Volunteer Spotlight: Debi, Utah Program

Debi is one of our incredible Utah warehouse supervisors. She always shows up with kind words and a wonderful attitude and dives right in! We often receive a lot of donations that pile up very quickly, and Debi likes to get right to work organizing everything. She’s also recruited several family members and friends to come help us out! 

Tell us a little about yourself:
I am 66 years old, and while I grew up in Chicago, I have lived my adult life in Utah.  I attended BYU, with a desire to teach, but married at 19 years old, and my career became home and family.  I have 8 children, and my life’s goal has been largely centered on raising them to be good people!  I have always been drawn to Humanitarian work, and have enjoyed humanitarian travel to Guatemala and Ethiopia.   Other travels have taken me to India, Costa Rica, Mexico, and Zimbabwe, all of which have enlarged my world view and conviction that while I have been blessed with such abundance, I must share with others.  I believe strongly that we are all God’s children, and so must treat each other as “family.”

How did you become involved with LHI?
I became involved with LHI when searching for a service project to do with my grandchildren at a cousins camp.  I found LHI on justserve.org, and we put together school kits.  We took them to the drop-off point, which happened to be Traci’s living room, which was already overflowing with donations!  She mentioned that she was hoping to get a warehouse rented to take the pressure off of her home, and I told her to keep me in mind if she needed help.  When the warehouse was rented, I became a sort of shift supervisor, going in every Wednesday.  The work is varied at the warehouse…I would summarize it as bringing chaos into order.  

What is a typical day like for you?
We sort, count, box, label and stack donations, preparing them for shipping on loading containers.  One of the joys of working at the warehouse is rubbing shoulders with the good people who you work with.  There is a great spirit that attends this kind of work!

What have you learned since volunteering with LHI? Has your perspective changed?
My experience at LHI has shown me (as other Humanitarian efforts have) that while we busy ourselves with daily life, there are some things that really matter.  I think of the words of William Wordsworth: 

The world is too much with us…getting and spending we lay waste our powers.  

I enjoy volunteering at LHI because I feel I am doing something that matters. Other efforts rush through my days, but his type of work is not wasted…it counts.

Learn more about our Utah project here!

Volunteer Spotlight: Kristina, Utah Program

Kristina is amazing! She is a Utah drop off location volunteer and a warehouse supervisor. She is a great leader and problem solver and a huge help to us at the warehouse. She is positive and encouraging and always smiling. She and her family members are our experts at packing the container full, and often when we show up to meet someone dropping off donations at the warehouse, we will find Kristina's family there working on a project at the warehouse to help us get caught up! We are so grateful to Kristina and her family for all of their tremendous support.

Tell us a little about yourself:
My name is Kristina Brockbank.  I graduated from BYU many years ago with a teaching degree in Elementary Education but most of my married life has been spent moving around the country with my husband who was in the Army and our five wonderful children. Our family has called Pleasant Grove, Utah home for almost 10 years now. We love spending time together playing games and exploring new places.

How did you get involved with LHI?
In August 2018 when all of my kids went back to school I had a need to find something good to do with my time. I looked on JustServe and saw something about Lifting Hands and sent Traci an email asking how I could help. She quickly responded that they needed a Tuesday warehouse supervisor. I had no idea what that meant but I showed up at the warehouse the next week and haven’t missed many weeks since then. Though it is a warehouse with cement floors and metal walls, there is a special feeling there that keeps me coming back. Our home is now a drop off location for donations too. It has been a blessing for our entire family to be involved in such a great organization.

What has been your most rewarding experience volunteering for LHI?
This past holiday season was especially rewarding as we welcomed multiple donation drop offs each day at our home. We have been humbled as a family to see the goodness in people. From the people who have organized neighborhood drives to classroom parties that involved putting together kits, to families who dropped off carloads of food kits they did for family get-togethers, to the teenage girl who stood on my front porch offering the beautiful blanket she had tied all by herself, we have been overwhelmed by the huge hearts and selfless souls who give to people they will never know. 

I have loved meeting volunteers who come to the warehouse too. We have seen young adults, retired couples, high school students who come on their lunch break, businesses who give up holiday dinner parties to come give of their time instead, youth groups, college students, and so many more who just want to help any way they can. 

I feel blessed to be a small part of such an incredible organization. Thank you Lifting Hands for all you do to help people around the world and those of us here who gain so much from giving what little we can.

Learn more about our Utah program!

Volunteer Profile: Traci

My name is Traci Parson. I am a mother of 5 with a Bachelors Degree in Speech-Language Pathology. I worked at a school for children with special needs and then at an early intervention program before becoming a full-time mom!

WHAT IS YOUR RESPONSIBILITY AT LHI?
I am the Assistant Director for the Utah program. I am so incredibly grateful for the opportunity to run the Utah warehouse where we receive and then prepare all donations for shipment to various countries to help refugees. I see all of the contributions that come in from all over the country and it never ceases to amaze me the generosity of people. We are sending more than just humanitarian aid. We are sending a message of love, hope, and peace.

