Young single adults from 21 countries join hands in service event
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RANDERS, DENMARK
Steady rain showers could not dampen the enthusiasm of a record group of nearly 400 Young Single Adults as they donned yellow vests and set out to give Randers, Denmark, a very strong helping hand on July 30.
"You are making history. This is the biggest Mormon Helping Hands event we have ever had in Denmark," exclaimed organizer Kim Holst from the Arhus Denmark Stake. Apparently, it was also the largest Mormon Helping Hands event ever held in Europe at one location on a single day.
The event was the main activity of the third day of Fest i Nord (Party in the North), an annual YSA festival that's been rotating around the Nordic countries for more than 20 years. The four-day festival included activities such as sports, singing, dancing and various workshops. This year's event drew participants from at least 21 countries, some from as far away as North and South America.
The Randers municipality appropriated nearly $20,000 of city funds for the project, most of which went for the hire of seven city school buses, as well as new leather gloves and special safety vests for their eager guests.
Randers municipality's Gorm Halskov addressed the participants at a large assembly, laying out the plans for the day, just before they boarded buses. Afterward, he spoke enthusiastically of his volunteers.
"The young adults did a great job," he said. "They were very good cleaners, picking up everything – even tiny things like bottle tops and cigarette stubs. They made a great impression, gathering 1.2 tons of trash in spite of a heavy rain shower."
The Church's national director of public affairs for Denmark, Jesper Paulsen, was overwhelmed with the positive media coverage. "Both the Fest i Nord Conference and the Mormon Helping Hands project have been two great events," he said. "The two Danish TV stations have been broadcasting from the event. The national radio station did a live interview with two young adults. Several local papers and internet news also covered the [Mormon Helping Hands] project."
The Randers newspaper, Amtsavis, interviewed several of the young adults and reported their positive attitude and lifestyle. On July 28, in advance of Fest i Nord, the paper wrote, "There will be parties with music and dancing, and the biggest difference is that the young adults don't drink, smoke or take drugs." One young adult shared with the paper that being together and doing something fun that makes a difference in other people's lives is a fantastic experience that doesn't require additional stimulants.
One Danish young woman, Sarah Holm Larsen, echoed the sentiments of most every other young single adult: "It is very nice and fun doing this Helping Hands project. It is so great to be together with other young adults."
All the young single adults paid their own way to the festival, so to keep costs affordable the city arranged for them to be housed in a large Randers high school, which was vacant while students were off for summer holidays. Makeshift sleeping dorms were created in large classrooms by moving the desks and chairs into the hallways. A large tent was rented and erected on the lawn just outside the dorms where the young people were served their meals by other Church volunteers.
All talks and activities were conducted in English, the one common language to all. In the hallways, though, one could hear a wide array of the languages and accents that gave the event a true international flavor.
Elder Robert C. Oaks of the Second Quorum of the Seventy officially opened Nord i Fest with an inspiring address. It would be one of his final duties as Europe Area President before returning to the U.S. this summer.
