Volunteers from Holy Family School helping with the Helping Hands giveaway night in April. The next giveaway night will be at 6 p.m. on Thursday, May 15 in front of the Norwich Family YMCA. (Photo from the Helping Hands Norwich Facebook page)

NORWICH — Helping Hands will be holding their next giveaway night on Thursday, May 15 at 6 p.m. in front of the Norwich Family YMCA, located at 68-70 North Broad Street in Norwich.

The monthly giveaway nights provide free food items, cleaning supplies, hygiene products, and pet food to anyone who stops by, no questions asked.

Volunteers will be set up at stations in front of the Norwich Family YMCA, and individuals are welcome to walk or drive through and pick up what they need.

"Thanks to the community that provides donations we are able to give food items such as macaroni, pasta; we always do breads; we do milk; we do eggs. Southern Tier Pet Food from Sherburne donates pet food, which is wonderful. Chobani is fantastic, they’re always there for us and they give us the yogurt," explained Helping Hands Founder Lorri Race. "We do hygiene items, so things like shampoos, deodorants, chapsticks, and then we do cleaning items, so we will have bleach which is really important during this time, hand sanitizer, dish soap, bar soap, laundry pods, things like that."

Race said the giveaways would not be possible without the support from volunteers who shop for supplies, bag up items, and run the stations at the giveaway nights, as well as community support in the form of donations.

In the past, Helping Hands has received volunteers and donations from City Church, M&T Bank, NYCM Insurance, the Northeast American Dairy Association, cvFree Church, Chobani, Emmanuel Episcopal Church, the Broad Street United Methodist Church, Holy Family School, Valley Ridge Center for Intensive Treatment, Kerry Bio Science, Perkins School of the Arts, Achieve, and many more.

"If it wasn’t for our supporters and volunteers, it wouldn’t be possible to do what we do," said Race. "I would like to give a very big thanks to everyone that supports us in one way or another."


Those who would like to support Helping Hands can do so by purchasing donation items through the Amazon Wish List linked on the Helping Hands Norwich Facebook page.

Additionally, individuals can donate sneakers and cleats in the Go Sneakers donation bin in the lobby of the Norwich YMCA. Shoes in good condition will be donated to those in need, and the rest will be recycled. Helping Hands receives a small amount of money for each pair of recycled shoes.

Individuals can also donate empty bottles and cans at SOPO Redemption Center, located at 6653 NY-12 in Norwich, with the proceeds donated to Helping Hands. Simply let an employee know the proceeds from returned bottles and cans are to benefit the organization.

Helping Hands holds giveaway nights at 6 p.m. in front of the Norwich Family YMCA on the third Thursday of every month, rain or shine.

Helping Hands giveaway nights for 2025 are as follows:

Thursday, June 19

Thursday, July 17

Thursday, August 21

Thursday, September 18

Thursday, October 16

Thursday, November 20

Thursday, December 18

For more information on Helping Hands, visit the Helping Hands Norwich Facebook page.