The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in San Antonio

By Leisa Parsons, Area Media Specialist

Residents of Haven for Hope’s Courtyard will enjoy sleeping on clean mats this evening thanks to volunteers from The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saint’s San Pedro Ward. Seventeen folks answered Haven’s call for help this morning. Working with Haven’s Volunteer Coordinator, DJ Jackson, two separate projects were accomplished.

The first project was to clean the mats that residents sleep on. They organized into three teams. The first team pulled the mats out out of their storage area and laid them out on the cement for cleaning. The second group wet the mats with a hose and scrubbed them with brooms and a cleaning solution. The third group then moved in and wiped the mats dry with a whole laundry basket full of towels. The clean mats were then re-stacked in the storage area. Due to security concerns for the residents, no pictures were taken in the Courtyard. The group cleaned 190 mats in an hour, which Jackson mentioned was an impressive amount accomplished. Continue reading “Clean Up at Haven for Hope”

By Leisa Parsons, Area Media Specialist

“These baskets mean someone is caring for them, even when they’re not there….  it’s no longer just their problem,” said Lisa Whitman, a registered nurse for the Hospice Team.

Relief Society sisters from the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints’ Evans Ranch Ward have been busy collecting, crocheting, sewing and baking items for the past two months to fill 47 baskets full of love for hospice patients.

Continue reading “Baskets of Comfort”

By Ken Jarvis, Area Media Specialist

By nine in the morning it was already getting hot and the humidity was stifling. But underneath the pavilion behind the San Antonio West Stake’s Helotes Ward building a group of about 20 volunteers tried to ignore the heat as they prepared to help Eagle candidate Brayden Chatland accomplish his goal of building beds for San Antonio area children. Brayden’s team was working to support the Sleep in Heavenly Peace organization.  

He admitted that the fundraising was a hard but good experience for him.  “Honestly, I’m not a super outgoing person. I’m a little shy so it was a really good experience to go and talk to people.”

According to Scoutmaster, Jeffery Steffen, Brayden is one of 15 boys preparing to receive the Eagle award this year. “About six of them have completed an Eagle project and are waiting on a final board,” said Steffen.  “That includes two young men who are not members of our Church.” The rest of the boys are moving swiftly toward completion.  

Continue reading “Helotes Ward Has 15 Young Men Preparing to Receive Their Eagle This Year”

By Leisa Parsons, Area Media Specialist

The newest member of the Catholic Charities Mobile relief fleet was introduced today. “Faith” the Mobile Shower Trailer will travel around San Antonio and surrounding areas. It is equipped with two shower and restroom stalls along with a washer and dryer. It will provide much needed services from refreshing bodies, reviving spirits and renewing dignity.

Elder Carlos Villarreal, Area Seventy, of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, spoke at the press-conference to introduce the Shower Trailer. He said, “It is great to partner with the Archdiocese of San Antonio and Catholic Charities. It has been a wonderful team effort, to be able to work together to bless the lives of many.”

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, has recognized the wonderful services that Catholic Charities provides to the underserved in our community and has partnered with Catholic Charities on several service opportunities. Catholic Charities’ CEO, Antonio Fernandez, who had envisioned the benefits of a shower trailer, shared his vision last year with local leaders of the Church of Jesus Christ. Shortly after the CEO’s vision was shared with the Church, a check for the cost of the truck and trailer was presented by Elder Villarreal. 

Continue reading ““Faith” Joins “Hope” in Mobile Relief Efforts”

By Leisa Parsons, Area Media Specialist

Going “back to school” became a little less painful for kids and for their mother’s wallets with a Community Clothing Drive. The drive, sponsored by members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in conjunction with the Colonies North community served hundreds of people today.

The donations began pouring in yesterday at Colonies House, Colonies North’s Community Center. Fortunately, along with the donations, volunteers showed up in force to help set up. Racks of clothing, organized by size, began to fill along with table after table each with mounds of clothing. For Debbie Walker, President of the Women’s organization for the Church’s San Antonio North Stake, and the event’s organizer, it was gratifying to see the efforts of so many work together to bless the underserved in the area. 

Continue reading “Back to School Clothing Drive”

The mobile food pantry was up and running at The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints’ Galway building, once again handing out much needed food to those in the surrounding neighborhoods. Members of the Church’s Windcrest Ward in the East Stake and other volunteers assisted Catholic Charities as their “Hope Mobile” arrived stocked with pantry items to help the underserved in the area. Members and volunteers assisted those who came to fill out the necessary paperwork to request the grocery items. Other volunteers helped to fill their orders and load them into cars.

