ALEXANDRIA, MINN. – This central Minnesota city soon may face an interesting and rather unusual problem: What will happen when the volunteer helpers here outnumber the people who need the volunteer help?
In less than three weeks, thousands of local residents have signed up for "Helping Hands of Alexandria," a group that formed when some friends got together on Facebook to chat about what they could do to help their neighbors during the novel coronavirus pandemic.
Now, nursing home residents are sewing masks. A squadron of drivers makes grocery deliveries. Artists have painted inspirational scenes and messages on dozens of homes and businesses.
Meanwhile, donations are pouring in as volunteers deliver "blessings" — often in the form of flowers, baked goods and gift cards for local businesses — to medical workers, postal workers, day-care providers and first responders.
"You can just feel the love and the way the community is pulling together," said Kelsi Timm, one of the founders. "The purpose of the group was to help people during COVID, but it's turned out to be something much bigger."
The pandemic could have been another severe blow for the city, which suffered the loss of four historic downtown buildings and their popular businesses during a massive fire in late February. Instead, the outbreak has served as a rallying point in a community of nearly 14,000 residents.
"Everyone in the community has donated, I swear," said Nattiel Dammer, another founder of the group, which now counts more than 3,500 members. "I swear, we'll deliver $110 worth of groceries and a $110 check will come in. We believe God sees us."
Helping Hands got its start in mid-March, when Timm convened a Facebook chat with some friends from her Bible study group.
