Focus on the Family in Colorado Springs, Colorado, hosted High Plains Helping Hands second annual Love Your Neighbor banquet Oct. 7.Dozens of sponsors attended the event, with their donations going to the more than 1,200 individuals High Plains Helping Hands serves every month.Diana Frazier, Helping Hands volunteer coordinator, said the goal of the fundraising event is to reach out to new donors and inform people about their services, which include a food pantry and other programs for low-income families.ìLast year, we raised about $17,000; and that money all goes back to our organization,î Frazier said. ìWe have been able to secure enough sponsors that every dollar can go back to us.îThis yearís fundraiser brought in 15 table sponsors and one event sponsor, Frazier said.Pastor Scotty Vaughn, this yearís keynote speaker and musical entertainment, is a former member of the Flying W Wranglers, the second oldest western group in the world. Today, Vaughn is a pastor at Church on the Ranch in Colorado Springs.Vaughn spent 29 years as the resident storyteller and emcee at the world-famous Flying W Ranch, and was a founding member of the Colorado Cowboys for Jesus, a Christian musical group founded 34 years ago.After a welcome and introduction by Sam Frazier, HPHH board member, Vaughn talked about his time at Flying W Ranch and his dedication to God.ìI am really pleased to be here with you all tonight,î Vaughn said. ìThere are a lot of friends in this room whom Iíve known for a long time.ìI was hired at Flying W Ranch in 1976. After (the Waldo Canyon Fire in 2012), theyíve been working hard and rebuilding. Itís greater than some people think, and we hope in a year or two, with Godís help, to have (the ranch) back,î he said.The Ranch, which burned in the 2012 fire, is set to reopen next summer, according to a KOAA 5 article, ìFlying W Ranch to reopen summer of 2017,î posted June 25.The evening also highlighted High Plains Helping Handsí accomplishments.According to the nonprofitís website, 13,925 individuals were helped in 2015. Volunteers put in 6,884 volunteer hours, and 181,290 pounds of food were distributed in 2015. As many as 450 families each month receive food from the nonprofit, many of whom are disabled, unemployed and/or elderly.The organization also provides prayer and encouragement; educational classes in food handling and preparation, nutrition and healthy cooking, budgeting and finance; and spiritual purpose and relationships. HPHH distributes Thanksgiving and Christmas meals to individuals in need; and serves as a Commodity Supplemental Food Program site, which is a USDA program serving low-income seniors age 60 and over.Speaking about the event, Diana Frazier said, ìIt was amazing. We had some hurdles to jump over this summer but we were able to get over them. We were very pleased with the number of people who were there and what we were able to accomplish.î
