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http://herndon.patch.com/blog_posts/latter-day-saints-to-host-food-drive-to-benefit-link

Oakton Stake Service Day and 5K

Local LDS Members collect 2.5 tons of food

To support LINK Against Hunger Program

Oakton, VA – The Oakton Stake of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints held a food drive and 5K races last weekend at Lake Fairfax Park in Reston, Virginia, and collected over 2.5 tons of food for the LINK Against Hunger program that benefits those in need in Herndon, Sterling and Ashburn, Virginia.

To celebrate the church’s 75^th anniversary for its church welfare program, President Henry B. Eyring of the first presidency of the LDS Church asked all 14 million members around the world to perform a day of service. 

Oakton Stake President Scott Wheatley said the stake’s goal for their service day was “to let those around us know we love and follow Jesus Christ in all we do.  What better way to convey that message to our community that by serving them? We want our community to know that because we follow Jesus Christ, we serve others.”

Oakton Stake is made up of nine wards (congregations) organized geographically in the Northern Virginia area, including Reston, Herndon, Spring Lakes (a Spanish-speaking congregation), Chantilly, Franklin, Fair Oaks, Vienna, Oakton, and Oak Marr.

The event’s theme was “Put a Lid on Hunger,” and included a 5-K run or walk, a one-mile stroll, and a100-yard dashes for children. The cost of the event was $5 donation per person or five cans of food.  All cash and food collected went to LINK Against Hunger.

          Well over 500 members of the church attended the event, which raised $1,688 in cash and 2.5 tons of food.  Another $1,000 worth of food will be donated to LINK from the LDS Church’s Washington DC Bishops’ Storehouse, which is a church facility that provides basic foods and essential household items to needy individuals and families.

Lisa Lombardozzi, president of LINK said, “What a machine they had going.  We had trucks parked along the curb, people pulled up and unloaded their food into the trucks and headed off to register for the walk/run.  We had LDS missionaries helping us put the food into boxes and we kept filling truck after truck.”

President Wheatley said the stake’s goal was to fill at least five trucks.  “We hoped to overwhelm this good charity with our generous donations.  We wanted them to see Christians in action as we showed up in droves with arms full of food to help the hungry.  I think we achieved that goal.”

“We got more food than we could fit on our shelves,” Lombardozzi said. ‘I put our little collection box down near the registration area and figured that we’d get a little bit of money.  I welcomed the crowd and estimated there were a thousand people there!  I thought I’d gather up the few canned goods that came in late.  By the time the event was over my little pile grew and grew.  We made several trips back to my car to load up.  I ended up with an SUV full of food and had to utilize another minivan, in addition to the seven truckloads of food, to cart it all back to the pantry.”

Lombardozzi was surprised that her little box for donations was full and ended up holding over $1600 in cash.

Anthony Foy, a LINK volunteer, who helped load the trucks said, “It is humbling that all those people came together, and the sole fundraising focus was LINK.  The LDS community certainly did bless our ministry.”

“Wow! What a rewarding day,” said Shon Beury, chairman of St. Timothy’s Episcopal Church in Herndon, and a LINK board member.  “I’m so glad I was there to witness Christianity in action.  How blessed we are!”

Virginia Governor Bob McDonnell complimented the LDS Church’s welfare program and issued a day of service proclamation for the Commonwealth of Virginia.  He said, “2011marks the 75^th anniversary of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints Welfare Program which has improved the lives of countless individuals in our commonwealth, these United States, and throughout the world, and which should be a model to all organizations and faiths as we work together to build a true commonwealth of opportunity.”

President Wheatley said, “to become a ‘model of service’ to other organizations and faiths, we need to become an integral part of our community by sharing what we know and what we have. This event helped us move in that direction.”

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Hope and Help to African Villages

LDS family brings hope and help to African villages

Stephanie Price - April 06, 2011

SOURCE: LDS LIVING

BYU Alumni Christi Romney walking with children in Uganda.

more photos >

Check out the incredible photo gallery.

For the Hunt family, service is more than charity—it is a family legacy that has become a world-wide humanitarian organization. Serve a Village, a volunteer nonprofit service organization, became official in 2006, but its roots go back nearly fifty years.

“We have a long family legacy in South Africa,” said Executive Director Alisa Cozzens (formerly Alisa Hunt). “We lived on a large ranch there, and there was a poor village on the farm. My mother took it upon herself to take care of all the villagers. She built a couple of schools and got teachers in them, because otherwise, the kids had to walk—just like the movies—miles and miles on a dusty road to make it to a school that was supported by the government. Also, Christmas was all about taking care of the villagers. My mother would spend weeks and weeks gathering clothes and treats and candy for everyone.”

Eagle projects, young women’s activities, community events and more all contributed and collected things to send in monstrous pallets back to the South African village. Eventually, the community involvement became large enough to require forming a formal charitable organization.

“As we got older and came back to America, we spent a lot of time collecting and trying to provide for the people back at the farm. The projects just got bigger and bigger over the years. . . . We were pretty good at collecting and sending things—we’ve been doing this for a long time! Forty years!” Alisa said.

