Display builds bridges to community
E-mail story
It's easy. Send a link to the story you were just reading to a friend. Just fill out the form on this page and we'll send it along.
Your name and e-mail address are transmitted to the recipient. Otherwise, it is considered private information; see Privacy policy.
INDEPENDENCE, Mo. — A line from a popular motion picture, "If you
build it, they will come," seems to best describe the creation of an
exhibit of outdoor lights and indoor decorations at the Church's
Independence Visitors Center this Christmas season.
The exhibit benefits children through a charitable foundation and was accomplished under the guidance of Elder Larry Brown, visitors center director, and by a host of people in the greater Kansas City area who assisted.
On the evening of Nov. 28, Nicholas Franken, 6, threw the switch lighting 250,000 lights decorating the visitors center and surrounding trees and shrubs to the "oohs" and "aahs" of the 1,000 adults and children attending the ceremony.
At that moment, the "Light a Light for a Child" program began, and the dream to raise funds for the Juvenile Diabetes Foundation International was a reality. Nicholas Franken is one of thousands of children afflicted with juvenile diabetes.
During the lighting ceremony, the public's attention was drawn to the need for funding to combat the disease. Donation envelopes from the foundation are made available to people who come to see the lights and the exhibits inside the visitors center; the envelopes can be mailed to the foundation with a donation enclosed.
Beginning the ceremony, Ron Stewart, mayor of Independence, commended the visitors center for its efforts to strengthen families and communities. He said, "We are approaching the time of year when we celebate the birth of our Christ Jesus," adding that with the emphasis on commercialism, "we sometimes forget what Christmas is all about. Christmas is about giving, and it is most appropriate that we share what we have to help find the cause for and cure to juvenile diabetes that afflicts so many of our children."
Lay Lakin, executive director of the Juvenile Diabetes Foundation International in Kansas City, said, "Thank you for making this incredible opportunity available to us."
Other speakers included Henry Kester, master of ceremonies; Elder Brown; and Pres. Daniel Rogers of the Missouri Independence Mission. Prayers were offered by Pres. Kent Wood of the Independence Missouri Stake and Pres. Dennis Karpowitz of the Topeka Kansas Stake.
Throughout the short program, the 120-voice Heart of America Mormon Choir sang a variety of hymns, including "Angels We Have Heard on High," "Christmas Is a Time of Joy," "Do You Hear What I Hear," and "Silent Night," with the audience invited to join in.
The visitors center itself has been a show place and hub of activity and excitement this season. In addition to the traditional religious and historical exhibits, the center features:
The "Light a Light for a Child" exhibition, which closes Jan. 2, has become a major Christmas attraction here and is on a local Tour of Sites to See in Independence.
It has also built bridges to the community as people have come — by the hundreds.
