The BYU–Hawaii Women’s Organization got into the Christmas spirit by helping lower-income student families celebrate Christmas and receive essential everyday items during a Dec. 4 event in the Aloha Center Ballroom.
“Everyone wants to become the hands of the Savior. That’s our theme, ‘Our Savior’s Hands,’” explained the President of the BYUH Women’s Organization, Linda Black, a member of the Laie community.
She continued, “Everyone really wants to help at this time of year. They know that it’s a very meaningful service project to participate in.”
The women had different reasons behind their desire to serve. Sister Chris Millard, a senior missionary from Utah, who has been working in the English as an International Language Department for 23 months, told a story from her own life that instilled in her the value of service especially during the Christmas season.
“When I was 6 years old, my father died, and my mother had five little children. She was destitute. She had nothing. When Christmas came, there was nothing. But on Christmas Eve, there was a knock on the door, and it was the Salvation Army. They brought food and toys for children. So we were raised thinking that Christmas is a time when you think about people who are in need,” Millard stated. “It makes being here meaningful to me.”
For Darlene Morris, who is originally from Utah and the wife of the BYUH director of Security, giving service at Christmastime is a family tradition as well. “In Utah, there was a community Christmas program where the whole community came together and donated items for local families in need. It’s something that brightens the whole Christmas season.”
The service activity had several aspects to it. The main portion was wrapping the donations and getting them ready to give to the selected families. Ten student families living in TVA were selected to be on the receiving end of the service. The BYUH Women’s Organization collected the information on the needs of these families, and members were able to donate according to those needs.
Miriam Martins, who is from Brazil and the wife of Associate Dean of Religious Education Marcus Martins, described the kind of items that were donated.
According to Martins, “Everybody donates something for the household, for the children, or for the couple. We donate sheets, towels, fans, and other things that people use often.”
The donations that lined the walls were then wrapped and organized according to family through the teamwork of the women present.
Organization was key to the event, as the room was sectioned off for different parts of the activity, and tables had designated purposes and were labeled for such. The women were assigned individual duties to carry out in order to make the afternoon as efficient as possible. They also wrote Christmas cards for soldiers and learned how to make leis.
The BYUH Women’s Organization provided a special feeling during the project that some of the women attributed to the sisterhood found there. Morris explained there is a feeling of love and empathy in the air.
Millard said that feeling combined with Christmas service makes it easier to be away from home at this time of year.