NORWICH — Local volunteer group Helping Hands has planned a full year of giveaway nights to continue their mission of helping the community.

"[We're] providing for the community as a whole, anyone that's in need," said Helping Hands Founder Lorri Race. "There's no criteria, you don't have to fill out a form, you don't need to fall in a certain bracket. It's anybody that's in need."

Giveaway nights always take place on the third Thursday of every month, at 6:30 p.m. in front of the Norwich Family YMCA. The next giveaway is scheduled for tonight, Thursday, January 20.

"Third Thursday at the YMCA, we don't ever change that. 6:30 [p.m.]," said Race. "The only time that we've closed is COVID, because we were forced to close. Otherwise, we like to keep the same time, same date, so you don't ever have to take a guess."

Volunteers will be set up at stations along the YMCA front driveway, and area residents can either drive or walk through to collect items such as food, hygiene items, and cleaning supplies, all provided through community donations.

"Thanks to the community that provides donations we are able to give food items such as macaroni, pasta, we always do breads, we do milk, we do eggs," said Race. "We do hygiene items, so things like shampoos, deodorants, chapsticks. And then we do cleaning items, so we will have bleach, which is really important during this time, hand sanitizer, dish soap, bar soap, laundry pods."