“It’s so important to be kind”

JustServe in the Europe North Area has been helping food banks and food-related charities through their Harvest Appeal. Jane and Paul Elvidge, who oversee JustServe in Europe North, decided it was a good time to encourage members of the Church to reach out to their local communities and help those experiencing food poverty.

With support from the Area Presidency, a request was sent to all Stake Presidents and Stake Relief Society Presidents asking them to invite their members to get involved in their local areas. The result has been amazing. Jane said, “We have been overwhelmed by the response to the Harvest Appeal. Members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints have a good tradition of helping those in need and we launched the JustServe Harvest Appeal to build on what was already happening in our stakes to help the increasing number of people who are suffering.”

Many stakes across the Area already support food related charities and have used the Harvest Appeal to collect more than usual. Several stakes also used the Appeal to find new opportunities to do good in their local areas. Forty five units have been involved in the Appeal, including fifteen from Finland, this is in addition to the many other units who already have regular collections for their local foodbanks. Here is a selection of the stories that have been received, please look on the JustServe Europe North Facebook and Instagram pages for more individual stories over coming weeks.

Chloe Ludford, who is a friend of the church in Chichester ward, encouraged her office, Leaders Limited, to support Chichester District Foodbank through the Harvest Appeal. They collected food throughout the month of October. Chloe said, “It’s been so nice to see the donations from the public, we get lots of footfall through the door and we keep having people come in to drop things off.”

In Basingstoke, Rebecca Barnsley used social media to promote her ward's Harvest Appeal event. On the day, they had a drop off area at their chapel with the missionaries handing out flyers at the chapel gates, several members of the local community turned up to donate food. Rebecca said, "It was a huge success and we delivered two carloads of food to the Basingstoke Food Bank." One of those donating said, “I have a friend who has used the food bank, they are so important, and I wanted to give and be kind, it’s so important to be kind!”

In the Jyväskylä stake in Finland, members from Lappeenranta ward took food items to a refuge which houses young adults who have grown up with parents suffering from substance abuse. The food was gratefully welcomed. One young man when he saw bananas and mandarins said, “Many of us haven’t had fruit for years.” When the residents were also given sweets and lemonade, their eyes glistened, and some had tears in them. One of the organisers said, "These young adults have slipped through the net, and they have rarely seen this kind of love."

The youth in Bradford ward delivered 200 flyers in their local area for their Harvest Appeal supporting the Bradford Metropolitan Foodbank. Pauline was speechless when the printer who made the flyers to advertise the event told her, “Under the circumstances we won’t charge to do these for you as it’s a worthy cause.” On collection day, several people from the local Muslim community came to donate food including a dad and his teenage son who had just been to a kick boxing class. The Dad said, "We always go for fast food after kickboxing, but we wanted to come here first today to give this food to those who need extra help."

The Trussell Trust food bank charity has just launched its first-ever emergency appeal to meet a "devastating rise in need" as it warns of its "hardest winter yet" amid the cost of living crisis. In response to this, JustServe Europe North would like to encourage our volunteers to continue supporting food charities over the difficult winter months. Through doing this we will be able to show in a very practical way that we agree with President Dallin H Oaks recent statement, “The Church of Jesus Christ is committed to serving those in need, and it is also committed to cooperating with others in that effort.” Dallin H Oaks (General Conference, October 2022).