Do something to help someone else
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.
JACKSONVILLE, ARKANSAS
Delight and joy were evident as elementary school children of the Pulaski County Special School District in Arkansas received school supply kits containing a treasure trove of welcomed items. More than 7,000 children received individual school supply kits from the Church at no cost to the school district, the students or their families.
Elder Ken Witt and Sister Karen Witt of Perry, Utah, coordinated the acquisition and distribution of the school kits as part of their 12-month missionary service in the Arkansas Little Rock Mission.
Prior to coming to Arkansas, the Witts completed a volunteer service mission at the Salt Lake City Humanitarian Center. During this mission they became acquainted with the school supply kits that have been sent throughout the world to help students with needed supplies. That is where they got the idea that the school supply kits could also help the elementary school children in Arkansas.
Elder Witt is a retired printer for a Utah school district and was very aware of the fact that school supplies are often exhausted prior to the end of the school year, and that school budgets often do not allow additional materials to be acquired even when desperately needed. With Sister Witt, he conducted an in-depth survey of the elementary schools' needs and, with the approval of the administrative leadership of the schools and the Church, the school supply kits were obtained and distributed to the children.
"We knew these kits had been distributed throughout the world, and we just knew the little children here in this part of Arkansas could surely use them as well," said Sister Witt. "Here is where we felt we could make a difference; it's a good place for us to start," said Elder Witt.
Local Church members helped distribute the kits.
No doubt, for any observer on the day the kits were delivered, the looks on the children's faces said it all.
"One little boy exclaimed as he opened his school kit, 'Oh! Look at this cool pencil sharpener and ruler!' What fun it was to see them open the kits," said Sister Witt.
Elder and Sister Witt said it is a privilege to be in Arkansas and do what they can to help. "I think that is what the Lord wants for all of us to do; look around us and see where we can make a difference, and do what we can. We can all do something to help someone else. We can all love one another," said Sister Witt.
