JustServe Projects in Texas, Utah and Oregon Bless Communities – Church News

Days of Caring and Service across three states in the US blessed people in need as hundreds of volunteers carried out various service projects featured on JustServe, an online platform where organizations list their needs and people can find opportunities around them.

Below are examples from earlier this year in Texas, Utah and Oregon that continue to bless lives as participating organizations and volunteers strengthen their connection to JustServe and continue to find ways to serve.

Day of Caring in Victoria, Texas

2024 marks the 200th anniversary of Victoria, Texas. As part of the city’s celebrations, Victoria’s Bicentenary Day of Care was held on 13 April.

The City of Victoria has used JustServe as a communications tool to recruit volunteers for a variety of services including painting, grocery box packing, clothing sorting, trash collection, landscaping, furniture moving, community outreach, pressure washing and more.

Since that day, organizations that registered for the event have shown continued interest in JustServe.

Raquel Hairell, JustServe specialist for the Bay City Texas Stake, said the day of caring was “an outstanding collaboration between our city, area nonprofits and the JustServe platform.”

Hayrell and the stake communications director established a volunteer center at JustServe.org which covered all the volunteer opportunities of non-profit organizations and created a QR code to advertise the city. This allowed all volunteers to go through one convenient location to find and register.

They ended up with 26 volunteer projects through 16 organizations and 539 volunteers signed up for these projects through the JustServe website, but many more volunteers also showed up. Volunteers included members of the Bay City Stake, missionaries, and residents of Victoria and surrounding towns.

“We have been thrilled with the amazing response from the community and the JustServe platform has received rave reviews,” said Hairell.

Josette Padilla-Iger, JustServe specialist for the Church Coordinating Council in the south-central Texas region, said that after the service projects, a large celebration was held downtown with descendants of the city’s founders in attendance.

There was also a JustServe tent downtown where church communications leaders interacted with several people in the community, including a descendant of one of the town’s founders who enjoyed learning about the FamilySearch website, Padilla-Iguer said.

Padilla-Iger noted that a lot of work was put into the volunteer center to make the day of caring a success: “This created a huge opportunity that not only helped those in need, but also resulted in some organizations using JustServe for the first time and are considering continuing to work with JustServe for future projects.”

Hairell said the relationships developed between the JustServe specialist, stake leaders, city officials and organizations “have been deep and continue.”

Walk With Me Relief Society event in St. George, Utah

More than 100 women from the St. George Utah Bloomington Hills Stake gathered on Saturday, April 20, for a day of service themed “Walk With Me.” In total, they have worked hundreds of hours on behalf of non-profit organizations serving both their communities and international needs.

Tami Salmon, JustServe Specialist, said, “Our stake Relief Society president’s goal was to help sisters see that service may involve doing things big or small, but they are all helping Christ in His work. We also wanted them to become more familiar with JustServe.”

Projects included:

• Cutting out newspaper for paper mache projects on Memory Matters.
• Decorating 50 baby onesies and making 100 blankets for newborns in Honduras with Swaddle Love.
• Drawing inspirational stones for women at the Dove Center.
• We are preparing 69 sensory bottles in bags for Root for Kids.
• Cut out pictures from magazine stacks and organize them into categories for use in Root for Kids art projects.
• Hand embroidered pocket hearts for the Children’s Justice Center.
• Making 130 handmade cards and writing inspirational messages for seniors in childcare facilities.
• We are cutting out 75 children’s keepsake cards for the United Way and Help Me Grow Utah.

Since the action was published on JustServe.orga young family showed up and spent over an hour and a half at various stations because they were looking for somewhere to serve that morning. Another woman living outside the stake saw the ad and brought a large bag of materials to help with the activities.

Salmon said the women enjoyed visiting each other while working on service projects. Some stayed for half an hour, while others stayed the entire time. “We heard a lot of comments about how this should become an annual event because it was random but very productive,” she said.

At the event, posters and signs detailed each organization being helped and how families can continue to help these organizations themselves. The JustServe Station allowed women to see how the JustServe app works and view projects on the website. They could also write service ideas on the board so that others looking for ideas could see them.

“One sister said she had made hundreds of baby hats and wanted to donate them, so we found an organization that was happy to receive them,” Salmon said.

Women’s Day of Service in Oregon City, Oregon

On a rainy Saturday, May 4th, the Oregon Urban Stake held Neighbors Serving Neighbors Day with the help of JustServe.

Hundreds of hours were spent planning and volunteering for the event. One hundred and eighty women and 15 young women gathered that day at a local school for a variety of service projects including sewing, crafts, coloring, and building kits.

They made and donated:

• 72 skirts to the Public Organization of Immigrants and Refugees.
• 240 Christmas cards for senior center and Meals on Wheels.
• 350 children’s hearts for local hospitals.
• 36 sets of alphabet cards for Catholic Charities.
• 178 first aid kits for local nursing homes, shelters and schools.
• 300 sandwiches for a local homeless shelter.
• 85 paracord bracelets and 211 feminine hygiene kits for local school districts and Love One, a nonprofit dedicated to helping Clackamas County neighbors in need.

Large JustServe banners and other information helped volunteers learn how to continue to identify service opportunities locally or remotely.