SOS Activity #1

Our First Large SOS Activity was on Saturday, May 29th. We gathered together to make blankets which we donated to Head Start to be given to teenage mothers in our area.

After some refreshments we started off with a terrific lesson on service from Katy:

Then we headed to the Multi Purpose room to begin work on our fleece and flannel blankets. As we worked we listened to Brandy from Head Start who came to accept our donations and talk to us about what she and her program do, and where the blankets will be going.

It was neat to hear from her, and to know that our blankets were going somewhere that they were truly needed and wanted. As she spoke it was also clear that she was very touched by the service the sisters were providing.

Then all that was left was to finish the job!

In the end we donated 29 blankets to the cause.

Thank you so much to all who participated and who helped plan the event! It was a great success and we are all looking forward to the next one!

Pictures for this post were taken by Jenika. Check out how talented she is HERE.

Books to Prisoners

The books to prisoners program provides books to Illinois inmates at no cost. It offers books by mail to all Illinois inmates and operates lending libraries in our the two local county jails. All the books the program sends out are donated by community members, and the program is solely run by volunteers. Books sales and other fundraising events help cover the cost of postage to mail the books off to the prisoners.

Volunteers primarily interact with the inmates by reading their letters, selecting books from a collection of donated materials, writing back to the inmates, and shipping those books directly to the inmates in response to their requests. Responses are left anonymous, meaning you sign "from a volunteer", rather than your real name. Requests range from specific titles or authors, to genres, to subjects or topics. You don't have to be too knowledgeable about books in order to volunteer. Other tasks such as managing volunteers, coordinating book donations and fund raising, entering information into a database, and participating in other education and outreach or technical tasks are needed as well.

I went for the first time last Saturday, and had a great experience. I read the prisoners letters, found some books off the shelf, and wrote back to them. Other clerical tasks like computer work, shelving books, checking parole dates, and shipping off packages are also needed. I wasn't 100% sure that the books I was sending the prisoners were actually what they were looking for, but that didn't seem to matter. All of the letters I responded to were from people who wanted to make the best of their time in prison. They wanted to educate themselves so they would have a future with skills and knowledge to put to use when they were finally released. The books I sent out were on topics such as business, finance, economics, real estate, sociology, and psychology. Others dealt with religion and topics regarding around self help.

A different male volunteer asked me how I got started with this organization and why I wanted to volunteer. I was able to share a little about our SOS goal as a relief society. I asked him the same question, and his response startled me. This particular gentleman used to be a recipient of the books to prisoners program. He wrote to volunteers like me when he was incarcerated and it changed his life. He mentioned that a lot of the prisoners don't receive any letters or correspondence, not even from family members. The fact that someone actually read their letters and responded by hand to them brightened up their day. It proved that someone outside of the jail facility knew who they were and cared enough to respond. This reassured me that it doesn't really matter what books recommendations I make; the receiver is grateful to actually get books they can call their own, and to make a pen pal friend. Plus, they could use their time trying to make their lives better.

The volunteer center is located at the bottom of the post office in Urbana at 202 S. Broadway (next to Lincoln Square Mall). Volunteer sessions are:
7:00-9:00 PM Tuesdays
2:00-4:00 PM Thursdays
2:00-4:00 PM Saturdays.

You can also help re shelve books at the prison libraries. I haven't done this yet, but plan to when school lets out for the summer. Those hours are:
6:00-9:00 PM Monday
9:00 AM-Noon Friday
1:00-4:00 PM Friday

For more information you can visit their website at: http://www.books2prisoners.org/volunteer.php

Finally, the books to prisoners program is having a book sale to raise money for postage. Stacks and stacks of books are waiting to be shipped to the prisoners, but are on hold because they have no funds. Money raised from these book sales also goes to purchasing dictionaries because those are the most requested book from the prisoners and they never have enough. If you have any books or dictionaries that you don't want, drop them off in the books to prisoners donation boxes. They can be found in business and libraries around town.
Book sale information:
April 16-18 at 202 S. Broadway, Urbana
Friday 4-8 pm; Saturday 8-5 pm, and Sunday 10am-2pm.
$.50 for soft covers, $1.00 for hardbacks, bag sale Sunday - fill a bag for $4.00.
Help spread the word

If you have other questions or want to know more about what I did or my thoughts about the program, you can contact me.

Brittney Richards

Thank you for sharing Brittney! What a wonderful thing you were able to do!

Relay for Life

Dear Sisters,

In this message, SOS stands for Save Our Ship, as well as all the other acronyms! :)

On June 26th, Joel and I will be participating in a Relay for Life in Oswego, close to his parent's house. The event is a big fundraiser for the American Cancer Society, which helps research cures for cancer as well as educating people in ways to prevent cancer (smoking cessation, etc). Our team captain, Debbie, is a non-member friend of Joel's dad, and she's a very outgoing, friendly lady.

