-
Pictured above to the right, from left to right: Tracy Smith, Kimberly Battle, Mari Battle and Ship Smith stand with the $1,000 check. -
Pictured to the right, from left to right: Tracy Smith, Cassondra Wright, Thomas Denson, Sabra Denson and Skip Wright stand with the $1,000 donation at the new Helping Hands Foundation store front. Photos/Chelsea Weeks.
Skip and Tracy Smith with Farmers Insurance donated a total of $2,000 to two local nonprofit organizations in Chandler, the Chosen House and the Helping Hands Community Foundation.
Skip said half the money came from Farmers Insurance and the other half came from them personally.
Skips father opened the Farmers Insurance branch in 1995 and has donated through the Lions Club every year since opening. When Skip purchased it from him in 2012 he has been donating quarterly through the Rotary Club.
Chosen House is a faith based, nonprofit organization that strives to help give women a second chance in a safe environment.
Through the Chosen House, woman are given a free place to stay for nine months, with no fee. After that they can move into the Transition House where they pay rent.
A variety of classes and resources are available ranging from mental health and behavior modification to budgeting and parenting classes.
After the death of their sister 26 years ago, Kimberly and Mari Battle began to ask God why and looking for ways to help others.
“This profession chose us, we didn’t chose it.” Mari said. “Instead of going bitter, we got better.”
These sisters interned with the Samaritan Woman in California for a summer and began witnessing in the Lincoln County Jail here in Chandler.
These ladies took a leap of faith, quit their jobs and founded the Chosen House. This year marks the 13th anniversary.
The cost per month to run the house is $1,000.
Mari said they receive no grants and rely on the help of the community to keep their organization open.
“This will really help up out,” Kimberly said.
The Helping Hands Community Foundation is a non profit organization in Chandler with the mission to help the hungry, hurting and hopeless.
Co-founder Sabra Denson said this donation will help them provide more summer boxes throughout the summer.
The cost to create a food box varies for $30-$50, depending what’s in the box.
These food boxes are delivered to families, the elderly, disabled and single mothers.
The Helping Hands Foundation has a variety of resources available to help those in need including food pantries placed across the county, classes on parenting and nutrition and GED classes.
Helping Hands has just opened a store front on 112 East 7th Street in Chandler that people can come to for clothes, furniture and basic necessities.
Two years ago, co-founders Sabra and Thomas Denson saw a need in the community and felt a desire to do God’s work and begin helping people.