Hands of Hope

09/25/2025

🌾 Pumpkins with a Purpose 🎃
Support Weekends with Warriors — They Showed Up When We Needed Them Most

After Hurricane Helene hit Avery County, a group of combat veterans from Weekends with Warriors showed up — with helicopters full of supplies, boots on the ground, and hearts full of service.

They didn’t just help — they stayed. For 222 days, they delivered food, water, heaters, and propane through the winter. They built tiny homes, repaired damaged ones, and made sure no one was left behind.

Now it’s our turn to give back. 💛

This fall, Wagon Wheel Farms is donating 100% of profits from every floral pumpkin sold to Weekends with Warriors — in thanks for everything they did for our mountain community.

Each floral pumpkin is handmade using flowers grown right here at Wagon Wheel Farms on the back of Beech Mountain. 🌸🎃

➡️ Come grab one (or a few!) to decorate your home and support an amazing cause.
📍 Available at Mountain Grounds and The Find in Newland
🤝 In partnership with Wagon Wheel Farms
🔗 Learn more about Weekends with Warriors: [insert their website link]

Please share this post to help us spread the word — and thank these heroes who quietly gave so much. 🙏

09/25/2025

When Hurricane Helene devastated Avery County, Weekends with Warriorsshowed up — unasked, unexpected, and exactly when we needed them most.
Just hours after the storm, two of their members happened to be driving through our area. They called their founder, Grady Davis, and within no time, the group mobilized. They brought helicopters full of critical supplies to areas no land vehicle could reach. They delivered food, clean water, medication, clothes, heaters, generators, and that always-hard-to-find propane.They kept showing up before every snowstorm to make sure our most vulnerable neighbors had what they needed.
They didn’t stop at emergency aid. These mostly combat veterans stayed for 222 days, building tiny homes, repairing damaged ones, and helping our mountain community begin to heal. Every one of them was a volunteer. Every one of them gave so much.
Now, it’s our turn to give back.
This fall, Wagon Wheel Farms, in partnership with Hands of Hope, is holding a fundraiser to say thank you.
We’re donating 100% of the profits from every floral pumpkin sold this season to Weekends with Warriors, in honor of the selfless support they gave us.
Each pumpkin is handmade with flowers grown from seed right here on our small farm at the back of Beech Mountain. They’re beautiful symbols of community, resilience, and gratitude.
Please consider supporting this fundraiser and visit weekendswithwarriors.org to learn more about their work or to donate directly. You won’t see many photos of what they did here, they came to help, not for recognition, but we’ll never forget what they did.

With heartfelt thanks,
Wagon Wheel Farms

12/31/2024

Just a reminder that Hands of Hope is closed this week and will reopen on Saturday, January 4th from 10am-4pm at 60 Flat Springs Rd, Elk Park.

Beginning next week we will be open every week on:

🌟Wednesdays 9am-2pm

🌟Saturdays 10am-4pm

Sending wishes for warmth and joy in this New Year! 🙌

12/23/2024

🚨UPDATED HOLIDAY HOURS 🚨

Hands of Hope will be closed this week for our volunteers to enjoy the holidays with their families.

❌Closed- Dec 23rd-27th

✅OPEN- Sat Dec 28, 10:00am - 4:00pm

❌Closed- Dec 29th-Jan 3rd

✅OPEN- Sat Jan 4th, 10am-4pm

Have a very Merry Christmas, a Happy New Year, and see you soon! 🎄

12/21/2024

✨🎄 Thank you from the bottom of our hearts for helping make our Christmas Party an unforgettable celebration! Whether you were part of our hardworking team behind the scenes, made a generous donation, or joined us as one of our valued guests, you were part of something truly special.

We welcomed ~250 people, spreading joy with:
🍴 A full Christmas dinner lovingly prepared by Greeks For Good NC
🎁 Toys, prizes, and visits with Santa and Mrs. Claus, thanks to the Lavonia Police Department and Santa Possibilities 🤶🏼🎅🏻
🎉 Thoughtful gifts and gift cards for adults, thanks to individual donors and local businesses like Mountain Grounds Coffee & Tea Co. , The Pedalin' Pig, Sorrentos and more
📺 And some lucky raffle winners even went home with brand-new TVs!!

Your kindness and support made this day possible, and we couldn’t have done it without you. Wishing you all a very Merry Christmas and a joyful holiday season! ❤️

12/14/2024

🎄✨ We Need Your Help to Make Christmas Wishes Come True!✨🎄

Thanks to your incredible support, we’ve already filled over half of the Christmas Wishes for our program! But we still have 52 adults and families whose Christmas Wishes need to be fulfilled by this Saturday—and we can’t do it without you.

Here’s how you can help:

🎁 Shop for a Gift
Visit our Amazon Wish List at bit.ly/HOHchristmaswish and select a gift to fulfill a specific Christmas Wish or stock our free public holiday gift shop. **Orders must be placed by Monday** to ensure delivery before our holiday party!

🍽️ Donate to Our Gift Card Fund
Help families share a warm meal together by contributing to our Gift Card Fund bit.ly/HOHholidaydrive. Donations are accepted through **December 21st** and will also support local restaurants. It's a win-win!

❤️ Can’t donate financially right now?
Please help us by sharing this post! If everyone shared just once, we could reach thousands of people, increasing the chances of fulfilling every Christmas Wish!

