Hygiene Kit

University Students Share Through Service-Learning Programs

BY April Chalk

A few years ago when BYU students volunteered in Southeast Asia, they spent their time working in the fields. Today when students volunteer there, they spend their time teaching the people English. Why? The people they were working with told the students that they already knew how to work their fields and could do it alone, but if they knew English, they would be able to leave the fields and get a better job in the city. Read more

Wendy & Giff Nielsen: Giving Gifts Back to the World

Giff and Wendy Nielsen have been married for 33 years. They have six children and nine grandchildren. They have lived in Houston for thirty years starting when the Houston Oilers drafted Giff in May 1978. He played quarterback for the team for six years before retiring in May 1984 to join the Channel 11 News anchor team.

The WON Heart Foundation, founded by the Nielsen family has served the Houston community and the world. The mission of this family foundation is to find ways to make the world a stronger, safer, more peaceful place…one heart at a time. The Nielsen family firmly believes that there has never been a greater need for traditional family values and open- hearted generosity to help in healing a troubled world. Some of The Won Heart Foundation successes include raising money to help bridge the gap of the latch-key kid revolution, and hosting a charity golf tournament, which has raised nearly five million dollars for the past 21 years funding the building of Houston area parks and a YMCA after-school program.

Giff is on the executive board of the Boy Scouts of America, Sam Houston Area Council. He has been inducted into the BYU Hall of Fame, the Utah Hall of Fame and into the College Football Hall of Fame.

The most important career accomplishment either of them has is their family. The world needs strong families with loving connections and a desire to reach out and share with communities.

Medical Kits in Demand: Opportunity to Aid

Medical shipments are in high demand and include a number of different items. Instructions for hospital gowns and scrub tops and pants are available at the official Church Humanitarian Site.

All medical supplies with an expiration date must have at least 13 months of
good date left when the items are donated. The following first-aid items in original packaging are needed: [Read more of this review]

Make a School Kit for a Child in Need

Place the following items in a durable cloth bag (see photo & instructions)
· 4 unsharpened pencils
· 1 rubber pencil eraser – approximately 1×2 inches
· 1 pair blunt nosed scissors with metal blades
· 1 pencil sharpener
· 1 straight edge ruler – 12 inches, with metric
· Glued or spiral bound notebooks with lined sheets, 8 x 10 ½,
or 8 ½ x 11 inches
Notebooks should total approximately 450 sheets
Do not include more than 6 notebooks
· 1 set assorted colored pencils

at least 12 per set, approximately 7 inches long
Making cloth bags for school kits (more detailed instructions available online)
Bag
· Cut one piece heavy, durable fabric 14×36 inches or two pieces 14×18 inches
· With right sides together, sew side seams and across the bottom, ½ inch seam
· Serge or zig-zag all seams
· Serge or zig-zag around the top opening of the bag
· Turn top hem down 1 ½ “ and sew
Handles
· Cut two handles 24×3 ½ inches (1 inch webbing may be substituted )
· Fold long sides in ½” then fold in half, lengthwise and sew down both long sides
· Attach and reinforce handles 2” from side seam along hem. Repeat on opposite side.
Handles should be able to hang comfortably over a shoulder like a purse, length
about 21” long

· Sew a 3” strip of Velcro on inside of bag between handle straps

These can be dropped off at the LDS Humanitarian Center. Ship or deliver completed items to:
Latter-day Saint Humanitarian Center
1665 South Bennett Road
Salt Lake City, UT 84104
Telephone (801) 240-5954
Hours: 8:00 a.m. – 4:30 p.m., Monday through Friday
Completed items may also be taken to the nearest Deseret Industries store or bishops’ storehouse. Seal boxes and mark them Latter-day Saint Humanitarian Center-SLC. They will then be shipped to the Latter-day Saint
Humanitarian Center.

Locations of Deseret Industries stores and bishops’ storehouses may be found by calling (801) 240-5954.

Orphanage Kits Volunteers Can Provide

In addition to kits, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (Mormons) distributes other needed items that volunteers may provide. Your donation will represent the Church. Please ensure that quality and
appearance reflect appropriate high standards.

