Church responds to Mongolia's appeal
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SANDY, Utah — Catherine Valdez, 10, couldn't find Mongolia on a map and didn't know anything about the people who live there.
She hadn't heard that they were hungry, as a result of a harsh winter and subsequent drought, or that in Mongolia, where the economy is driven by livestock, more than 30 percent of the nation's livestock had died.
All Catherine knew was that people somewhere needed food.
That was enough for the young member of the Crescent Park 4th Ward, Sandy Utah Crescent Park Stake, who, with her family was preparing food boxes for the drought-stricken country at the Sandy Bishops Storehouse May 17.
"I am here to help get the food packed," Catherine said. "I feel good about serving."
The more than 300 members of the Sandy Utah Crescent Park and Sandy Utah Crescent Park South stakes volunteering time at the storehouse echoed young Catherine's sentiments, each happy to be involved in service.
After a terrible winter in Mongolia, followed by the worst drought in the last 60 years, government leaders made an appeal for international assistance. In response the Church approved sending three shipping containers of clothing and quilts in addition to 8,000 food boxes.
Members of the two stakes prepared the boxes, specially designed to fill the needs of a Mongolian diet. Hundreds of youth and their leaders or parents formed a long assembly line at the storehouse, placing flour, powdered milk, canned tomatoes and beef chunks, rice and other essentials into cardboard boxes. Each box, weighing 22 pounds, should feed a family of four for a week.
A label explaining the food was a gift from the Church was attached to the box before it was sent, via truck and then sea container, to Mongolia.
Church leaders expect the shipment will arrive in the country within about three weeks.
Kent M. Seal, president the Sandy Utah Crescent Park Stake, said members are happy to see the Church help people across the world and want to contribute to the effort. He asked ward leaders in his stake to send a total of 100 people to the project; stake participation, however, far exceeded that number. "It is an opportunity for families to serve other people while participating in a fun activity," he said.
