April 13, 2009
As part of the Day of Service of the participating units of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints in Southeast Region, our Ward in Jeffersonville, Indiana chose to prepare 1000 hygiene, 1000 new born kits and 1000 book bags to be distributed to the local Red Cross, Salvation Army, Catholic Charities, Center for Women and Children and other local service organizations. The cost of the items to fill the kits is approximately $15,000. I, as Relief Society President, and other unit leaders proceeded to get the word out and solicit donations and assistance from members of the ward and members of the community.
We chose an organization based in Ogden, Utah, who is familiar with the kits and the items needed to purchase the various items. The order needed to be placed no later than April 13th in order to get it to the Stake Center in time for the April 25 Day of Service. On Friday, April 10th, we had only $2500.00 collected. I had previously submitted a grant to The Community Foundation, an organization providing funds for immediate relief in the current economic situation, but had not received a response. The previous week, I was contacted by a representative of The Community Foundation who told me that they were still considering our request and that I would probably hear the end of the following week.
Here it was Friday, and I had heard nothing. As I sat and pondered the situation, I was prompted to call a local judge, who is known for his generosity and has a large amount of funds at his disposal. I called Judge Joseph P. Weber, Judge of the Clark Superior Court No. 3 in Clark County, Indiana and told him about our project. He immediately responded yes and when I asked him how much he could give (thinking $500 would be nice) he told me that he would donate $5,000. I was over come with joy at his response. About 30 minutes later, I received a call from The Community Foundation who told me that they were awarding us the grant in the amount of $4740.00 (enough to supply 1000 hygiene kits). She told me that all of them on the board were so impressed by our project, and that they were happy to see a church step out of their congregation and help the community. By this time I was completely in awe. That day I came into my office a little forlorn that we had only collected $2500, and in one hour had almost $10,000 more. I knew that much fasting and prayer had been going on throughout our ward, and I knew that the Lord would bless us, but I did not realize until Good Friday how much he would bless us. We now have enough money to make and distribute 1000 hygiene kits, 600 newborn kits and 600 book bags. This, to me, is an Easter miracle.
Later that night, at home, I turned on the TV and the Ten Commandments was on. It was at the part when Moses lifted his staff and parted the waters. It struck me that the God that parted the waters for Moses was the same one that helped us get $10,000. With all that is going on in the world, my testimony is that the Lord does care about us and he cares about the service we render to others. I know that if we remain true to our purpose in life, to serve God and man that we will continue to be blessed no matter what the future may bring. This is truly His work.
Sister Sharyn Dietrich,
Relief Society President
Jeffersonville, Indiana Ward
Contact Kyle Morey for more information on this video mormonsinbusiness@gmail.com
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