the children.
- An associate of HIS shared the need for a bike for a teenaged boy. His parents suffer with addiction, and he bounces from house to house while Children and Youth are involved. We were able to get a bike for him and found out he was the last of his 3 siblings to get one. We received this note from our associate: “He was so excited when we gave it to him, he just rides around the neighborhood trying it out. He was so excited to be able to have a way to see his friends and hang out with those who also have a bike. Thank you so much for blessing him with one.”
- A missionary family from Pakistan was visiting the US when the wife’s cousin was tragically killed in a motorcycle accident. The missionary family will be taking in three children, a 4 year old boy and 2 year old twin girls when they return. They were able to come into Common Good and get clothing, socks and underwear for the children. They said: “We are so blessed by these (sic) clothings; they will help them for the next year so that we can provide other items.” The woman so touched she began to cry as it was a reminder of good things during a time of grief.
Disaster Relief
Being able to respond quickly to disasters requires planning and storage. We work with two non profits that specialize in disaster relief: Reach Global and Somebody Cares. They're on the ground in disaster areas within the United States before disaster strikes so that they can be ready to help with supplies and volunteers as quickly as possible. Generous transportation services deliver these supplies as part of their stewardship to God. Hands in Service works with local churches and our extra ordinarily generous donors to gather supplies and store them so when there's a disaster, we all come together to help. We recently received a grant that allowed us to purchase products commonly needed in disaster situations.
This is all good stuff, but we need a place to store and process the donations and material goods. The Donation Distribution Center has an area committed to this exact need.
This is all good stuff, but we need a place to store and process the donations and material goods. The Donation Distribution Center has an area committed to this exact need.