Orphanage Modules
A special module with quilts, various supplies, toys and children’s clothing is distributed to orphanages throughout the world. Instructions for most of the items listed below may be found at www.humanitarianservices.org
All items must be un-used.

· Flat twin sheets (66” x 96”, cotton or flannel fabrics)
· Soft toys, puppets, dolls, wooden toys and blocks Read more

What Else Can I Do to Serve the Needy?

Many of us  see suffering in our own communities and throughout the world. We want to do something to help, but don’t know what to do.

The Prophet Joseph Smith taught:

A true Latter-day Saint is to feed the hungry, to clothe the naked, to provide for the widow, to dry up the tear of the orphan, to comfort the afflicted, whether in this Church or in any other or in no church at all, wherever he finds them.
(Times and Seasons, 15 Mar. 1842, 732) Read more

Mormon Youth Surprise Family with Home-Makeover

On one occasion, a group of North Ogden Youth, members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (Mormons) decided to replace their annual weekend conference with a week long service project. Foregoing the dances, spiritual talks, sporting activities, and other normally-planned activities of a conference, forty youth decided to renovate a home in their Ogden neighborhood. Read more

Mormon Serviceman Reunifies Refugee Families

When American servicemen including Virgil Kovalenko left war-torn Vietnam in 1972, they promised Vietnamese Air Force Captain Nguyen Ngoc Thach and his wife that they would not forget them. Though South Vietnam fell to the communists in 1975, Virgil was able to return to Southeast Asia 10 years later and help not only the Thachs but also other Church members relocate to America.

In 1982, Virgil and a small group of veterans and missionaries responded to a series of letters from the Thachs by founding the Veterans Association for Service Activities Abroad. Under Virgil’s leadership, the 300-member organization has since helped to resettle and/or reunify hundreds of refugee families from Vietnam and other countries ravaged by war.

Besides organizing volunteers to work with hospitals, clinics, and schools in Vietnam, Virgil has worked in the Ukraine, where he gathered 12 tons of medical and educational supplies. He has also worked on humanitarian projects in Mexico.

Virgil retired from active military duty in 1983, completing nearly 30 years of Navy and Air Force service. He holds a BA degree from BYU and a PhD from the University of Utah. He and his wife, Lela, have five children.

BYU Magazine Alumni Service Awards 1997

BYU Service Squad

Mormon students at Brigham Young University engage in “random acts of kindness” for an hour a week as part of their activity in BYU’s Service Squad. Whether it’s garbage bags needing a haul, or lightening a student’s load by performing a deed on their doorstep, students participating in BYUSA’s Service Squad forget themselves and go to work for others during this dedicated hour each week.

Regulars and newcomers are welcome to participate and enjoy the gratitude and rewards as unsuspecting peers respond when volunteers show up at their doors in orange shirts offering to help with simple acts of service.

According to the program director, Ashley Pearl, BYUSA’s Service Squad group meets every Wednesday night outside the student government office before splitting up into groups to visit on-and off-campus housing, looking for spontaneous ways to aid and assist others.

Vomocil, an actuarial science student from Marshfield, Wisconsin., and Lopez, Vomocil’s roommate and a pre-acting major from Honolulu, Hawaii, caught the contagion. Apparently, the Service Squad showed up on their doorstep one semester, and as a result,Vomocil decided to personally volunteer with the group.

“It was just a good time,” he said. “Even doing something simple like taking out the trash … you can make somebody a little happier.”

Kearl said Service Squad provides an easy way for students to get involved. “It’s only an hour a week,” she said. “It’s short and sweet. You just show up.” Students can volunteer when they have time, assist in planning or take specific roles within the Service Squad, she said.

This semester, the Service Squad will offer a date night, a dinner and occasional treats. Volunteers will also be working with BYU wards to identify specific needs, Kearl said. “We’re always looking for new ways to serve people,” she said.

The Service Squad meets at 7 p.m. every Wednesday outside WSC 3400 and welcomes volunteers.

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