Fox Run’s Hoppy and Jan Hanson make a difference with Project Handclasp

By Keith Gamboa

It all began with the sight of little children starving in the streets of Shanghai after the end of World War II.

When Jan Hanson and her husband, Naval aviator Hoppy Hanson, rounded the corner in a Shanghai neighborhood, they suddenly came upon children on the edge of starvation all around them.

 “And just nearby there were food packages from the U.S.A. that could have saved these children,” says Jan. “But the food was on the black market, and the children were not allowed to touch it. When we got back to the States, we got to thinking about how we could help.

“We decided that we could gather things within our church, given by people who wanted to help. So we started thinking about collecting clothes, for one thing, which would be easy to ship.”

Hoppy was still in the Navy at that time and ships were sailing overseas half empty, so there was space to hold what was collected. The couple began to coordinate church and neighborhood collections with Navy ships traveling to locales with dire need.

“And that,” says Jan, “is basically how Project Handclasp got started.” The name is meant to represent the hand of friendship extended by people and organizations in America to the disadvantaged citizens of other nations throughout the world.

Expanding on the vision

Hoppy and Jan’s charitable effort grew, as he convinced more in the Navy to join in.

 “The first time I sailed aboard the aircraft carrier U.S.S. Tarawa from San Diego in 1948 for the Far East, we carried half-a-ton of goods, mainly clothing,” says Hoppy. “We asked missionaries in China to help distribute what we brought.”

When he returned from a cruise, Hoppy discovered that Jan had booked him with some clubs, churches, and community and civic groups to speak about people in need and how they could be helped.