Alisa’s daughter Christi (now the director of operations for Serve a Village) participated in health and nursing projects all over the world and inspired the family to expand the organization’s influence to other countries. Serve a Village now has many projects all over the world such as providing for a mother/child health clinic in Kenya, a children’s cancer hospital in Moscow and hospitals in Haiti, not to mention supporting and educating the South African village where it all started: Magareng.

Alisa’s sister Chris Troger said, “We are interested in helping these people physically, medically, spiritually, physically and in every other way. One hundred percent goes to the programs.”

Considering the economic aide the organization gives, Christi said, “Our hope is that we can continue working with the community of Magareng. It is good for us because it is somewhat isolated and the population is not in flux. We can help with building up small businesses since unemployment is at 80 percent. We are hoping to really build that into a model community. Lots of people have received training and been able to go on and get jobs. This is tremendous for this area.”

Christi also described some of the medical assistance Save a Village offers: “We have also been able to provide a building for a crumbling, falling apart day care for the HIV orphanage. We have trained an HIV/TB outreach group. We have been able to help those who have already fallen ill from these diseases. In the clinic, we have been able to give supplies, which have saved many lives of mothers and babies. There is tons of improvement being made, it is really exciting, but there is still a huge need.”

Through Serve a Village, the family has also been the means of spiritual inspiration. Chris spoke of Jackson, a bishop in Kenya, who helps coordinate and distribute much-needed supplies and is fundamental to the physical and spiritual wellbeing of his community. Also, Ronald, a ground director for Serve a Village in Kimberly, South Africa, joined the Church after being involved with the family and the organization. Now his goal is to serve a mission. He used to travel two hours every week to attend church—and he never missed. Many Magareng villagers have become involved in the Church and four have even been baptized.

“We have some really wonderful, amazing incredible experiences along the way,” Chris said.

So how does one best support organizations like this? “In my opinion, the best way is for someone to join us in South Africa,” Christi said. “Because they are able to make a personal difference, they see the person they are serving and grow to love them; they are able to see firsthand the actual living conditions and needs of these people. It changes their lives. So instead of writing one check and sending it off and that’s it, they have done their good deed for their lives, they go and they see it and internalize it. Then for their rest of their life, it changes the way that they live and what they see as priorities and makes them want to help as much as they can.”

This organization believes that one individual can make a huge difference. As Chris said, “When you live there and see the needs of people, it really touches your life and makes you want to do more. Until you actually live and see it, you don’t realize what an impact you can make.”

Learn more at www.serveavillage.org.

© LDS Living 2011.

© 2011 LDSLiving.com.

How Can the Wards Help with Public Affairs?

About a month ago, I sent out an e-mail to all the first counselors in the Oakton Stake bishoprics.  My goal was to find out what is already being done in the area of public affairs so that we could assess where we are as a stake in relation to our stake presidency's public affairs goals. (See above)
I heard from two counselors and both of them said they didn't think anything was being done in their wards.  This led me to the conclusion that we haven't defined "public affairs" very well.  I think the easiest description is:  when your ward is doing anything in or for the community, it is a public affair.
I hope this blog will give you an idea of what kinds of things can be considered public affairs.  If your ward performs acts of service for your community, that is a public affair!
The last thing we want to do is create more work for church members.  We are busy people!  We just want to highlight some of the good we're already doing to dispel some of the myths about who we are.
Thanks for taking the time to visit this blog!

LDS Family Serves a Village

           

            Reston, Virginia –Have you ever wished you could do more than send money to help some of the world’s most needy people?

            Christi Romney, a graduate of Brigham Young University currently living in Great Falls, Virginia, may have just the opportunity for you.  She is the founder of Serve a Village (SAV), a nonprofit service organization that supports struggling communities around the world by building schools, teaching business development skills, and improving education, the environment and public health. 

            Christi, a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, belongs to the Spring Lakes Ward, which is a Spanish-speaking congregation of the church located in Reston. Five years ago when she graduated from Brigham Young University, she was inspired to found SAV to continue the work started by her grandmother, Kathryn Hunt, who later passed away in 2007.

            Her grandmother moved from Berkeley, CA to South Africa as a child because her uncle, who served an LDS mission there in the early 1930s, encouraged her family to move there with him. Kathryn’s family helped to strengthen the young church there, and saw many opportunities to serve.  Years later after moving back to the States, Kathryn returned again to South Africa to marry her high school sweetheart who owned a farm near Magareng.  During her life on the farm she essentially adopted the community and rallied the rest of her family to help support the village by shipping school supplies, books, clothing, sports gear, hygiene items and other essentials from the United States.

            As members of the Mormon Church, the family has leaned on friends from their congregations to help.  Women in the Relief Society organization of the church have knitted and crocheted hundreds of hats and scarves, and made fleece blankets.  They have donated boxes of entertainment supplies, medical supplies, clothing and anything else needed to help.

            The Relief Society organization of the LDS church is for women 18 years old and over.  Its purpose is to provide support for the temporal and spiritual needs of all women in the church as well as others who are in need. There are over five million members of the Relief Society in over 170 countries in the world.

