Posted: 7/17/02

Volunteers drive CHH

Cliff Buchan
News Editor

Volunteers have been the driving force behind the Community Helping Hand for the 25 years it has existed in Forest Lake.

The agency was founded to help families in need get over tough times, but for those who donate their time each week, there is great satisfaction in the giving.

Just ask Cassie Edstrom, 77, of Forest Lake. When the Helping Hand store opened in 1977, she was there, doing what she could to help make the agency a success.

But throughout the years, she says, she has found CHH a place that gives as much as she does. And it is a place where she has found friendship the ability to recover from her own tough times.

ìIím dedicated to the cause,î she said. ìI believe in what we are doing. Weíve helped a lot of people. You knew you were doing the right thing right from the beginning.î

She is not alone as a long-time volunteer.

Each Monday for five hours, Edstrom joins Kay Larson, 79, Rosella Willcoxen, 73 and Stella Colberg, 87, to sort, price and display items sold in the thrift store at Community Helping Hand, 408 SW 15th St.

All four women have been in the picture since the store opened in the downtown business district a quarter of a century ago.

ìWe are a very close group,î Edstrom said. ìItís good therapy for us.î

In Edstromís case, the bond of the Helping Hand volunteers meant the world to her when her husband, Carl, died suddenly while on a family vacation in Canada.

That was seven years ago, Edstrom said, and the comfort of her friends at Helping Hand enabled her to move on with her life.

The Edstroms had been married for 50 years. Cassie and Carl met in her native Edmonton, Alberta, in 1943 where Carl was stationed with the U.S. Air Force. They married in 1945 and settled in Minnesota after the war.

The Edstroms moved to Forest Lake in 1968.

In the early years, she was a cook at Central Junior High School and still found time to volunteer at the Helping Hand.

Interesting days

ìIt was fun at first because we didnít know what we were doing,î she said with a laugh. ìBut God was leading us.î

The early days of the Community Helping Hand were a challenge, she says. There was little equipment needed to run the operation and the store conditions were not the best. A fire also knocked the store for a loop, she said, but the agency was able to recovery, thanks to many in the Forest Lake area.

ìWe did the best we could,î she says. ìTo see what has transpired over the years is very satisfying to me.î

Help is needed

As the Helping Hand marches on with its mission of helping people, Edstrom and store manager Cindy Imsdahl are issuing a call for help.

The store is always in need of volunteers. Volunteers are needed to help with the food bank or to work in the thrift store sorting, pricing and rotating items off the shelves.

Volunteers need not commit to a large number of hours, but be willing to put in some time on a regular schedule.

Anyone in the area looking for a volunteer opportunity can call Imsdahl at 651-464-8150.

As always, the food shelf welcomes donations of non-perishable food items, paper products and toiletries. Good condition clothes, household items and furniture can also be donated, but call the store first for final approval.

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