Service organized by Relief Society members throughout The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints’ United states Southeast Area brought women together to help those in need and serve as Jesus Christ would.
Below are examples from Alabama, Georgia, Florida and Louisiana.
Helping teens in Alabama
Women in the Montgomery Alabama Stake regularly look for opportunities to minister to others, and one such opportunity came through a service activity on Saturday, March 7, to benefit the organization Teen Empowerment Awareness with Resolutions, or TEARS.
The stake found the opportunity to help TEARS through JustServe.org, which is a website where organizations can list their needs and where volunteers can find opportunities to serve in their area.
The organization had posted on JustServe about its need for feminine hygiene kits and blankets for teens. Women from around the stake brought donations to fill the kits and then assembled them during the activity. The women also tied colorful fleece blankets and wrote encouraging messages.
In all, 50 full hygiene kits and 50 blankets were prepared for donation, along with a few additional supplies.
The activity started with messages about service, ways to involve young women in ministering and the meaning of true sacrifice. Stake Relief Society President Susan Green encouraged the women to stay on the covenant path and to make Jesus Christ the focus of all they do.
Green said of the activity, “I was so touched by the sisters working together to make beautiful blankets and hygiene kits for the less fortunate teens. The energy and enthusiasm were overwhelming. My heart was filled to overflowing as I gathered the blankets and kits for delivery. … We hope our efforts will help them to know they are loved and that they are divine daughters of God, who knows their struggles and desires to inspire and uplift them.”
Indi Butterfield of the Montgomery Ward said, “Participating today brought light into my own life by giving me an opportunity to interact with sisters from all over the stake and learn from their wisdom. ... I left feeling like I was the one who had been served, and my whole day felt brighter.”
‘One by One’ in Georgia
The Columbus Georgia Stake Relief Society had its annual women’s conference on Saturday, Feb. 28, with the theme “One by One.”
The Relief Society focused on three areas of service after assessing community needs: local neonatal intensive care units for premature babies, police and fire first responders to help with children in need, and the Stewart Community Home that serves vulnerable adults.
The women in the stake donated items for 150 sensory kits and 100 hygiene kits along with towels and sheet sets. The stake provided materials for sisters to make 200 preemie blankets and 350 preemie hats.
Jim Accordino, the executive director of Stewart Community Home, said, “A special thanks to you and everyone responsible for making possible this amazing day. You showered us with so many essential supplies.”
Katheryn Hall, the stake Relief Society president, said, “We wanted to make our women’s conference service focused and serve the needs in our stake community. Our attendance doubled for the conference from last year because I think deep in our hearts, we want to serve our fellow man.”
Women who attended the conference expressed how much they enjoyed themselves and loved the opportunity to serve their communities.
‘Joy jars’ in Florida
On Saturday, Feb. 7, women in the Cocoa Florida Stake Relief Society made “joy jars” as gifts for senior citizens served by Aging Matters in Brevard County, Florida. These were glass mason jars filled with individually wrapped chocolates and decorated on top with pretty fabric and ribbons.
The stake Relief Society presidency took all 142 jars to Aging Matters the following week to be taken to home-bound seniors on Valentine’s Day. Stacy Krueger, who runs the Meals on Wheels program at the agency, was touched by the thoughtfulness and creative designs and passed on her gratitude to each of the Relief Society members for the difference they made in others’ lives.
Betty Jean Humphries, the first counselor in the stake Relief Society presidency, said, “It was amazing to see the joy in the women’s faces as they worked together to create these ‘Valentine’s masterpieces’ knowing that the elderly in our community would feel our love on Valentine’s Day.”
A blood drive in Louisiana
To celebrate the 184th anniversary of the Relief Society and to perform service for the 250th anniversary of the signing of the United States’ Declaration of Independence, the Relief Society of the Alexandria Louisiana Stake organized a day of service on Saturday, March 14.
For the service, the stake center hosted a blood drive along with Life Share for a young boy in the community who needs blood transfusions. Other service activities included collecting blankets and hats, writing letters, putting together hygiene kits and more to help those in need in the community.