Here's my problem: Debbie has organized a team fund raiser that Joel and I can't participate in (a wine tasting) which she hopes will cover most of her fundraising requirements. I told Debbie Joel and I would come up with some fundraising ideas of our own to make up our part of the team effort. Here's where I need some help!

One of my ideas was to have a pancake breakfast or a spaghetti dinner, asking for a 1or 2 dollar donation for the meal. If that were to happen, I would need: 1. a place to host a meal; 2. a few people to help set up beforehand; 3. whatever food items people were willing to donate, and 4. everyone to invite their friends of other faiths! I was kind of thinking of doing it at the Stake Center or Institute building, but I'm not sure if church buildings are available for fundraising activities like that. Does anybody know?

Another idea would be to have a bake sale at a local community site (haven't figured out where yet), and that would be me just asking for everyone's best goodies. :) Also, a person or two to share watching the table with me would be wonderful!

A third option, suggested by Joel's mom, would be to have a "service auction". People would donate service items, like gardening for so many hours, making a blanket or pillow, cleaning up someone's living room, singing someone's favorite song, etc. Upon arrival, people would pick up "money" for the auction. I think people could get our auction "money" by figuring out how much service they have given to people during the past week, or by figuring out how they have prevented/helped others prevent cancer during the week. This could be a smaller activity, maybe at someone's house... my apartment might be too small for it to work well. Then we would request donations, etc. Kind of like a bridal shower, but for a different cause! The more I think about it, the more this idea sounds like it could be cool... :)

Anyway... Those are my issues, ideas, and I hope to hear from you soon! If one of these ideas works out, everyone involved can count up their service hours for the American Cancer Society.

Take care!

~Katy

P.S. I have a little website related to the relay, if anyone wants to look at it... We have a fundraising goal as a team, and donations are always much appreciated.

Click HERE for Katy's website and HERE for the American Cancer Society

A Week Ago Yesterday...

We held our Relief Society SOS kick off Event!

See what a delightful time we had chatting over our scrumptious Italian-themed Pot Luck dinner?

The food really was fantastic, and for those of you who would like the recipe to the amazing Zoupa Toscana soup that Rachel brought click HERE!

The turnout for the event was spectacular, and we were so excited for the support and enthusiasm from the sisters of our ward for this new goal we have set.

Some of the most touching moments of the night came during the program's beautiful musical numbers:

We are so blessed to have such musically gifted sisters who are willing to share their talents with us!

The first speaker of the evening was Sister Burton who shared a message about service and love. She talked about the Saviors example, and the many admonitions we have in the scriptures and from our modern day Prophets to serve our fellow men. She talked about the blessings that come into our own lives as we develop the attribute of love, and do our best to give that love away.

Following her message she outlined how the SOS program will work, and how we will document our progress:

The Concluding Speaker was Bishop Johnson who also spoke about service, and who promised missionary opportunities that will come as a result of us getting out into the community.

The kickoff activity was such a nice evening, and we thank everyone who contributed to making it a success!

And a special thank you to Crystal for taking these pictures!

A First!

Woot Woot!

Look at the sidebar folks... we have our very first ever recorded hours! I got an e-mail from one of the Sisters informing me of some hours she served this week.

I will have a sign up sheet ready for Relief Society this week in case anyone else has hours to record. If you have some to record yourself you can send me an email or you can wait till Sunday when the sign up sheet comes around.

Thanks guys!

Ashlee

Ten Thousand Villages

I have been volunteering at 10,000 Villages for over 10 years. The shop is located at 105 North Walnut Street in downtown Champaign. Ten Thousand Villages provides vital, fair income to Third World people by marketing their handicrafts and telling their stories in North America. Ten Thousand Villages works with over 130 artisan groups in more than 38 countries in Asia, Africa, Latin America and the Middle East to produce fair trade jewelry, home decor, gifts and more. Ten Thousand Villages is one of the world's oldest and largest fair trade organizations and is a nonprofit program of Mennonite Central Committee.

I usually volunteer 7 hours per month and thoroughly enjoy my association with the store manager, the part time employees, and the over 40 volunteers who keep the champaign shop going. The people I've met there are from many different religious affiliations. All of them are warm, and loving, and the type of people who enjoy giving back to their community. I've discovered that many of them give many hours of service to their churches and other community organizations as well as the time they donate to the mission of Ten Thousand Villages.

I work full time and often go to my volunteer shift feeling tired and run down but it's such an uplifting environment, and I've learned what a difference this organization has made in the lives of our brothers and sister all over the world.

It's a pleasure to buy a special gift or treasure at the shop. Gifts purchased at Ten Thousand Villages give twice. Once to the artist who created it and once again to the person who buys or receives it.