WHAT IS A DAY OF VOLUNTEERING AT LHI LIKE FOR YOU?
Well, I spend a great part of every day on emails, texts, phone calls, and in person contacts with everyone who reaches out to us to help accomplish this great effort to show love and support to refugees across the sea. This is one of my favorite parts of my day because I love connecting with people and seeing their desire to help and their love for others. I’ll also spend time coordinating with some of our 31 outstanding drop-off location volunteers throughout the state as they bring in donations. They are the ones who help make our Utah program successful and far-reaching. I’ll also go over to the warehouse and spend the day with our incredible supervisors and volunteers who work tirelessly sorting and boxing donations. There, we make sure our shipments are packed carefully and accurately to get through customs. I love being in the warehouse, the work we do there, the people we meet who come in to volunteer with us, and the feeling you have while you’re there.  Then I’ll work on paperwork for our shipment. I work closely with our amazing HHRD partners to work out details regarding the shipment (lists of items to ship, procedures, documentation, etc) to make sure everything runs smoothly from the time items are donated and boxed up, to the time they reach the hands of those receiving them. I am so grateful to have such a wonderful, dedicated team of volunteers here in Utah and across the country that makes this all possible.

WHAT INSPIRED YOU TO GET INVOLVED WITH LHI?
I found myself with time on my hands during the day so I began to volunteer in my community for Meals on Wheels, local food banks, etc. which was awesome and I loved it! Then one day I saw a picture of Aylan Kurdi, a young Syrian refugee child, lying dead on a beach, and it shattered my heart and forever changed everything for me. I knew I needed to help refugees in some way. I searched for an organization near me that helped refugees but struggled to find one until I finally came across Lifting Hands International. I have been volunteering for them ever since. I had been lamenting all the evil and darkness in the world, and I came across this quote that said, “Do not despair…Never forget that amidstall the awful circumstances that you may see, if you look, you will always find the good. Where suffering shows its persistent face, heroes always rise.” LHI were those heroes. And I wanted to help them.

WHAT HAVE YOU LEARNED SINCE VOLUNTEERING WITH LHI?
I have learned that there are so, so many loving, generous people in this world who are ready and willing to give what they have to serve their fellow man. Individuals, families, children and adults, businesses, school groups, organizations, scouts, and members of many different religious groups. I meet them every single day. And it is an honor.

THANK YOU, TRACI!

Volunteer Profile: Carlissa

Carlissa Pugh Larsen is our dedicated and fiercely intelligent Director of Utah Operations. Under her expert management, the Utah program and army of volunteers has collected, packed, and shipped off 5 shipping containers bound for refugee camps in Jordan and Lebanon. 

1. Tell us a little about yourself.
I’m a 36 year-old native of Utah. I have an Associate degree in science and a Bachelor's degree in Geography from Brigham Young University. I am currently considering getting a degree in marketing management. I'm a devoted wife and mother to 3 young children.

2. What is a day of volunteering at LHI Utah like for you?
My volunteer days vary greatly -- Some days I drive a moving truck to pick up empty boxes for packing. Other days I'm organizing financial documents or meeting with partner organizations. My favorite days consist of helping to load shipping containers with all the desperately need supplies we've collected over several weeks or months.

3. What inspired you to get involved with LHI’s Utah program?
I wanted to help refugees and heard about LHI through a friend. Once I got involved with a one-off event, I saw that an immense number of fellow Utahns and others wanted to help but didn’t know how. LHI provided the how, and I proposed to establish a Utah program. I recognized that if I put my efforts into organizing a lot of people to do just a little, we could create a whole lot more good than I ever could have provided by myself.

4. What has been your most rewarding experience volunteering with LHI Utah?
I love watching our volunteers lives be blessed through their service -- from someone needing to do community service hours to elderly in nursing homes that need something productive to do to keep their hands and minds active. I started with LHI because I wanted to help refugees, but in doing so we've created a program that has blessed the lives of so many others as well because they've been given opportunities to serve.

5. What have you learned since volunteering with LHI? Has your perspective changed?
I've learned that humanity still exists in this self-destructive world, that there are people who are still kind and tolerant and humane despite the scenes of horror displayed on news sources and social media.  While we should never turn a blind eye to inhumanity, we must also acknowledge that good still exists and that is where we find our hope and courage as we strive to create a better world.

Our warehouse in Pleasant Grove in Utah is run by an army of dedicated volunteers who collect, sort, and pack critically needed items for refugees. We are always looking for groups to donate items and kits. Since needs are constantly shifting due to the ebb and flow of donations, please email traci@lhi.org for current needs. You can also provide critical aid with a few clicks by ordering an item off our Amazon wishlist.