By Ted Hazelton, Help House
Do you or someone you know need food assistance? Help House, at 131 W. 15th Street in Lyndon, provided food or other services to 1,252 Osage County residents from 479 different households in 2020. Many of these received assistance monthly. Through generous donations and grants, and the work of our volunteers, we have the resources to assist many more. But only if they contact us!
Help House has a food pantry, is a distributor for The Emergency Food Assistance Program (TEFAP), and can assist in completing SNAP applications in our computer lab. If you are an Osage County resident with household income below certain amounts, you could be eligible for the above food assistance programs. All food programs are by appointment only, and masks must be worn. Consult our website, helphouse.online, or call 785-828-4888 or 785-828-4889 for more information or to make an appointment.
Online food ordering
A new program at Help House is the online food ordering. You fill out your order at helphouse.online, choose a time you want to pick it up, and the food is brought to your car. No indoor shopping, no waiting, no need for babysitters, and no need to worry about social distancing! And it helps us serve more families.
Mobile pantries
Another option for food assistance is the Harvester’s Mobile Food Pantry held throughout the county with no income restrictions to receive food. You should be in line 15 minutes prior to the start time to be registered, and it goes until the food is gone. Mobile dates are: Carbondale, 12 p.m. second Tuesday; Osage City, 9 a.m. third Thursday; Burlingame, 10 a.m. third Thursday; Melvern, 12:30 p.m. third Thursday; and Lyndon, 12 p.m. third Friday.
Local churches win Souper Bowl
The winner of the 2021 Souper Bowl contest was the Overbrook United Methodist Church, with Lyndon First Baptist Church in second place, and Lyndon UMC in third place. In all, seven churches donated a total of 772 cans of soup or boxes of crackers to be given out at our food pantry.
Volunteers needed
Help House cannot help others without its volunteers. Can you spare just three hours a week helping in the food pantry, sorting donated clothes and household items, answering phones, or entering computer data? Consult our website or call 785-828-4888 or 785-828-4889 for more information.
Your donations can help others
With the warm weather comes spring cleaning and garage sales. Help House wants your good unwanted items. Donated items should be clean (especially clothes), unbroken, and usable. We do not have the resources to wash clothes or repair broken items, and we have limited space to display and store donations. No old-style TVs or non-working electronics are accepted. Toys and games with multiple pieces should be in a re-sealable bag. Donations are only accepted during our open hours, 4-7 p.m. Monday and 10 a.m.-1 p.m. Tuesday-Friday, at our south door. Ring the doorbell for assistance, and please do not leave items outside the building.
More than numbers
The number of non-duplicated people served by Help House in 2020 by zip code were: 66413, 126; 66414, 119; 66451, 120; 66510, 147; 66523, 405; 66524, 68; 66528, 147; 66537, 47; 66543, 55; 66856, 7.
For more information, call Help House at 785-828-4888 or see www.helphouse.online. Help House is at 131 W. 15th St., Lyndon, Kan.
