COCHRANE— The Cochrane and area community has united in the face of the COVID-19 pandemic to ensure those who are struggling are receiving the support they need.
Matthew Hagel executive director of the Helping Hands Society of Cochrane & Area said the organization has seen an influx of volunteers looking to help the community since the virus first arrived in Alberta.
“We’ve seen the community of Cochrane and even people from western Rocky View come out of the woodwork and apply,” Hagel said.
Helping Hands currently has around 220 active volunteers.
Hagel said he is proud to see how Helping Hands Volunteer Board of Directors to High School students are volunteering to make the community better and help those in need.
“What I find about Cochrane is it is a very caring community,” Hagel said, adding that it is amazing to see how committed people are to helping each other out. “People from all backgrounds, people from all walks of life come out and just want to make a difference and make the community stronger.”
The non-profit has been running for 13-years, he said, and the pandemic has already impacted one of their signature events— Their semi-annual food drive that was set to take place on Saturday (April 25).
The food drive generally sees around 800 people rally to raise donations for the local food bank.
The food drives are run in April and September and generally supply about 50 per cent of items to the Food Bank run by the Cochrane Activettes, Hagel said. He added that they are hoping to host a food drive in September but are waiting to see what happens with the emergency public health measures.
“We’re working with the Activettes… We’re able to help deliver hampers out,” Hagel said, adding that generally between 40 to 50 are sent out each week. There has been an uptick in hamper requests he added, due to those in need during the pandemic.
Helping Hands is still working with the Food Bank, Hagel said, but it is challenging given that mass group gatherings are not currently allowed.
Helping Hands boasts several different programs, including their first and signature program Caring Neighbors, that work to unite the community and support those in need. These programs support around 200 clients each year.
Hagel said these programs are still running as long as social distancing can be maintained. The organization is working to ensure that clients can get the essentials they need and have begun doing drop-offs and continue to check-ins over the phone.
The main changes at Helping Hands he said have been that they cannot have face-to-face contact with clients.
“We haven’t seen a huge uptick in need but we are keeping an eye on our clients to make sure that they’re not socially isolated during this time and they know that there’s people out there who can help out and run errands if needed,” Hagel said. “All of our programs are kind of running in one form or another we’re just being as careful as possible not to put anyone at risk.”
The philosophy behind the organization is linking volunteers with those that need help. Hagel said they can network to bring people together and work with local partners in Cochrane and western Rocky View to address the needs of community members.
The organization is still working with partners, including the Cochrane Family and Community Support Services, to deploy volunteers as needed.
Helping Hands is always looking to collaborate with volunteers in the community, Hagel said. To work with Helping Hands visit helpinghandscochrane.ca/.