Estella Ibarra, from the Church’s Buena Vista Ward, was impressed by the operations and the needs that were being filled. She was touched by the volunteers and the effort made to assist people. She said, ” I wanted to come here because I didn’t know what it was all about. I thought it was about serving food. But it was the opposite, it was about giving the food.” She was impressed how their needs were met and humbled by the opportunity to serve. Continue reading “Serving With One Heart”

“As a Relief Society we wanted to do a service project, so we looked on JustServe. One of the projects listed was helping with school supplies for refugees and it looked like a great opportunity,” said Erika Walker from the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saint’s Castle Hills Ward in the San Antonio North Stake. Ward members have been compiling the school supplies for the last month. Members of the Castle Hills Relief Society, along with families from another ward, who saw the project on JustServe, assembled the backpacks today from the donated supplies.

The Center for Refugee Services, where they met to assemble the school supplies, will distribute the backpacks to school age refugees on August 8, 9, and 12th. For more information on helping with distribution: https://www.justserve.org/projects/6b455cea-d224-4fc0-8f8a-076362637614

Continue reading “Assembling School Backpacks for Refugees”

As part of their ongoing assistance to the Val Verde Border Humanitarian Coalition, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints delivered a check for $15,000 for the Coalition’s operating expenses.  The Coalition is made of congregants from several churches in the Del Rio area. The Coalition seeks to serve families entering the United States to await adjudication of their requests for asylum. The Coalition, in cooperation with the City of Del Rio, provides families, seeking asylum with much needed help. The families are transported to the facility by the local border patrol. The families are then provided with a shower and bathroom facilities, food and drink, personal hygiene supplies, and assistance with contacting their sponsors in the US. After an orientation, they also receive any needed counseling, and help arranging transportation to San Antonio. From San Antonio, they will obtain passage to other cities to meet their designated sponsors – typically family members already residing in the United States. 

As part of this assistance, the Salvation Army provides portable showers and bathrooms. A food truck, serving a hot meal, is provided by the Salvation Army and Samaritan’s Purse, an international charity that provides help to displaced people throughout the world. The Coalition provides families with personal supplies, water and food for their trip inland. These legal immigrants represent a mix of nationalities and languages. Spanish, French and Portuguese are the typical languages spoken. Some come speaking other languages or dialects. Church members have provided translation services when needed. Continue reading “Ongoing Assistance at the Border”

On July 13th 2019, members of the Helotes and North stakes of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints met at the San Antonio build location for Mobility Worldwide. They gathered to assemble hand-operated three-wheeled all-terrain vehicles, specifically following plans to add seats to these carts.

Working alongside service coordinator John Butler and President of Mobility Worldwide, Tom Martin, these 5 men and 1 woman weren’t afraid of getting their hands dirty and using the workshop’s machinery to get the job done right. The San Antonio build workshop is the smallest and the farthest west of all the Mobility Worldwide Affiliate Workshops, so that is about the limit on personnel. Despite this a lot can be done in such a limited work space. Continue reading “Getting Hearts Mobile”

By Ken Jarvis, San Antonio Area Media Specialist

Bill Elmer and his wife are both in their 70s, retired and have lived in Palm Valley, Texas for twenty years without ever experiencing a flood in their home.  “We even went through hurricane Dolly and never had a problem,” Bill said.  But on the night of Tuesday, June 25^th, it started to rain.  “It was the most spectacular rainstorm I’ve ever seen,” he continued.  “There was so much lightning.”

The Elmers may not have experienced flooding in their home before, but they both have extensive backgrounds in emergency service and have volunteered many times.  “We stayed up until about 9:30, and it was still pouring rain, coming down in buckets.  But at that point the streets weren’t flooding so we went off to bed and went to sleep.  Around 12:30 or 1 o’clock I hear splash, splash, splash and our dog jumps up into bed…wet.”  

They immediately got up and by using a shop vac and squeegees got most of the water and half of the dirt out by the next day.  “The following morning we started moping and cleaning up. But we still had dry wall damage and some studs and face plates were wet.  “Water also soaked into our rock wool insulation.”  They followed FEMA’s suggestion of using a white vinegar and peroxide solution to stop the mold but they were fighting an uphill battle. Continue reading “San Antonio Stakes Travel to Rio Grande Valley for Flood Cleanup”