Volunteers provide 2,000 humanitarian kits for refugees across the world

AMMON — A local community came together last week to make 2,000 refugee kits for people around the world.

Amy Landers, Relief Society President for the Ammon Foothills Stake of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, spearheaded the project, which took place last Thursday. She and others began collecting items for hygiene, women’s and school kits in January.

The service project came in response to a post from Just Serve, a nonprofit operated by the church that connects volunteers of all faiths to service opportunities.

The kits were donated to Lifting Hands International, a nonprofit that provides refugees with specific needs. Hayley Smith, a 40-year-old Arizona woman, is the organization’s founder. She spoke to the crowd at last week’s gathering.

Since its formation in 2016, Smith tells EastIdahoNews.com she’s visited many parts of the world and the organization has provided millions of people with food, clothes, housing, educational resources and other needs.

“We talk to people and local organizations and get a feel for what people actually need,” Smith says. “We have major programs in Greece, Jordan, Moldova and Ukraine.”

Smith has spent a lot of time in Arab countries in particular, which has given her a unique perspective on circumstances in those countries.

Spending time there made her invested in people’s lives and inspired her to do something to make a positive impact, which is why she formed the nonprofit.

Lifting Hands International is funded entirely by donations.

Smith recalls one of its first major projects.

She speaks Arabic and was working as a translator at a camp in Greece at the time. Flash floods had occurred throughout the European country and she was surprised by the lack of resources available to certain people.

“There were piles of clothes for women and children but nothing for men. There were boxes of summer clothing, even though it was Christmastime and freezing. People had capsized into the Aegean Sea,” says Smith. “I came back from that trip (realizing) large organizations can only do so much and smaller organizations can go in and provide immediate help.”

That led to the development of a community center in Greece that still helps hundreds of people daily.

The organization now has programs in communities throughout the world.

“Ukraine is one of our biggest programs,” she says. “We were able to get there pretty quickly after the war started.”

It recently launched some projects in Gaza through a partnership with several Egyptian organizations.

Landers reached out to Smith after hearing about her organization online. She and other church members had been looking for a large service project they could do as a stake (a combination of multiple Latter-day Saint congregations) that would be impactful. The idea of helping refugees sounded like a good fit.

“Giving to the refugees — they’re definitely in need,” Lander says. “Even though this isn’t something that’s going to change their life forever, the humanitarian kit might change their life for that day or that week, especially if they have little kids.”

Smith is impressed with their efforts and the amount of people who showed up.

Before the event, a local business who didn’t want to be named donated $950 to the cause and Landers says a $500 grant from Walmart came through the day before. Rockwell Homes donated a truck and trailer to haul the kits to Salt Lake, where Lifting Hands picked them up and shipped the boxes overseas.

“We just had so many miracles right at the very end. It was awesome,” says Landers.