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Help U Club gives a hand up
  
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By Norma Engelberg
A club that started out as a way for a handful of women to help each other with household chores has become the area’s oldest service organization.
After 70 years, the Help U Club’s mission has stayed the same — helping neighbors, not with household chores but with a hand up in times of need.
“Someone needs help with utilities, we’re there,” said club president Joan Tomlinson. “We help people get firewood, food and other necessities. We even helped one man buy the uniforms he needed to get a job.”
During an interview for TellerNetcast.com, Tomlinson said club members work almost every weekend from May to November to raise money to help others.
“We’re so happy to do this for people, especially now that the economy is so bad,” she said. “We help people from Cripple Creek to Woodland Park to Lake George.”
Fundraisers include some that are internal among the members, but a few of them are visible in the community. These include bake sales and the annual Holiday Bazaar and Quilt Raffle, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., Nov. 7 at the Lake George Community Center.
This year’s raffle has two colorful quilts made by eight club members. The members started selling raffle tickets in May at grocery stores, events and anywhere else people gather, including Donkey Derby Days and Gold Rush Days, and will continue to sell tickets until the drawing the afternoon of their bazaar.
Proceeds from one of the quilt raffles will be shared with the Aspen Mine Senior Club. Another portion of raffle proceeds will be used to buy supplies for next year’s quilt. The rest will be used to help the needy.
Besides the colorful, leaf-patterned quilts, bazaar shoppers will see offerings from 19 crafters, selling everything from jewelry to candles. The club also will be selling breakfast, lunch, beverages and baked goods. The Florissant and Lake George libraries will sell used books and offer library information.
Another club project is a “gingerbread” head frame, modeled after the head frame standing behind the Cripple Creek District Museum. Created by club Second Vice President Michelle Schneeberger, the head frame was built using scraps from a wooden dish drainer. It will be decorated to look and smell like a gingerbread house. The club will sell raffle tickets for the 41-inch-long head frame until it is raffled off Dec. 11-12 at the Aspen Mine Senior Club Holiday Bazaar at the Pikes Peak Heritage Center. The Help U Club will share the raffle proceeds with the senior club and other local nonprofit organizations.
Finally, the club is creating a Sugarplum Christmas Tree for a contest and auction at the senior club bazaar.
“We won the contest last year,” said club treasurer Judy Hummer. “We would like to do as well this year.”
The tree will be on display at the Pikes Peak Heritage Center with other decorated trees for a few weeks before the bazaar. Auction winners get to take their fully-decorated trees home for the holidays.
Club dues haven’t changed since the club was founded in 1939 — $5 per woman.
“We’re always looking for new members,” Tomlinson said. “You have to be willing to work, but it’s a lot of fun.”
For information on how to join, make a tax-free donation or to get help, call Tomlinson at 719-689-2486. The club meets at the Lake George Community Center and sometimes at members’ homes. The monthly meeting is a potluck.
After 70 years, the Help U Club’s mission has stayed the same — helping neighbors, not with household chores but with a hand up in times of need.
“Someone needs help with utilities, we’re there,” said club president Joan Tomlinson. “We help people get firewood, food and other necessities. We even helped one man buy the uniforms he needed to get a job.”
During an interview for TellerNetcast.com, Tomlinson said club members work almost every weekend from May to November to raise money to help others.
“We’re so happy to do this for people, especially now that the economy is so bad,” she said. “We help people from Cripple Creek to Woodland Park to Lake George.”
Fundraisers include some that are internal among the members, but a few of them are visible in the community. These include bake sales and the annual Holiday Bazaar and Quilt Raffle, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., Nov. 7 at the Lake George Community Center.
This year’s raffle has two colorful quilts made by eight club members. The members started selling raffle tickets in May at grocery stores, events and anywhere else people gather, including Donkey Derby Days and Gold Rush Days, and will continue to sell tickets until the drawing the afternoon of their bazaar.
Proceeds from one of the quilt raffles will be shared with the Aspen Mine Senior Club. Another portion of raffle proceeds will be used to buy supplies for next year’s quilt. The rest will be used to help the needy.
Besides the colorful, leaf-patterned quilts, bazaar shoppers will see offerings from 19 crafters, selling everything from jewelry to candles. The club also will be selling breakfast, lunch, beverages and baked goods. The Florissant and Lake George libraries will sell used books and offer library information.
Another club project is a “gingerbread” head frame, modeled after the head frame standing behind the Cripple Creek District Museum. Created by club Second Vice President Michelle Schneeberger, the head frame was built using scraps from a wooden dish drainer. It will be decorated to look and smell like a gingerbread house. The club will sell raffle tickets for the 41-inch-long head frame until it is raffled off Dec. 11-12 at the Aspen Mine Senior Club Holiday Bazaar at the Pikes Peak Heritage Center. The Help U Club will share the raffle proceeds with the senior club and other local nonprofit organizations.
Finally, the club is creating a Sugarplum Christmas Tree for a contest and auction at the senior club bazaar.
“We won the contest last year,” said club treasurer Judy Hummer. “We would like to do as well this year.”
The tree will be on display at the Pikes Peak Heritage Center with other decorated trees for a few weeks before the bazaar. Auction winners get to take their fully-decorated trees home for the holidays.
Club dues haven’t changed since the club was founded in 1939 — $5 per woman.
“We’re always looking for new members,” Tomlinson said. “You have to be willing to work, but it’s a lot of fun.”
For information on how to join, make a tax-free donation or to get help, call Tomlinson at 719-689-2486. The club meets at the Lake George Community Center and sometimes at members’ homes. The monthly meeting is a potluck.
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