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Scattering kindness: How a day of service touched hundreds of lives in Gresham, Oregon

Women reflect on how service projects helped them feel God’s love as they served those in need

When women in the Gresham Oregon Stake Relief Society gathered with friends of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints for a “Scatter Kindness Day of Service,” they brought the love of the Savior Jesus Christ to hundreds of people in need through their efforts.

And in so doing, felt the Savior’s love themselves.

Renae Summers often thinks back to that day, even a year later: “I really felt the joy of service alongside young and old. … The room was filled with love.”

Two young women work at a table on a service project in the Gresham Oregon Stake Center.
Young women in the Gresham Oregon Stake help with service projects during a day of service on April 29, 2023. | Joan Levine

The key contributions to the community from the day of service included:

The day of service also held tremendous meaning for Joan Levine, who said it was the first time she participated in such an event. At one point, she helped make cards for refugees that said, “You are loved.”

“I prayed before everything I did,” Levine said. “Every ‘You are loved’ card I painted for that day was a spiritual experience for me. I felt each card was genuinely infused with God’s love through me.”

A sampling of the cards made for refugees say "You are loved" in Gresham, Oregon.
A sampling of the cards made for refugees during a day of service in the Gresham Oregon Stake Center on April 29, 2023. | Joan Levine

In another project, she measured and cut ribbon for bags containing feminine hygiene materials for girls in need. She also helped set up the room and took pictures of the service day events for the stake.

“This kind of service is perfect for me as it gives me so many opportunities to be with my sisters, feel our Lord’s presence, meditate on how very grateful I am, create beauty and infuse practical, handmade products with love.”

In one area, women sewed small burial clothing for babies. Lori Kniff called it “a humbling and sacred opportunity” to share with grieving parents. Janell Klopp, who is a nurse in the hospital’s newborn intensive care unit, said she was overwhelmed by how beautiful and generous the women were in their efforts.

Summers said all these months later, thinking of those small outfits still brings tears to her eyes. She was also touched by the quilts made for sick children in the hospital.

“When a quilt was tied, someone would lift the quilt up to show all, and a loud cheer would erupt from everyone,” Summers said. “These projects all felt personal.”

Women work on a quilt during a day of service at the Gresham Oregon Stake Center.
Women work on a quilt during a day of service in the Gresham Oregon Stake Center on April 29, 2023. | Joan Levine

Susan Standing was passionate about making sanitary kits for young women so they would be able to go to school.

“It was such a blessing to be with the sisters in our stake working together to make a difference in lives that had so very little,” Standing said. “It was a huge effort on our stake Relief Society presidency, but I was so impressed with what was accomplished in so little time.”

Women brought items ahead of time to donate, such as shoes and clothing. Members of the Crown Point Ward quilting group worked on quilts to give to people in need around the county. They make and donate 90 to 100 quilts per quarter.

Summers said she felt like she could pick any of the activities “and in my small way, I was helping one of God’s children who needed a caring hand. It’s like I was giving a hug to one of my earthly siblings that I didn’t know, but my Heavenly Father did.”

Dulsanna Eliason, the stake Relief Society president, wrote this to the ward Relief Society presidents after the event:

“We wanted to thank all who participated by setting up, collecting, driving, counting, donating, sewing, cutting, gluing, writing, measuring, counting, serving, baking, gathering, smiling, cleaning up and all else that helped contribute to the wonderful results.”

She shared something that Mary Lou Nordstrom — a founding member of the Crown Point Ward’s quilting group — told her about the day of service: “We provided relief to those in need and enjoyed the society of each other while working together.”

This coming April, women in the stake Relief Society — including the Tongan- and Spanish-speaking wards — will again join in service. This time, they plan to focus on needs for new refugee families in the area and collect diapers for state agencies. Other service opportunities will also be available that can be done as individuals, families or wards through JustServe.org, which is an online platform for volunteers to find service projects in their communities.

Joelle Carter of the Crown Point Ward in the Gresham Oregon Stake holds some of the scent squares for NICU families.
Joelle Carter of the Crown Point Ward in the Gresham Oregon Stake holds some of the scent squares for NICU families in May 2023. The sisters from the Evergreen Ward (Spanish) gathered to sew many of the squares. | Dulsanna Eliason
Members of the Gresham Oregon Stake hold up homemade quilts in front of an Oregon state agency.
Members of the Gresham Oregon Stake show homemade quilts donated to the Oregon Department of Human Services in May 2023. | Dulsanna Eliason
Rhonda Judd and Janell Klopp show some of the infant burial clothing made during a day of service with the Gresham Oregon Stake.
Rhonda Judd and Janell Klopp show some of the infant burial clothing made during a day of service with the Gresham Oregon Stake in May 2023. | Dulsanna Eliason
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