“My beloved brethren and sisters…as we go forward, may we bless humanity with an outreach to all, lifting those who are downtrodden and oppressed, feeding and clothing the hungry and the needy, extending love and neighborliness to those about us who may not be part of this Church.” President Gordon B. Hinckley Ensign, November 2001
Taking these words of a prophet to heart, over 300 women of the McLean Virginia Stake donated their time, talents, and means on Saturday, May 22 in a community outreach that will affect hundreds of lives. As part of their semi-annual Stake Women’s Conference, Relief Society members participated in a unique morning of activities that allowed them to experience service from different perspectives.
As a service provider, each woman had the opportunity to collect, assemble, and make needed items for adults and children in the community. As a service receiver, she could attend a variety of instructional classes and demonstrations, plus she could learn about service opportunities by talking to invited representatives of local community groups who were anxious for volunteers.
“In recent years, we’ve been encouraged again and again to become good neighbors and be an active part of our communities,” said Sister Ann LaPointe, Stake Relief Society President. “We decided to learn more about the specific needs in our own area and to make our sisters aware of opportunities to address those needs by serving in ways they may never have considered before.”
But she and her counselors never envisioned that their plans for a service-oriented conference would mushroom into a jam-packed and interactive event that included 9 different on-site service projects, 6 instructional classes, and informational booths from 27 community organizations explaining their purpose and need for volunteers. The logistics of organizing so many diverse activities and groups was daunting, but the key to the event’s success was the generosity of sisters who opened their closets, cupboards, and wallets to help others in need.
Sister LaPointe noted that although Church members have always been a presence in the community, this event inspired them to extend their reach.
“It was also a chance for neighbors and charitable groups to get to know church members better and to learn that we are here to serve,” she said.
The theme of the conference, “Every Needful Thing,” was taken from Doctrine & Covenants 109:8-9:
Organize yourselves; prepare every needful thing, and establish a house, even a house of prayer, a house of fasting, a house of faith, a house of learning, a house of glory, a house of order, a house of God;
That your incomings may be in the name of the Lord, that your outgoings may be in the name of the Lord, that all your salutations may be in the name of the Lord, with uplifted hands unto the Most High.
Yet Sister LaPointe and her counselors realized that sometimes what is needful for creating spiritual order is to first address the basic physical needs of living, including food, shelter, health, jobs, and safety. So they put together a committee of stake specialists from each of the eight wards to identify and develop service projects that would specifically target such fundamental needs.
Then they called upon all women in the stake to contribute to these projects by donating specific items and helping assemble them into kits. Printed programs made well ahead of time enabled sisters to hand them out to friends and neighbors and invite them to the event. The result was an entire Stake Center filled with boxes and bags filled with everything from household cleaning supplies to postpartum kits for new mothers.
Throughout the morning, women of all ages brought their contributions to others who sorted them into boxes. In one classroom, Sara Steffenauer of the McLean II Ward collected granola bars, nuts, dried fruit, and Cheerios that her group assembled into 350 nutritious snack packs for an after-school program of the DC Central Kitchen in Washington. In addition, the sisters packaged 400 pounds of nonperishable food items for the kitchen as well as for the Committee for Helping Others and Food for Others.
In another room, Falls Church Ward members organized sporting equipment and costumes for Really Awesome Times, a group that sponsors free camps for children and families affected by HIV and AIDS.
Down the hall, sewing machines hummed as sisters from the Great Falls Ward made pillowcases for the Million Pillowcase Challenge, an organization that provides beautiful pillowcases to cancer patients. Others stitched heatable neck pillows for senior citizens.
Next door in the Primary Room, sisters from the Arlington II Ward and others were busy tying 35 baby quilts that went into postpartum kits for the Family Health & Birth Center in Arlington, Virginia. Each kit also contained nursing and feminine supplies, a digital thermometer, a burp cloth, and a book for a child. Linda Rush, not a member of the LDS Church but a friend of Virginia Wood of the Arlington II Ward, personally embroidered 50 of these burp cloths.
Donations included over 600 books for Project Northstar, a group that tutors and mentors young people, and Books for America, which helps build children’s libraries.
“We were truly amazed by the quality of books we received,” said Julie Durham, a member of the Great Falls Ward in charge of collecting, sorting and categorizing all the books.
