Troy's Give-A-Helping-Hand serves 106 children
It was winter, and the young girl saw a boy just a few years old running around outside barefoot and barely clothed. He was one of eight children from a poor family living in a run-down house in her neighborhood.
It could have been from her upbringing, or lessons learned as a Junior Grange member, but the girl thought she could help. She made pajamas, organized a food-drive, and went door-to-door collecting donations. She also asked the parents if it was OK to get Santa involved, careful to not offend the family if he wasn’t somebody they celebrated. With their consent, the girl got the local Santa, Lanky Jameson, to help deliver the donated gifts to the family.
The Good Samaritan in this story is Fran Stanton, and it was only the beginning of her community service in Troy and the surrounding area.
Now 64, Stanton is coordinating her last locally driven project for families in need of a little help to make their Christmas brighter. It’s called Give-A-Helping-Hand Christmas Program.
After 35 years of collecting gifts to be handed-out to children from newborn to 17-years old, health issues will force her to retire from her labor of love. Fortunately, her daughter Billie Jo Brue is willing to take the baton and keep the organization afloat.
The last thing Stanton wants is to be the focal point of her non-profit. She emphatically points to all the community members and organizations that donate as the real heroes. Stanton shies away from accepting the credit she deserves for her work.
This year the program will benefit 106 kids from 45 families. Stanton wracked her brain trying to list all the donors that made this year’s program possible. It’s a long list. They know who they are.
Stanton took applications for the program from Sept. 1 to Oct. 30. She made some exceptions for a few late registrations.
A few years back Stanton officially made her program a non-profit, though unofficially it’s always been one. She’s not sure how the designation helps, but now people know she’s not benefitting financially. There are some guidelines now that her organization is a non-profit, but she does all she can to help whomever is in need.
The impact Stanton makes on individuals can last for years. This year a middle-aged man dropped off some donations to Stanton. He put his hand on her shoulder and said, “If it wasn’t for you Frannie, I wouldn’t have had a Christmas as a kid.”
Callie Ferguson was on the receiving end of Stanton’s programs for several years when her now adult children were young. Ferguson would go into Stanton’s store, which has since burned down, and have an ornament hung on the tree. The ornaments listed the needs of a family in the community and a donor would choose one they thought they could help.
“It takes a lot of burden off families,” Ferguson said. Her kids were happy to receive brand new gifts from the program.
Ferguson now has a special needs child and is again benefitting from Stanton’s organization. The Ferguson’s are a working family, but medical expenses restrict purchases beyond the necessities. She said Stanton helped make last Christmas a real special time for her family.
Stanton said the average number of kids she used to help was about 77, but there’s been more need recently. The highest number of kids she helped during Christmas was 279 when her operation also included Libby and Eureka families.
The reward Stanton gets from her efforts comes from children’s eyes lighting up and wide smiles on their faces when they see the pile of gifts assembled. Also, “Tears, tears of joy, they really appreciate it,” said Stanton.