--Sharon McFarland

Thank you Sister McFarland! To learn more about Ten Thousand Villages click HERE

Dance for Parkinson’s Disease

I teach a dance class called Dance for Parkinson’s Disease. It is a class especially for people with Parkinson’s Disease, but anyone with balance or mobility problems is welcome, along with family members or caregivers. I team-teach with dance educator Kate Kuper, and the music for every class is provided by piano accompanist Beverly Hilman. We are paid for our service through grants that make it possible for the participants to attend for free. Kate and I received training from two members of the New York-based Mark Morris Dance Group, which does a weeklong residence at the U of I every year. These professional dancers hold weekly Dance for Parkinson’s classes in their Brooklyn studio. When I was contacted by the dance department head at the U of I, I had a very strong feeling that this was something I needed to do. I have always loved visiting my ailing Grandparents and trying to alleviate their difficulties in some way. My grandparents are far away now, but teaching Dance for PD is a way for me to use my talents and skills to help others in a similar situation.

One very prevalent symptom of Parkinson’s Disease is rigidity; the muscles freeze up, making it difficult to move freely. Dancing together with live music (popular music from their era, show tunes, and classical music) Parkinson’s sufferers find an increase in range of motion and motor control. And all the time we’re having fun. It’s like magic!

We started our monthly class at the U of I Krannert Center in November 2009, and we typically have around 25 people participating in the class. I love associating with the people and seeing their minds and bodies “come alive” as they experience the joy of movement that many may have thought was no longer possible for them. These people have become my friends. I love learning from those of the older generation because they know and have experienced so much. They have a softness and ease about them that I don’t see in any other people I associate with. I love talking with them before and after class, and we all leave edified for having been together.

--Marianne Jarvi

Thank you Marianne!

About Us

The Sisters Of Service are members of the unparalleled organization known as Relief Society within the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints.

Functioning on a Local Level of this worldside organization, the members of the Urbana Ward Relief Society are banding together in service to their community to further the purposes of their society.

What are their purposes you ask? Sister Julie B. Beck, current general president of the Relief Society has made the following statement:

"The purpose of Relief Society, as established by the Lord, is to organize, teach, and inspire His daughters to prepare them for the blessings of eternal life."

As means of accomplishing that purpose sisters in the Relief Society seek to:

* Increase Faith

* Strengthen Families and Homes

*Serve the Lord and His Children

The Sisters Of Service are excited to participate in the purpose of Relief Society, and we have set the goal to offer 500 hours of Community Service from March 2010 to March 2011.

This blog is dedicated to recording that effort, sharing ideas, testimonies, experiences, and inspiring others to join in the cause!

How Do We Plan on Reaching Our Goal?

We do not expect that each sister will be able to participate in each and every service opportunity listed below. We are simply trying to brain storm as many ideas as possible to provide you with ample opportunities to serve. This list is meant to inspire ideas and facilitate, not to overwhelm and frustrate!

#1 Four of our Monthly Relief Society Activities throughout the coming year will be dedicated to S O S. Every sister will be invited and we will strive to provide a variety of different types of service. We know as we come together to serve we will be more unified and that we can do a lot of good in our community. Also sponsored by the Relief Society, we will continue our participation with meals on wheels.

#2 Sisters may start a Service Group which will meet on a regular basis as determined by the group leader/leaders to do their special types of service. An example could be a knitting group who donates their handiwork to those in need or a singing group who regularly visits a retirement center to cheer the residents. Any sister who regularly volunteers by herself may also count her hours here.

#3 Family Home Evening Challenge. The Relief Society Presidency is challenging each family to hold a special Family Home Evening sometime this year to teach their kids about service and to take them out in the community to experience it first hand. We hope Sisters who take the challenge will please share their ideas with us all!

#4 Any Sister may sponsor a One Time Service Event. It may include other sisters who wish to participate but can be as simple as one sister personally going and volunteering somewhere for a day. The Relief Society wishes to help facilitate these activities and provide any needed support for Sister's who choose to sponsor an event. Ideas for this could include holding a coat drive in the winter to give to the homeless, several sisters going together to clean up a park, etc.

WHAT COUNTS AS HOURS???

Any time spent in serving the community counts. While we love how much service the sisters provide to each other and to their families, only community service hours, or hours spent watching another sister's children so that she may serve, count towards our goal. If you are already actively volunteering: Wonderful! Your hours count whether it is a new venture or something you have been doing for years!

If there is any question as to what counts towards our hourly goal please ask a member of the Relief Society Presidency.

Sisters are Asked to Please Ponder the Following Questions as they decide how they want to participate in the SOS Program:

#1 What talents or gifts have I been blessed with that I might be able to use to bless the life of another?

#2 Where do my sympathies naturally turn? Is there something that I already CARE about, that this year I can resolve to DO something about?