I am very proud to be a member of the Hansville Ladies Aid, but I’m seeing it struggle, so I’m compelled to write about it in hopes new people will want to join our group. First of all I think it is a very misunderstood organization. When I randomly asked people I’ve met if they have heard of the Hansville Ladies Aid I get the answer “yes, that’s the group that maintains the Hansville Cemetery.” This is true but in fact we do much more. We do take care of the cemetery as our main function but yearly donations from a gracious Hansville community, along with the money from our fundraising events are used to provide the following services for the Hansville community:

Sunshine Committee: Spreads a little cheer for people in our area that are having a hard time. They send sympathy cards, thank-you cards, and check in to see how things are going for those who have that need. We are known to help make and donate cookies for other organizations to support their activities, and to help with memorial service table-setups, and many other things along this vein. The members of the Hansville Ladies Aid are known as helpers but it takes volunteers to accomplish these services.

Helping Hands Committee: This group gets notification of people in need, such as a little financial help (like paying a light bill) due to burdens from health care issues, job losses, etc. More examples: We helped a family who had two boys who were terminally ill by arranging for babysitters when necessary, ferry tickets and gas support so that the parents could be with their boys who were so often in the hospital, and we helped a woman whose house burned down find lodging until her relatives could arrive.

Food Bank Support Committee: Working with the food bank sorting and helping by taking orders, helping take stock of inventory to see what is in low supply, alerting groups putting on food drives of types of foods needed, coordinating food drives ourselves, and finding extra food support during holidays.

Fundraisers Committee: We hold functions such as the annual dinner dance, garden tours, Christmas decoration tours, etc. These events are a blast and an ideal place to come celebrate life with your neighbors.

Which brings me to the point of this letter—without enough volunteers to support the activities, in my opinion, this organization is threatened. We are always looking for new members and volunteers, and the current membership seems to be waning. I want to let all the ladies of Hansville know this is a very busy, happy organization, and that new members are needed.

You can contact us by sending an email to HansvilleLA@gmail.com if you can questions.

Angilina Jensen

Hansville