Virginia: 400 participate in Relief Society service expo
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MCLEAN, VA.
From repairing bicycles to crocheting blankets for terminally ill newborns, McLean Virginia Stake Relief Society members and their neighbors engaged in a unique and extensive community service project on March 12. Four hundred people had a chance to participate in 13 on-site service projects as well as to interact with representatives from 40 non-profit service organizations who were seeking volunteers.
The overriding goal of the event was not only to render service but also to provide opportunities for LDS women to become more involved in their local neighborhoods.
"We're following the direction of President Thomas S. Monson and Elder M. Russell Ballard of the Quorum of the Twelve," said Ann LaPointe, stake Relief Society president and member of the McLean 1st Ward. "They have counseled us as Church members to become more a part of our communities and to help define what it means to be a Latter-day Saint rather than letting the world or media define us. So we as sisters in the Relief Society committed to reach out to our neighbors, to help address our community needs and to demonstrate who we are through our own words and actions."
The three-hour service marathon was successful on all counts according to both organizers and participants, who noted that the expo made it possible for women to forge new relationships with other members of the community while being able to personally contribute their time and talents to worthwhile causes.
The stake center was abuzz as women worked in every classroom, visited exhibits in the cultural hall to speak with community representatives about volunteering, donated blood at the Red Cross Bloodmobile outside and wrote 768 letters that will be sent to soldiers stationed in Afghanistan. Some went to the chapel to hear inspiring stories about service. Many had brought their children to help sort and package 990 pounds of food and 1,300 children's books, plus boxes of clothing, computers, school supplies, umbrellas, household items and toiletries.
A committee of women from each ward under the direction of the stake Relief Society started the massive job of collecting everything two months before the expo. On the day of the event, volunteers assembled the items into kits and bags destined for such organizations as hospitals, shelters and food kitchens. Kits included those filled with household supplies for groups that provide emergency housing, colorful totes with postpartum supplies for newborns and mothers, hygiene kits with toiletries for hospitalized patients with no insurance, and food and collar kits for rescue dogs.
In addition, participants packaged healthful snacks and filled backpacks with school supplies for at-risk children, packaged meals for local food kitchens, crocheted and sewed blankets for newborns, quilted blankets, machine-stitched towels, sorted professional outfits and suits for those seeking better jobs and helped prepare used bikes for people needing transportation to work.
One noteworthy community group was Angel Hugs, which was started by two LDS women. Expo volunteers made 40 blankets for the group, which distributes handmade blankets to area maternity wards for babies who don't live long enough to leave the hospital.
The idea grew out of the personal experience of Katy Mitarai of the Arlington 2nd Ward whose own baby, Abigail, lived only a few hours after her birth. A friend, Ilse Baldwin of the Butler 1st Ward, Salt Lake Butler Stake, crocheted a blanket for Katy to hold her baby in and to take home and keep as a precious memory. It was such a positive, validating experience for both women that they now provide blankets to hospitals in Utah, Virginia and Washington, D.C.
Into each blanket, Sister Mitarai tucks an encouraging note with her own story. For such contributions in helping others deal with devastating loss, Northern Virginia Magazine will honor Sister Mitarai in its June 2011 issue as one of Northern Virginia's people of the year.
A measure of the expo's success is not only that other stakes have requested information so they can hold similar events, but also that community organizations who participated are enthusiastic about doing it again. They liked partnering with LDS women to help empower others to have a better life.
Keith Oberg, director of Bikes for the World, said he was "blown away" by the size and organization of the project, as well as the friendliness of the volunteers. Others appreciated the lunch the Relief Society sisters prepared as well as individual gift bags with homemade treats and a Book of Mormon that the young women put together.
Mark De Weese of Christ House, a medical respite care for the homeless, noticed the sincere spirit of the women.
"Many people at service fairs come to browse," he said. "But what most impressed me with the Latter-day Saints was the hands-on involvement that showed the heart of the people."
