help, assist, defend, shoe upper
幫 centers on providing support: helping, assisting, or defending someone or something. The 'shoe upper' sense is a specialized extension of the idea of a covering that supports and protects the foot.
幫 combines 封 (seal, enclose) with 帛 (silk cloth). The original idea likely involved supporting or binding with cloth, extending to general help and defense. The exact historical development is uncertain.
The top 封 suggests sealing or enclosing, and the bottom 帛 is silk cloth. Imagine wrapping something in silk to protect and support it—that is helping and defending, like a shoe upper supports the foot.
For ホウ, picture a helper holding a hoe (ホウ) while wrapping silk around a broken tool to fix it. The hoe sound cues ホウ and ties to the helping action.