Local nonprofit helps locally and abroad
PANAMA CITY — Hope was the word of the day for Sponsors of Hope and the St. Andrew Christian Care Center.
Twin sisters Sally and Silvie Britton started Sponsors of Hope, a nonprofit agency, about seven years ago to support individuals and agencies that work to benefit needy children and the elderly, continuing the family tradition of helping others.
“Our parents were missionaries. we were born and raised helping people and we decided to make it a little more formal. we created the nonprofit to give other people the opportunity to help through us,” Sally Britton said.
That dedication to helping others can be seen in other family members as well. Sally and Sylvie are frequently joined by their sister Heaven, and when their brother David has time off from his duties with the Army, he volunteers as well.
They have applied that passion for helping others locally and abroad. Sponsors of Hope sent supplies and aid to an orphanage in Honduras, helped people feed needy children in Costa Rica and aided other organizations in more than a dozen countries around the world.
Locally, the hope has been spread to about 16 organizations in Bay County, including the St. Andrew Christian Care Center, where they made another delivery Thursday.
Sponsors of Hope volunteer Paul Eggerman has volunteered for the last three years and said the chance to help people through the organization was an easy decision to make.
Anita Healey, another volunteer, joined the group about five months ago after finishing missionary work in Nepal.
“It’s nice to work with people who are really working to help people and doing practical things to meet people’s needs.”
The St. Andrew Christian Care Center offers support in many areas including counseling, food and clothing through faith-based programs; the counseling is not required to receive help, but is accessible to everyone.
The clothing program at the center has men’s, women’s and children’s clothing, but also offers blankets and toiletries when they are available. Thursday’s donation was geared toward making that happen more often; dozens of boxes of toiletry items were delivered to the Care Center’s clothing store.
When someone comes into the Care Center, they register information such as the number of people in their family and how many of those are children. they fill out a food request and take it into the food pantry on their way to the clothing store, “shopping” once a month. they can have six items of hanging clothing per person each shopping trip in addition to shoes and other household items.
Care Center volunteer Jan Whittle said they always need items like coats, blankets and clothing for children under the age of 3. she said she volunteers because helping people get a new start can begin a cycle of people helping others. she told a story of visiting a yard sale where she noticed a box of jeans. she asked the women having the sale what she was going to do with the jeans that didn’t sell and the woman said probably donate them.
When she heard Whittle was from the Care Center, she told her to take all of the jeans because when she was going through a difficult time, the Care Center helped her get back on her feet and she could never fully pay them back for the help.
“Some of these people we never see again and never know what happened to them. when you can help people in this economy and give them a start, when you can end the day by hugging their neck and praying for them, it’s all worthwhile,” she said.
To help Sponsors of Hope, find them on Facebook or email at ; for the St. Andrew Christian Care Center, call 850-785-8596 or donations can be dropped off at the church on 15th Street.