The phrase "a helpful role in" is correct and usable in written English.
You can use it when describing the function or contribution of someone or something in a particular context or situation.
Example: "The volunteer organization plays a helpful role in supporting local families during difficult times."
Alternatives: "a supportive function in" or "a beneficial part in".
Mr. Trump's assessment that China is no longer playing a helpful role in squeezing Pyongyang is accurate, analysts said.
And in the last couple of months, it has played a helpful role in both Sudan and North Korea.
The King asked if the U.S. could play a helpful role in getting the Saudis to let the gas project proceed.
But if they are adapted to fit individual countries' circumstances, they can play a helpful role in nurturing the domestic industries that lasting growth requires.
Though he broadly pursued closer ties with the West, and played a helpful role in ending the war in Kosovo last year, Mr. Yeltsin could be inconsistent in dealing with foreign issues.
A person who is familiar with Mr. Gonzales's account of the events said that the former attorney general had acknowledged having raised with Mr. Goss the idea that Ms. Harman was playing a helpful role in dealing with The Times.
Cleavage also plays a helpful role, especially in large stones where the cutter wishes to remove flawed material or to produce more than one stone from the same piece of rough (e.g. Cullinan Diamond).
Once the extreme antigovernment faction has been driven out of government, the steps that I and my Esquire co-panelists recommended can play a very helpful role in improving the functions of Congress.
We can play a somewhat helpful role in the margins, but we should not think that we control the destinies of countries like Syria and Iraq.
In a statement, Bernadette Meehan, a spokeswoman for the National Security Council, declined comment on the proposed transfer of enriched uranium, but she praised Russia for playing a "very helpful role" in the negotiations.
What is neglected is how much the Department of Defense played a helpful role to the electronics industry in the 1950s and '60s as a customer that guaranteed purchasing, but also insisted on improvement over time, and the sharing of intellectual property.
