Helping Hands Ministry of West End recently shipped an estimated $750,000 worth of medical supplies to Honduras.

“We shipped a container,” says Tony Haywood. “A container measures approximately 40 by 7½ by 6 feet.”

Haywood, 50, and his wife, Donna, founders of Helping Hands Ministry, say their

shipment included 250 boxes of donated medicines and medical supplies.

“And we sent some wheel-chairs, walkers and gurneys,” Haywood says, “items donated by hospitals, clinics, dental offices and individuals.“

After collecting enough items for a shipment, Haywood asked BKA Logistics of Washington, D.C., to send a container to West End.

“After it arrived, we had two hours to load supplies,” Haywood says, adding that he recruited some “helping hands” and finished loading in 1½ hours. “The container went to Delaware and to Port au Cortez in Honduras. From there it will truck to Comayagua, where Sandi Miller, a missionary which Grace Church in Southern Pines helps sponsor, will distribute the goods as humanitarian aid.”

Last year, the Haywoods ministry sponsored three students who live in a mountainous area outside Comayagua. Each student who graduates from his area’s usual six grades of school, may continue in a 5-year vocational training program for $300 per year.

“We’re looking for more sponsors for more students,” says Donna Haywood.