Time is running out, but together we can make the holidays brighter for these families. Let’s rally to bring hope and joy this season!

Thank you for your kindness and generosity in helping us spread holiday cheer. 🎄❤️

12/13/2024

We’re thrilled to announce the launch of our brand-new website!🎉 Visit www.handsofhopeinc.org to explore how we’re supporting continued recovery and rebuilding in WNC after Hurricane Helene and how you can access the resources you need.

Here’s what you can do on our new site:
✅ Learn about our services and how to receive support.
✅ Get involved by volunteering with us. (Psst- sign up to volunteer at our Christmas Party next week!)
✅ Support our cause by donating to help those in need. (Have you bought a Christmas gift yet?)

Have questions? We’d love to hear from you! 💌 Reach out to us anytime at [email protected].

Let’s keep building hope together, one helping hand at a time! 🌍💙

Lending a helping hand for a brighter tomorrow What We Do Founded in 2002, Hands of Hope, a registered 501(c)(3), is dedicated to lending a hand to those in need by offering mini-grants and creating systems of support with supplies, connections, and resources. Working alongside individuals and group...

12/12/2024

Santa's elves needs a little extra help this year to make everyone's wishes come true!

Help us spread hope and joy this holiday season by shopping for gifts children and adults alike. Here's how you can make a difference:

🎁 Shop our Amazon Wish List: Fulfill a Christmas wish and ensure everyone gets a little extra cheer this year. Shop by Dec 16th at bit.ly/HOHchristmaswish.

🍽️ Donate to the Gift Card Fund: Help families share a hot meal together during the holidays while supporting local WNC restaurants. Give at bit.ly/HOHholidaydrive.

Every gift, no matter the size, brings us closer to making this season magical for everyone. Together, we really can make Christmas wishes come true!

💖 Thank you for being a part of the Hands of Hope family this holiday season.

12/09/2024

🎄✨ Join Us for the Hands of Hope Christmas Party! ✨🎄

Mark your calendars for a day of holiday cheer on Saturday, December 21st, at 60 Flat Springs Rd, Elk Park. This festive event is open to kids and adults of all ages living in Avery, Watauga, and Carter Counties.

🎁From 10:00 AM to 4:00 PM, explore our free holiday gift shop, where you’ll find thoughtful gifts for both children and adults. Take advantage of our gift-wrapping station, plus, stock up on winter essentials to stay cozy through the season.🧥

🎅🤶The holiday fun continues with special activities between 12:00 PM and 3:00 PM. Meet Santa and Mrs. Claus and enjoy a warm, delicious lunch paired with hot cocoa, cookies, and more from our holiday bar. As you shop and celebrate, you’ll be serenaded by live Christmas Carolers! 🍪☕

Keep an eye out for some surprise guests, too! Which holiday characters do you think might be crashing our party? 🤔

📌 Please RSVP for your household no later than Wed, December 18th at https://bit.ly/RSVPchristmas

All gifts and activities are offered at no cost, while supplies last, to help make this holiday season a little brighter for everyone.🌟

💖 We’re so grateful to our wonderful volunteers and community partners, including Lavonia Police Department, Triangle Together, Greeks For Good Boone Inc., and more, for helping to make this event possible.

We can’t wait to celebrate the season with you—see you there! 🎅🎁🍪

P.S. Can't join the fun, but want to send some Christmas Cheer? Donate toward our Gift Card fund (run by Triangle Together) at bit.ly/HOHholidaydrive , or fulfill a Christmas Wish from our Amazon Wishlist at bit.ly/HOHchristmaswish 🙏

11/27/2024

We are beyond grateful for the incredibly thoughtful and generous donation from the Stumpf family. Thanks to their kindness, we now have a public workstation equipped with a high-quality computer available to anyone in our community. This resource will provide much-needed access to complete FEMA applications, connect with loved ones, and so much more.

Their heartfelt donation note reads:

"Dear Erin,

Our son...brought supplies down to your facility shortly after Hurricane Helene. His heart was touched by your help to the people of NC. We asked him if you could use these computers in your work in distribution or donate to a couple of families. Please use them as God directs."

The impact of their generosity is already being felt here in Old Beech Mountain, and we are so thankful for their support. 💚

11/22/2024

Thanks to the quick work of the amazing team at the Sentinel Foundation, one of our families has already been helped!

This tree was cut down less than 24 hours after we sent out a call for help. The family who lives here was understandably concerned about the precarious situation—especially with high winds and snow rapidly approaching.

Thank you, Sentinel, for continuing to show up for our community and making a difference when it matters most! 🙌

11/21/2024

Sometimes the best-laid plans go awry—in the most beautiful ways. Today, Hands of Hope Director Erin and one of our volunteers set out to conduct door-to-door community checks ahead of tomorrow's snowstorm. Armed with heaters, propane, warm blankets, and food, they soon realized there were deeper, more urgent needs at hand.

Over the course of 3.5 hours, they navigated damaged roads and cold rain to visit with three families, sharing warmth, compassion, and listening to their stories with open hearts.

Stay tuned as we share more about these special families and how we’ll be working alongside them and other organizations to provide repairs, resources, and hope as they continue their journey of recovery.

Together, we’re making progress—one visit, one family, one step at a time.