Over the past seven months of publishing the Chillicothe Hometown Voice, one thing has become obviously clear, and that’s the generosity of the Chillicothe community. Volunteers spend hours away from their families, along with the financial donations, which all adds up to helping others in our community. The amount of money given by the people of this community has been staggering.

The amount of help the area non-profit agencies give are impressive as well. The Community Needs Agency (CNA) helps people all year long with many different things like food, coats, school supplies, utilities, and much more. But in the month of December, CNA worked diligently to gather much needed food items from various non-profits along with donations from area residents to be able to assemble a box of food for each family in need for Christmas. With the help from volunteers, an enormous pile of food was sorted and stuffed into boxes appropriate for the number of people in each household in need. On December 17, at Three Sisters Park Pavilion, the volunteers used shopping carts to go from station to station as they gathered the food items for each household. This was an impressive sight. Also, during December, the Optimist Club—with their focus on youth—asked for area residents to donate new gifts for the Christmas Toy Drive that they later sorted by age and gender. Then they had a wrapping party on Friday, December 16, to wrap each and every gift. There were enough presents for each child to have multiple toys. On December 17, CNA, with the help of The Optimist Club, and an army of volunteers including the Chillicothe Fire Protection District who delivered food to the shut-ins, were able to make Christmas for 118 households a little brighter. 

For a small town with a population of around 6,000 people, it’s amazing how much money is raised for the needs of others. The Lions Club, Optimist Club, Chamber of Commerce, Circle of Service, Rotary, Helping Hands, and many others, all come together throughout the year to help others. The Chillicothe Fire Protection District is another huge example of volunteers giving of their time and safety, just to help make this community safer for someone else. The volunteer fire department is staffed with people who give up their recreational and family time to train repeatedly on how to handle different emergencies. In the end they put themselves in potential danger so others can be safe.

With the help and generosity of the community, another non-profit group has been able to help others. Helping Hands Resale Shoppe has been gathering unwanted items and reselling them at VERY DISCOUNTED prices to help others live within their financial means. On December 17, 2022, they announced that with the help of their volunteers and the community, they had achieved a lofty goal of donating $2 million dollars back to non-profit organizations since their start in 2010. Some of the money raised ends up back in our community through financial donations to the local non-profit groups each week. They give back to 40–50 groups each year. For example, Helping Hands Resale Shoppe gave away $26,625 from proceeds from the month of November to some wonderful groups in our community including Drew’s Plots, CrossWord Café Youth Center, Picket Fence Foundation, Scott Schultz Wrestling Scholarship, Small World Connections, and Police Gifts for Kids. Their volunteers, sort, clean and organize so others can purchase and repurpose donated items. No high salaries and only two paid employees, but a lot of donated labor makes this group a success for the community. 

These past few years have been difficult, but with the pandemic behind us and the generosity of the many non-profit groups in our community, Chillicothe continues to shine with pride. Remember to smile at your neighbors and support our local businesses because they’re invested in this wonderful community that we call home. Truly, Chillicothe is a place others can only wish for.