The Relief Society is the organization in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints where women come together to strengthen, serve, and teach each other. It’s Motto is “Charity Never Faileth” which women of the Church live by to bring relief to the weary and down trodden. The Relief Society Sisters try to not be judgmental and critical, but try to have the pure love of Christ for our fellow travelers in this journey through life. Women meet to hold Relief Society Service Projects where women share skills and do service for those in their community as well as victims of disasters around the world.
Most of the ideas and contacts on this webpage are in the Salt Lake City Utah area but if you live outside of Utah you can still get awesome service ideas to do in your community. If you have a good service idea in your area please write about it in the review section below or you can send an email and pictures to stacy@homemakingdivas.com
Service Project making Hygiene Kits
Relief Society groups have made Hygiene Kits in past years and donated them to the Humanitarian Center of the church. However, the Humanitarian center no longer needs or accepts donations or kits of any kind. One of the reasons behind that change in policy is because shipping goods internationally is not efficient, cost-effective, or timely, and sometimes the items are not culturally appropriate. The Humanitarian Service section of LDS.org, under “What You Can Do,” suggests that those interested in doing humanitarian service look around their communities. As an example I want to give you the link for a website telling about a service project the Spokane Stake Relief Society did in Aug 2014. Click Here They contacted “Our Place Community Ministries”, which is a Christian-based nonprofit agency in Spokane’s West Central neighborhood, and planned a service project to help them.
As part of the service they involved The Spokane Stake Young Women who contributed to the project by collecting and organizing items for over 400 hygiene kits. Most of the items were donated by contacting local dentists and pharmacies. Items to place in Hygiene Kits could include a wash cloth, towel, a bar of soap, tooth brush and tooth paste, a comb. Other items can be added to the kit like a bottle of water and food items. The United Way can help you find a project in your area. Click this link and enter your zip code The United Way
Service Project Making Quilts
Anytime you want to do quilts for a Relief Society Service Project you can contact an amazing group in Salt Lake called Sweet Charity Sisters and they will give the supplies to make the quilts. The finished quilts the Relief Society makes will be returned to the Sweet Charity Sisters to give away. The quilts go to Shriners hospital, Hospice and to nursing homes. Feb 2015 their project is to sending 30 blankets to a national guard so they can take a blanket with them while they are deployed. They also give the quilts to “The Road Home” and they have been known to pass out blankets to homeless on the street. They will take donations, fabric, batting, and yarn and they will also furnish those supplies to your group. Contact: Claudeen Luckart 801-969-9576
The LDS Humanitarian Services in Salt Lake still accept donations of any size of quilt. You can not ask the Sweet Charity Sisters to donate supplies and then give the quilts to the Humanitarian Services so you need to furnish your own quilt supplies if you plan to donate them to the LDS Humanitarian Services. The contact phone number is 801-240-5954
Service Project making Bears for the Police Officers
This was a fun Relief Society Service Project to participate in and can be done any time of the year. The Police Officers in the Salt Lake area keep a stuffed bear in the trunk of their car. When they are involved in a case where a child is involved the officer gives the bear to the child to help calm them. The supplies were furnished by “Sweet Charity Sisters” and the “Telephone Pioneers” Group. Contact: Claudeen Luckart 801-969-9576 You will need to provide enough tables for the sisters to cut out the fabric and set up sewing machines. Some sisters can cut out the bear pattern from the fabric. 1 sister can attach the eyes and nose. Some sisters can bring their sewing machines and sew the bears. Some sisters can stuff bears and other sisters can hand sew the bears closed. If you are not in the Salt Lake area you can contact me and I can help you plan the project. The fabric used for the bears is old chenille bedspreads died pink or blue, fur and other fabric that will look good for a bear. One bedspread makes 13-15 bears. Packages with eyes and noses can be purchased at the craft store. Call your Police Dept or Homeless Shelter before starting your service to make sure they will accept the donation. You will want to tell the sisters where the bears will be donated. I’m sure the Police Offices in your area will appreciate your service!
Service Project helping the YWCA
The YWCA has strengthened the safety, health and well-being of women and their families for over 100 years. They have developed an integrated range of programs in the area of family violence, including shelter and transitional housing for homeless women and children I have a soft spot in my heart for the YWCA because they helped me get a protective order against my abusive husband and taught me how to get out of an abusive marriage and to be independent. I will be eternally grateful and always give back to their programs. Donations are essential in keeping their organization in full operation. They accept donations of cash, new or gently used clothing for women and children along with bedding, household items and other necessities. Your generosity can provide needed aid to women and children they serve and help them regain confidence and strength to move forward. To get an idea what types of items they need click this list for the Salt Lake area. Salt Lake City YWCA Wish list If you are located outside of Utah Click here To Find a YWCA in your area
Stuff The Bus Community Service Project
A great summer time Relief Society Service Project is help gather school supplies and donate them to the Stuff the Bus Community Project that is held Aug-Sept. Contact the United Way to see when they will be stuffing the back packs. You could also plan to take the sisters to the community project to stuff the back packs. The above link is the Utah United Way contact information for 2014 so look for the current contact information when you click into the page. If you are not located in Utah do a Google search with the words “Stuff the bus” to see if your community has a program or call your local united way. If you find a project in your area you can add that information in the review comments at the bottom of this page.
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