            Serve a Village is currently accepting applications for expeditions to Kenya from April 29 – May 9, and August 5-15; and expeditions to South Africa from May 6-May 16, and August 12-August 22.  Applications can be submitted online at www.serveavillage.org.  Participants are responsible for their own travel and are charged an in-country cost of $1,500 to cover all food, housing, transportation, and cultural events. Expenses are tax deductible.

            In addition to helping the community of Magareng, SAV provides support to other areas of the world in need including Moscow, Russia; Petit Goave, Haiti; Kibera, Kenya; and others.

            The local LDS women in Reston teamed up with SAV to send their handmade hats, scarves, fleece blankets, and entertainment supplies to the Moscow Children’s Cancer Hospital to support the children during their long hours in the hospital.

            Christi said, “These donations really lift the spirits of the children, and their caregivers, and help the women in our congregation find meaningful ways to serve and fulfill the mission of the Relief Society organization.”

            These same women helped SAV reach out to help the struggling residents of Petit Goave, Haiti after the devastating earthquake of 2010.  “They gathered and shipped pallets of emergency supplies and vegetable seeds, along with embroidery thread, and needles.  These items helped people plant neighborhood gardens, and develop cottage industries to sustain themselves,” Christi said.

            “We were able to send supplies to Petit Goave, which is a community in southern Haiti where emergency supplies are rarely shipped.  We now have a woman there named Marie Etter who is teaching embroidery as a cottage industry to generate income.  She helps with the community garden which provides a sustainable food source for the villagers.”

            She said the women are collecting gently used clothing, school supplies, and small toys for over 100 AIDS orphans served by the Retsweletse Child Care Center in Magareng.  “We are developing a model community in Magareng, South Africa, that we hope can be applied to help other regions of the world.  It is a program that revitalizes the community in terms of health, education, economy, and environment.

Medical supplies continue to be gathered and shipped to St. Macs Mother and Child Clinic in Africa’s second largest slum of Kibera, Kenya.  The clinic is the only health clinic available to those living in Kibera.

            SAV passes on 100 percent of contributions to the communities it serves.  “The SAV directors are very aware of the needs of the communities in which we are involved, and we address those needs as directly as possible with generous donations, on-site expeditions, and awareness advocacy,” Christi said.

            One of the other keys to success is to rely on strong volunteer leaders in the local communities to keep things growing,” she said. These local leaders, as well as Christi, her family and many friends donate their time, talents, and energy to these projects because of their strong desires to serve.  “There are no paid employees, so all the donations go solely to the projects. 

President Wheatley facilitated a generous donation from the church 

for LINK Against Hunger in January.

Lisa Lombardozzi, a volunteer for LINK Against Hunger 

was given $1,000 worth of food to fill their Herndon pantry shelves after

they were depleted over the holidays.

Brother Tom Pocock at the Bishop's Storehouse gave her a tour

and an overview of the storehouse.  Now the Herndon Ward is teaming up 

with churches in the Ashburn/Herndon/Sterling area to volunteer

on a regular basis with this community based organization.  

Each auxiliary will be stepping up to include annual service projects

for the LINK program. Some of the services may include picking up 

and delivering food to LINK recipients, rotating food, and organizing and

cleaning the pantry located next to the United Methodist Church in Herndon.

Herndon LDS Help Send Valentines to American Soldiers

January 21, 2011

            Herndon, Virginia –Herndon members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints teamed up with Operation Support Our Troops, Inc. to send Valentine packages to members of the U.S. armed forces deployed in remote areas of Afghanistan to remind them that they are supported and appreciated at home.

The two groups came together through a chance meeting at the local Costco in the fall when Nancee McAteer, vice president of Operation Support Our Troops inc., met Claudia Gibb, the president of the Oakton area 1,250 member LDS Relief Society, the women’s service organization of the church. When Nancee described her project, Claudia said, “I know a lot of women in our church that would love to help you.”

Nancee took her up on the offer, and Claudia made a few phone calls, and quickly assembled a team of local women eager to help. They gathered at Nancee’s home in Clifton with other members of the OSOT of the northern Virginia area, and packed, organized, and shipped over 1,200 pounds of holiday surprises to troops in remote locations in Afghanistan and Iraq. Nancee said the church also donated about $1300 to the Christmas project.

McAteer received many thank you letters from soldiers who excitedly watched boxes full of Christmas goodies drop out of the sky from a C-130 turboprop military transport.

Nancee’s current project is to send boxes of Valentines to the soldiers. So with the help members of the Herndon congregation of the LDS church, packets of hand stamped military themed stationary and handcrafted boxes full of candy will be airlifted to the Signal Battalion of 520 people and a ranger company of 150 in Afghanistan by Valentines Day.

Many teenagers from the church’s youth program also pitched in to help.

OSOT was founded eight years ago to help improve the morale and welfare of members of the armed forces deployed in harm’s way. They send care packages, messages of support, and items soldiers can’t easily get when they are deployed.

For more information on to help the troops with these kinds of projects, go to osotinc.org. 

http://www.connectionnewspapers.com/article.asp?article=347930&paper=66&cat=104