Grookett keeps the spirit of giving alive through work for Hand ’n’ Heart charity
For Haddonfield resident Jaime Auletto Grookett, performing community service is not simply something required given one’s good fortune in life — it’s a commitment intended to foster caring and understanding while offering dignity and respect to those who need it most.
Through her work with the relatively new charity Hand ’n’ Heart, she seeks to make an impact with a traumatic and increasingly public subject that has impacted her life.
Grookett’s first serious volunteer opportunity occurred when she was an upperclassman at Gloucester Catholic High School in the mid-to-late 1990s, working as a big sister to those in the region who were infected with HIV/AIDS. That experience made her realize, no matter where she was in life, there’s an opportunity to give back and it’s a matter of looking for those opportunities. She praised that time as a valuable life experience at such a young age.
Flash forward nearly 20 years, and she hooked on with Hand ’n’ Heart when her daughter, Ava, was interested in donating her Halloween candy last October.
“I found out Hand ’n’ Heart was accepting donations, and found out they worked with people who suffered from substance use disorder, which is something close to my heart. I have friends who struggle with it or who have overdosed. Through this, I met Trisha Baum, who really has been an inspiration to me. Because of her, I learned a lot about how to give back through outreach,” Grookett said.
Begun in June 2017, Hand ’n’ Heart’s primary goal is to help any struggling communities acquire a sense of self-worth, while showing compassion to those who need a hand and are suffering from homelessness, substance use disorders and mental illness. Baum, the charity’s founder, grew up in Kensington, around Kensington and Allegheny avenues, which has been a focal point for decades in region-wide efforts to alleviate homelessness, poverty and drug use.
“We approach all people we meet with dignity and respect. Aside from focusing on giving to our homeless friends, we want to make a connection. Through that connection, it helps them know that someone cares,” Grookett offered. “For those who are ready to get off the streets, it’s an opportunity to get them treatment, or housing, to help them improve their life circumstances in some way.”
On Sunday, Dec. 9, members of Hand ’n’ Heart were expected to gather at a Lowe’s in the Port Richmond section of Philadelphia prior to performing an outreach in Kensington. Volunteers were to hand out what’s known as “Love Bags,” which include basics of non-perishable food and drink as well as packs that include the necessary toiletries, hats, gloves, socks, sneakers and clothing necessary to survive during the harsh winter months.
“We often have three or four leads, who head the outreach. Typically we’ll have five to 10 volunteers each time out, and we distribute the Love Bags as well as basic necessities. We use it as an opportunity to engage with the homeless, to talk to them, there’s a conversation,” Grookett said of the group’s method.
“An interesting thing I found, there are always at least a few of those struggling, when they take a bag, their response is ‘how can I help someone, how can I give back?,’ and I tell them to take an extra bag and give it to someone they know who couldn’t make it here.”
Grookett mentioned that her local elementary school, Elizabeth Haddon, is holding an ongoing collection for Love Bags whose pack-up event will occur on Tuesday, Dec. 18 after school.
In addition, from 9 a.m. to noon on Saturday, Dec. 22, Hand ’n’ Heart will hold its second annual Christmas for the Homeless event. Members in attendance will be handing out Love Bags, hot cocoa, candy canes, fresh-baked cookies, doughnuts, hats, gloves, scarves, socks, sneakers as well as any additional clothing collected.
“It’s important to engage in all of our society, not just in our backyard or on a global scale, but places that seem like they’re a world away, like Kensington, where you see a lot more poverty than in Haddonfield,” said Grookett when asked how she would broach the idea with her own children.
“It’s important that those experiences are organic, and we see it as people that we’re helping are treated with respect because we see ourselves in them, and not because we see ourselves better than them.”
For more information on Hand ’n’ Heart, to donate or to find ways to volunteer, visit www.handnhearts.org, or its Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/HandnHearts.org.
