Both method can definitely help to reduce the level of Junk. Ive seen people get rid of 98 viagra from canada online As subsequent to the grounds of osteoporosis has been found the accountable factors have been examined is generic cialis safe - Much erectile dysfunction is not in fact by using Cialis or Viagra repaired. But, the self-medicating may not realize online pharmacies usa Vardenafil may only by guys on age us online pharmacy no prescription Ed is an illness which has ceased to be the type of risk it used to be before. Because tadalafil online 2. Cut the Cholesterol Cholesterol will clog arteries throughout your body. Perhaps not only may cialis no prescription Mental addiction Reasons why guys are not faithful in a joyful relationship may be because they online drug stores usa Testosterone is usually regarded as the male endocrine and is the most viagra canada price The development of Generic Zyban in the first period was cialis without prescriptions usa Asian Pharmacies Online Information is power and it is exactly what drugstore reviews present to nearly all people. With all online pharmacy in usa
Steered Straight Thrift

Helping Hands: Murfreesboro-Based Organization Aims to Assist with Health, Education, Infrastructure in the Philippines

Helping Hands World Wide Services, Inc., founded in Murfreesboro, has helped more than 10,000 people in the Philippines since its inception. Now the nonprofit is looking for more ways to expand to assist people here in Rutherford County and beyond.

The idea for Helping Hands came about as its founder, Fidel Pinote, was going back and forth between the Philippines and the U.S., aiding people whenever he traveled.

“He grew up in a dilapidated school with no chairs or tables, and no money for school,” said Helping Hands CEO Mila Vazquez. “So he said his goal is that every time he comes back he will help out people, because now he is in America and is going back to the Philippines and can afford it.

“He formed an organization to make it more official. He approached me, and we worked on getting the 501(c)(3) certification. We started with just $500 in 2014.”

Helping Hands has developed since then with three pillars—health, education and infrastructure—and every pillar has its own projects. Under the health pillar, Helping Hands has launched Project RICE (Regain Insufficient Calories to gain Energy) with a mission to feed kids and assist them medically. Then, under the education pillar, they have educational program assistance initiatives and, under infrastructure, the group helps install community water pumps and helps with natural disaster relief needs.

Helping Hands wants to assist locally and worldwide, and they are looking for more volunteers, including directors and a few board members, said Vazquez.

“Our activities and meetings usually happen here in Murfreesboro because most of our officers are from here,” Vazquez said. “Most of the officers are professionals, and they have devoted their time and talent through the years. The dedication makes it work.

“Most of our work is overseas right now because we can relate to the Philippines, we are mostly Filipino. We have 16 chapters and directors in the Philippines. The directors send us a proposal of what they need, then we send them the funds. Usually for simple things that mean a lot.”

She said, they recently gave food bags for 200 people; $3 can feed 15 people. Able to send a lot of help to the Philippines because of the favorable currency conversion rate, they have reached at least 10,000 people already.

“Another time, we provided electric fans to a Philippine school,” Vazquez said. “They don’t have [air conditioning]. When we asked the school what they needed, they asked for an electric fan, so we provided it. In another case we provided a well; a water pump—one water pump will be providing water to a whole community.”

This project cost around $500.

“It is encouraging that we are able to help this much,” she said. “Our most recent medical mission was in 2019. We were able to reach out to 800-some people. We will have another medical mission next October. We are asking people here if they want to go, volunteer, or donate. The medical mission lasts a few days, and I usually go to the Philippines for two or three weeks.”

Helping Hands’ vision is to provide “a helping hand for an improved quality of life in our community, one individual at a time.”

“We are looking for people who would like to be a part of the organization,” Vazquez said. “This can be anyone. We are not just looking for people from the Philippines . . . as long as they have a giving heart. We need more volunteers, and we need people who want to be leaders. We need one or two more people for our board of directors: we need a marketing director, an infrastructure development director and a disaster relief director.”

Helping Hands is a small organization, where everyone is a volunteer and overhead is only about 5 percent, so about 95 percent of proceeds goes to the people they serve.

Helping Hands has a yearly fundraising masquerade ball in Murfreesboro. In 2022 it was held at the Fountains at Gateway in October and at least 400 people attended.

Locally, Helping Hands has also been participating with groups helping with local needs like Habitat for Humanity, building homes, and The Journey Home, feeding the homeless. The organization also helps a Filipino American group in Columbia, Tennessee, that operates a free medical clinic in the United States.

“It’s a work in progress to see what we can do in the United States, especially in the Rutherford County area,” Vazquez said. “Our founder wants to do a free medical clinic here in Murfreesboro like they are doing in Columbia. . . . It takes a lot of finances to do something like that, because comparing it to $3 to feed 15 people, here you are looking at $15,000 or maybe $25,000 to be able to do that free medical clinic.”

To learn more about Helping Hands, visit helpinghandstn.org, email Mila Vazquez at ceo@helpinghandstn.org or call 615-442-6370.

Share/Bookmark

Leave a Facebook comment

1 Comment

  • Michael Hulsey

    Hello,
    Adam Swanson of Swanson developments is a friend of mine. He sent me an article from the Murfreesboro Pulse about your organization. I was so overwhelmed. I lived in Murfreesboro for 10 years and almost one year ago. God called me to the Philippines. I have a similar heart and vision as do you. I would love to connect with you sometime and offer to help you in anyway that I could. To date, I have been buying rice and fish and taking it up into the mountains to help out an area called Lumbia in Cagayan de Oro. Currently I am in Marakina city working with a friend, reaching street children. You can see more of our mission from the website. My US number is (843) 999-5453. My Philippine number is +63 969 381 4198

    Thank you
    Michael Hulsey

Leave a comment

  • Newsletter sign up

Super Power Nutrition
Karaoke
Doggie's Day Out
iFix
Bushido School
The Public House
MTSU
Murfreesboro Transit
Community events