60-year Long Island nonprofit partners with NewOrg to unify client services, event programs, and case management under one platform.
Helping Hand Rescue Mission (HHRM), a faith-based nonprofit that has served
families in need across Huntington. Township since 1965, has implemented NewOrg as its centralized platform for managing client data, program registrations, and case management. The go-live marks a milestone for an organization whose reach and complexity had long outpaced its aging, spreadsheet-based systems.
Founded by Reverend J.A. Gaines, Reverend Rose Marie Gaines, and Florence E. Meringola in response to the poverty they witnessed in their community, the mission was built on the belief that even helping one person matters. Today, under the leadership of President and Pastor Kim Gaines-Gambino, HHRM operates one of Long Island's most active community service hubs, running a food pantry four days a week, monthly baby supply distributions, large-scale seasonal events, and direct social services for hundreds of Huntington families each year.
“As we embrace new technology, we’re expanding our reach and deepening our impact, staying true to our founders’ vision of being a ‘lighthouse’ for every family who walks through our doors. NewOrg has made this possible for us and we are so happy with this new system.”
— Kim Gaines-Gambino, President & Pastor, Helping Hand Rescue Mission
The Challenge: Growing Programs, Disconnected Systems
As HHRM expanded its programs and outreach, its internal systems struggled to keep pace. The organization relied on paper based processes and a custom built Excel macro system that could only be accessed from a single computer at a time. Staff searching for a client’s clothing size would hunt through months of emails, and volunteers at Baby Blessings had to keep printed backup lists on hand because laptops could not reliably sync. Registrations for large events were managed through Google Forms and disconnected spreadsheets, with no shared view of who had been served, when, or with what.
As HHRM moved to formalize case management and recently achieved its own independent 501(c)(3) status, leadership knew they needed a modern platform that could unify every program under one roof, what they described as a “one pane of glass.”
The Solution: NewOrg Across Three Core Modules
After a thorough scoping process, Helping Hand Rescue Mission selected NewOrg, a cloud based platform purpose built for nonprofits, to centralize its programs, client records, and event management. The implementation was customized across three integrated modules:
1. Event Tracking & Program Management
NewOrg now powers HHRM’s full seasonal calendar, including some of Long Island’s most ambitious community giveaway events:
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Baby Blessings — HHRM’s monthly pop-up boutique distributes over 200 diaper bags, clothing bundles, and large baby items (strollers, car seats, high chairs) to mothers of children newborn through age three. Staff now register families in real time from multiple laptops simultaneously, with eligibility status auto-calculated based on visit history.
- Back to School Drive-Thru — Each year, HHRM leads a five organization coalition, including the Town of Huntington and the Junior Welfare League, to distribute more than 1,200 grade specific backpacks via a drive thru format with 15 minute time slots. NewOrg manages the multi day scheduling, grade and gender eligibility matching, and attendance reporting across every session.
- Thanksgiving “Fill a Box, Feed a Family” — Nearly 2,000 families receive Thanksgiving food boxes across a three-day community distribution event, with session-based scheduling and family-size tracking coordinated through NewOrg.
- Christmas Party & Toy Distribution — Three same day party sessions serve approximately 900 children with Santa, music, and wrapped gifts sorted by age group and gender. NewOrg generates session rosters that help volunteers prepare the exact number of gifts for each age category. HHRM’s popular “Operation Sweet Tooth,” which repackages donated Halloween candy into Christmas goodie bags, is also tracked through the platform.
- Easter & Family Fun Days — Seasonal celebrations and community family days round out the calendar, all managed within the same system.
2. Food Pantry & Waitlist Tracking
The platform simplifies weekly food pantry operations, open Tuesday through Friday, with a volunteer friendly check in interface and QR code scanning tied to client ID cards. Full household tracking captures family size, clothing sizes, and visit history, while real time eligibility alerts prevent clients from being inadvertently turned away or served out of cycle. A dedicated waitlist module manages client requests for furniture, appliances, bikes, and other donated household goods, with status tracking and fulfillment logs linked directly to each client record.
3. Case Management & Client Tracking
As HHRM formalizes its social work programming, NewOrg provides a structured, confidential environment for case management and documentation. Staff can record intake assessments, session notes, referrals to outside services, and service history, all secured behind role based permissions that protect sensitive client information while giving supervisors full visibility into each client’s journey.
A Single Source of Truth for 60 Years of Service
By bringing all programs into one system, Helping Hand Rescue Mission now has a unified view of every client across every program, from the weekly food pantry to Baby Blessings to holiday events to case management. Staff can access accurate, real time information from any device, eliminate the guesswork of disconnected processes, and generate the outcomes data needed to demonstrate impact to funders and partners.
For an organization that has been a lighthouse in its community for over six decades, the partnership with NewOrg represents both an operational upgrade and a commitment to serving the next generation of Huntington families with the same care and precision its founders envisioned.
About Helping Hand Rescue Mission
Helping Hand Rescue Mission is a faith-based nonprofit headquartered in Huntington, New York, dedicated to serving individuals and families in need through compassion, outreach, and community support. Founded in 1965 by Reverend J.A. Gaines, Reverend Rose Marie Gaines, and Florence E. Meringola, HHRM operates a food pantry and community closet, Baby Blessings monthly distributions, seasonal holiday programs, back-to-school events, and social services for Huntington Township families. Under the leadership of President and Pastor Kim Gaines-Gambino, HHRM continues to expand its mission of love, dignity, and service. Learn more at www.hhrm.org.
About NewOrg
NewOrg is a cloud based data management platform built specifically for nonprofits. Designed to be flexible, intuitive, and scalable, NewOrg helps organizations manage contacts, track service delivery, coordinate events, and generate impact reports, all in one place. NewOrg is committed to equipping mission driven organizations with the technology they need to serve their communities more effectively. Learn more at www.neworg.com.
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