Our history
With his family and a band of supporters, Helping Hands Ministries International was founded and the first Helping Hands Thrift Store opened its doors. Our flagship store, located in Bothell, Washington, serves as a central collection point for donated goods. These items are sold to help support people in need from our local communities and Peru through our partnership program, “The Help Project.” Helping Hands has since opened three more nonprofit stores in Snohomish County, located in Clearview, Lake Stevens, and Monroe.
Over the years, our organization has supported thousands of people suffering from hardships and poverty from our local communities and around the world. Today, we continue our mission to help others.
Helping Hands Ministry International began in 1992 with nothing but love and a small building located in Bothell, Washington.
Vance Field, founder of Helping Hands, along with his wife, Faith, served as missionaries in Peru for seventeen years. As much as they loved working with the Peruvian people, health issues forced them to return to the United States in 1991.
In his secondary line of work as a realtor, Vance spotted an old wood-framed building on Bothell-Everett Highway that was offered for lease. Recalling the scarcity of basic life necessities in Peru and seeing the abundance of still-useful items pouring into landfills in the United States, Vance had a big vision for the humble little structure.
Our flagship store in Bothell during the 1990s.
