On Friday evening we heard for the first time about an emergency winter clothing drive that our church stake (a stake is roughly equivalent to a Catholic parish and consists of several smaller church congregations) would host on Monday to gather much needed warm clothing and blankets for victims of Hurricane Sandy in the NY/NJ area. Although it wasn't a lot of notice, people immediately started spreading the word and by the time Sunday rolled around, it had gained so much momentum that five local stakes had joined ranks to help as well.
Tonight, we went as a family to take a shift to help with the process of gathering and sorting of all the goods. We showed up about half way through the collection time and ended up being totally flabbergasted by the amazing sight that greeted us.
They had a drive through area all set up, so that cars could come through and be unloaded without the driver ever having to leave their car. The entire time we were there I never once saw less than five cars in the line at any time and usually there were many more than that.
Armies of youth were standing by to unload each car bag by bag...
Armies of youth were standing by to unload each car bag by bag...
From the pile, volunteers would take the bags and sort them into boxes by size, gender, and type of clothing (many of them still with their tags on)...
By the time I left at 10:30 tonight, three 26-foot trucks had already been STUFFED TO THE GILLS...
and the gym was still COMPLETELY filled.
Right now the plan is to send four trucks up to New York first thing in the morning, one of which Glen will be driving. Over 500 missionaries and other volunteers are slated to receive and distribute the donations.
The rest of the goods will be sorted tomorrow and taken to New Jersey later this week.
It was truly a remarkable thing to participate in
and made me all the more proud to be a part of such
a generous community of people
and
a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
(aka "Mormon Helping Hands"!)
Right now the plan is to send four trucks up to New York first thing in the morning, one of which Glen will be driving. Over 500 missionaries and other volunteers are slated to receive and distribute the donations.
The rest of the goods will be sorted tomorrow and taken to New Jersey later this week.
It was truly a remarkable thing to participate in
and made me all the more proud to be a part of such
a generous community of people
and
a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
(aka "Mormon Helping Hands"!)
Morning Update:
We voted early this morning and Glen is on his way to NY!
4 comments:
I got tears in my eyes as I read this and saw the pictures. That is AWESOME!
That is an amazing turn-out. Hope someone was there who took pics for the Church News. What a wonderful and timely opportunity to provide really meaningful service to New Yorkers as a new winter storm approaches.
Thank you, amazing job! This was the information I required.
Wow. Amazing.
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