Scattering Kindness: How a Day of Service Touched Hundreds of Lives in Gresham, Oregon

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By Mary Richards, Church News

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.”

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

• 2,129 pounds of food, clothing, diapers, wipes and other supplies for SnowCap Community Charities.
• 10 beads of courage bags, 22 memory boxes, 100-plus scent squares, 50 burial dresses and 70 boy burial outfits for Randall’s Children’s Hospital.
• 61 blankets for youth in foster care for Oregon Department of Human Services.
• 151 pairs of shoes for Sole4Souls.
• 168 refugee welcome kit cards for Lifting Hands International.
• 382 bags for kits for reusable menstrual supplies for Days for Girls.
• Other individual projects done through JustServe.org

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.”

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.”

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.

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