Inside the kitchen of Jim and Jane France’s 1890s home in Waynesburg, Ohio, the smell of bacon and the sound of sizzling eggs-over-easy in a skillet’s fresh grease often filled the air. Jim liked to cook his breakfast the same way each morning, always taking time to sop up the salty goodness with a slice of toast as he ate. For him, it was just the standard routine, but to the couple’s youngest daughter, Karen, the smell and sound signaled that her dad’s day was about to begin — long before the rest of the world awoke.

For 51 years, Jim worked full-time for East Canton Printing Company, which his parents purchased in 1954. Work hours often exceeded double digits each day, as the family also operated a weekly newspaper for 32 years. The paper served East Canton, Waynesburg, and two other small towns.

“The newspaper was the impetus to being active in the community,” Jim recalls. “Jane was in a local women’s civic club, and I was active in the local Chamber of Commerce for many years. We also covered the local governmental meetings and affairs of four villages, four townships, and three school districts.”

It’s no wonder then that the couple has innate knowledge of their area’s most pressing needs, so much so that even in retirement, Jim and Jane continue to give back. Since closing the print shop in 2014, Jim has volunteered countless hours to The Helping Hands Network, which has been a source of food and clothing for the Sandy Valley community for 35 years. Jim currently serves as president of the local food bank’s Board of Directors, and together at times with Jane and other volunteers, he often traverses the northeastern Ohio region, picking up various items in order to help hundreds of families and even more during the holidays.

Directed by Becky Larson, Jim and Jane’s friend and fellow parishioner at Centenary United Methodist Church, The Helping Hands Network provides more than 13,000 meals each month to those in need. The organization relies heavily on community support in addition to the subsidy it receives from the U.S. Department of Agriculture, along with assistance from the Stark County Hunger Task Force. In any given month, Helping Hands passes along 2,818 cans of vegetables, 1,348 cans of fruit and 2,300 pounds of fresh potatoes, in addition to other food and clothing items. The organization also sponsors an anonymous gift program for children during the holidays and recently was the beneficiary of the generosity of Minerva Enterprises LLC in Waynesburg, which graciously provided 300 hams for Helping Hands Network families this Christmas. A month earlier, another local company, Waste Management, was kind enough to underwrite the purchasing of 300 turkeys for Thanksgiving.

“We were blown away by their generosity,” Jim says, adding that the organization remains deeply grateful for its “regular contributors who keep Helping Hands going financially.”

Jim and his fellow Board members have also committed personally to the operation.

“A couple of years ago, we applied for, and received, a grant of $10,000 to which we added $5,000 of our own money to purchase a used 13-foot box truck,” Jim says. “We use it once a week now to travel to the Akron-Canton Regional Food Bank to get an average of 5,000 pounds of canned goods, staples and produce at greatly reduced prices. Prior to the truck, we hired a trucking company to deliver food to us once a month.”

Additionally, under Becky’s leadership, The Helping Hands Network has restructured and streamlined operations, including its clothing give-away setup.

“We now handle about 4,000 pounds of donated clothing each month, most of which we put on racks for distribution,” Jim says. St. Paully’s Clothing also assists, paying Helping Hands four cents per pound for any clothing that isn’t selected by pantry patrons. St. Paully’s then distributes worldwide to those in need.

Although The Helping Hands Network never asks its clients for any personal information other than income and residence within the local school district, Jim knows from hearing their stories that many often find themselves in need as a result of an illness, an accident, a layoff, or some unforeseen or unfortunate circumstance that was uncontrollable, making the efforts of the Network all the more necessary and appreciated.

“There have been several defining moments throughout the years, but most of all they relate to the daily impact we are making and the generosity of so many in allowing us to do so,” Jim says.

Never one to stand by and wait for a solution to present itself, Jim also recognizes that power exists in numbers, which is why he has helped to recruit two more volunteer Board members since being asked to serve as the Board’s president three years ago. Both members continue to be active on a daily basis. Additionally, The Helping Hands Network engages in consistent outreach, including distributing monthly reports to area churches that support the food bank, penning multiple thank-you notes, securing local publicity, sponsoring occasional events, boot drives, and a “Walk for Hunger,” coordinating annual canned food drives conducted by schools and scout groups, and producing semi-annual newsletters. Republic Services, a national firm that operates a landfill about 10 miles west of the pantry’s service area, has also designated The Helping Hands Network as the beneficiary of its annual golf outing, which has raised more than $5,000 each year for the organization.

“We are so fortunate,” Jim says, adding that “locally run organizations like ours are perhaps more efficient and able to react quicker to a need than those that are larger in scope.”

As he continues to reflect on the totality of the work of The Helping Hands Network, Jim soon finds himself thinking about the “light” remarks given by the late President George H. W. Bush.

“I think maybe we are one of those points of light.”

- by Karen Gerboth @QualityFloat

To learn more about Helping Hands Network of Waynesburg, Ohio, visit the organization’s Facebook page by clicking here or call 330-866-2005.