Chester Support Local Charity with Donations for Refugees

Members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints from the across the Chester area turned out in numbers to respond to a call from the Flintshire based charity SHARE to lend a helping hand.  Following a hugely successful public appeal for food, clothing and toiletries for refugees in Syria the charity had a warehouse full of much needed donations but they only had one week to sort, pack and load it into a container ready to be shipped overseas. It was at this time that Lisa Robertson, co-founder of SHARE, appealed for volunteers to assist with what seemed an impossible challenge.

Members of the Chester Stake heard the call and over the next 7 days they provided 100’s of hours of assistance to sort and pack the aid.  During the week Stake Youth activities were held on Wednesday and Friday evening when over 50 young people responded to the invitation from the Stake President, Jared Ireland, to “get involved and offer service to those in dire need.” All the youth taking part found the experience extremely rewarding with Annabel Shaw (17 years) of Chester Ward summing up the feelings of many when she said “it was great to work alongside others from across the stake knowing that in just 3 weeks the aid we were packing would be in the hands of those who needed it most”.

On Saturday the 23rd January over 30 members, proudly wearing their ‘Helping Hands’ tabards, joined other local volunteers to form a human chain to load over 1,600 sacks of aid into the shipping container.

Reflecting on the successful operation Lisa Robertson said, “We honestly could not have achieved our goal without the help offered and gratefully received from The Church of Jesus Christ Of Latter Day Saints, they truly are an amazing and inspiring group of compassionate human beings.”