Painting Skateboards, Tying Blankets and Other Ways to Turn a ‘Sharable Joy’ Into a JustServe Project

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By Mary Richards, Church News

When Trevor Higgins’ daughter was 8 years old, he wanted to find a way to connect with her. She was into painting and dolls; he was into skating, comics and food. One day he saw an old skateboard deck at a local thrift store in the Portland, Oregon, area. That’s when he had the idea to create a skateboard together.

During school winter break, Higgins and his daughter worked together to paint and build the new skateboard.

“It was some of the best times I ever had together with my daughter,” he said. The experience was so much fun that the family made it a holiday tradition to make a skateboard.

In 2021, Higgins was called to serve as an activity leader for his ward in the Tualatin Oregon Stake of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. He suggested that the ward members make skateboards for others in a “Deck the Halls” event. Since then, he has formed a nonprofit group called “Skating is Connection” where volunteers have created and distributed around 200 skate decks.

“Our inspiration is skating, but our product is intentional time with families,” Higgins said.

Using JustServe — a website and app where organizations can list their volunteer needs — has elevated the group’s efforts, Higgins explained. Many new people found the skateboard project on JustServe.org and joined in. Volunteers prep, sand, design and paint the stake decks and then create a storyboard and letter for those receiving the boards to see the inspiration behind the artwork.

One busy father said the project forced him to create space for his family and spend time together, and he is ready to do it again for this year’s event. A mother said painting a skateboard helped her adult daughter as she went through a terrible divorce, saying it helped her daughter to remember her talents and her worth.

“I went to the home of a elderly couple to pick up a board,” Higgins said. “While the gentleman was in the back room, his wife pulled me aside and thanked me personally. She let me know he had been reacting poorly to his cancer treatments and that he suffered from chronic pain. The project was great for him as it served as a distraction as he was a painter and loved to paint.”

Then, while handing out the new skateboards at several events around Portland, Higgins has loved seeing the recipients’ reactions when they see the artwork and learn the stories behind the creations.

Higgins’ advice for anyone wanting to start a service project is to find a “sharable joy” — a memory that brings joy and can be shared. “It can be anything from canning fruit to watching sunsets. Whatever it is, share it. You’ll never know who might benefit from your shareable joy.”

Joy in the Gospel While Creating Blankets, Cards and Kits

Members of the Vancouver Washington East Stake found a “shareable joy” as they took part in a service project that included tying fleece blankets, collecting toys, sorting food and hygiene supplies, making cards and educational kits to bless more than 7,000 people in their area.

Using JustServe last October allowed many friends of the Church to find the service project online and take part, explained organizer Caryn Dewey.

“Many that were not of our faith that were in attendance mentioned that they did not know a lot about our Church prior to this event,” Dewey said. “After working side by side with members of our Church, they now know the joy that can be felt in the gospel of Jesus Christ.”

Early morning seminary students, missionaries and around 400 women of all faiths from the community came together at the event — tying more than 100 fleece blankets, collecting 220 toys, creating 500 cards and donating 3,000 meal kits and 32,000 pounds of hygiene commodities.

A local school district shared how the food allowed them to meet the needs of more families. A woman experiencing homelessness expressed gratitude for her meal kit. And the blankets went to Project Linus, which had just received a request for that same number of blankets before the event and therefore were able to meet the need.

Dewey said they witnessed many miracles through the service. “There was a feeling of excitement, love, and an urgency to serve that could be felt by all who participated.”

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