In addition, Langley Ward and Arlington I Ward helped collect 168 items of professional clothing for Training Futures, an organization that helps individuals enter or move up in the work force. Training coordinator Marla Burton was overwhelmed by “the marvelous load of clothing” that included men’s and women’s suits, ties, shoes, portfolios, and briefcases.
“This is going to make such a difference for our trainees,” she said. “It will give them a real boost because they’re trying to move to stable, professional careers and it’s important to dress professionally. I couldn’t believe all the high quality items, especially the many wonderful purses. We’ve actually decided to use those as a reward, an incentive to meet goals.”
Within a few hours, rows of lime green tote bags, provided by an anonymous donor and imprinted with the words “Every Needful Thing,” began to overflow with items for a variety of needs. Valerie Barker of the Arlington II Ward observed that they received so many items for the move-in kits (which included cleaning supplies and paper goods) that they could have doubled the amount they made for Doorways, a group that works to end homelessness and family violence.
“We made 30, but they didn’t have enough room to store all the kits,” said Sister Barker, “so we just gave them the rest of the supplies, worth about $2000.”
The night before the conference, Sister Hilda Hernandez, Relief Society President of the Spanish-speaking Bella Vista Ward, worried she had not received enough collections to fill the hygiene kits for the senior citizens at Culpepper Gardens and Woodland Hills. To her surprise, the donations poured in so abundantly that that her group was able to assemble 80 kits, more than their goal. But it didn’t end there.
“Then an angel from heaven just walked in,” noted Sister Hernandez. “A lady brought in 50 more kits that she had assembled herself and she left before I could find out who she was!”
McLean I Ward sisters brought art supplies for a table where many of the teenagers and their mothers worked to create 84 handmade, blank cards for hospitalized children. But these weren’t cards with messages to the children; they became stationery that sick children could use themselves to write notes to their parents and friends.
Classroom instruction ranged from infant CPR and first aid to nutrition, self-defense, women’s health, and resume building. Visitors could also get their blood pressure checked or get one-on-one help in the Family History Center.
In the Cultural Hall, Shelly Jorgensen, a member of the McLean II Ward offered information on family service vacations, while full-time missionaries manned a booth on LDS Humanitarian Services. In addition, almost thirty other charitable groups had representatives or posters to explain volunteer opportunities with their organizations. Many noted how impressed they were by the enthusiasm and commitment of LDS women. Gina Kokomello of the Alternative House, a program for homeless and at-risk teens, particularly felt welcome.
“I go to a lot of these fairs, but this was one of the most organized. It was also the most productive for me because everyone who stopped by was truly interested in what I had to say. I felt a sincere, warm, and welcoming hospitality and I appreciated the opportunity to get to know more about the LDS church.”
Peter Spainert of Food for Others, which handles food issues in the community, also appreciated the chance to get his message out to people who wanted to hear it. “Food for Others was delighted to be there, and I know good things will come of it,” he stressed.
For many of these representatives, it was the first time to meet others who also provide service to the community.
“They came to give us information, but our event also gave them a chance to network,” said Debbie Dahl, of the McLean I Ward.
Even as things were winding down, the women found one more opportunity to serve.
“My daughter’s friend is a member of an Assembly of God Church where her father is the pastor,” said Sister LaPointe. “This church feeds 150 homeless men and women every night, so we gave them our leftovers from lunch to feed these people on Saturday night and the rest went to DC Central Kitchen.”
The profound meaning of the day, however, was best summed up by Christy Rosche of the Arlington I Ward:
“There was such a momentum and energy. It captured all the excitement that LDS women have about serving. I kept thinking about General Relief Society President Julie Beck and her counsel that we need to really focus on the relief aspect of Relief Society.”
***
Community groups represented at the Expo: Alternative House, Angel Hugs, Books for America, Capital Hospice, Children’s National Medical Center, Committee for Helping Others, DC Central Kitchen, Doorways, Family Service Opportunities, Food for Others, Help the Homeless & Family Forward,
Hispanic Committee, LDS Full-Time Missionaries, LifeSTARTS Youth & Family Service, Lost Dog & Cat Rescue Foundation, Martin Pollack Project, Noshwrap, Our Daily Bread, Project Northstar, Really Awesome Times, Reston Interfaith, Rock Recovery, Share, Shelter House, Space of Her Own, and Training Futures.
