11 Feeding the Poor, Health Clinic and Job Training in Boca Raton Boca Helping Hands is a volunteer-driven organization (only 12 staff members and more than 300 volunteers, several of whom are “full time” volunteers) whose mission is solving hunger and crisis situations for the most needy, and to help guide their clients cross the bridge from poverty to self- sufficiency. They run a soup kitchen, a food pantry, supply meals to the homebound, provide limited financial assistance, and job training, and mentoring. They work at providing solutions to hunger and poverty in assisting low-income families, the elderly and the homeless. In 2016 BHH held classes training participants for jobs as Home Care Aides, Truck Drivers and in the Catering Industry. More than 50% of their “graduates” are now employed fulltime. The Food Center is open 6 days a week and in addition to serving 1,300 hot meals each week, BHH also gives out 5,000 pantry bags (some of which are delivered directly to the homebound using Health Department approved coolers funded by HOT) each month. Over the years, HOT has made major grants to enable BHH to purchase (1) a freezer for the Food Center, (2) a van, (3) a walk-in cooler see left, (4) a freight elevator see upper right (5) an air conditioner for the kitchen (6) a refrigerated truck, see below (7) a forklift, (8) a Hydraulic Scissors Dock, see below (9) computers for the job mentoring program We have also (10) set up an Emergency Aid Fund which, similar to HOT’s other Financial Aid Funds, can only be used if all other sources of potential funding have been exhausted, (11) has made numerous successful challenge grants, filling backpacks with weekend food for hungry children, and (12) funded the purchase of an X-ray machine for their dental clinic. Their current wish list includes: • BHH has 2017/2018 funding for 1,360 of the 1,500 children in their backpack program but needed $14,725 in multiples of $105.18 to fill 140 additional backpacks. The full cost is $6.01 per backpack or $210.35 per child for the entire school year, but HOT donors only need give half as HOT will use your designated funds to keep making challenge grants. BHH will find us a partner to pay the other half. LEVERAGE. • $5,000 to repair a currently unusable truck