“Youth Collect Winter Clothing for Mongolians,” Ensign, Mar. 2004, 77–78
Youth Collect Winter Clothing for Mongolians
The combined efforts of several Church youth groups in northern Utah and southeastern Idaho resulted in nearly 50,000 articles of clothing for the people of Mongolia, who suffered through an unusually cold winter. Temperatures reached -40° Fahrenheit (-40° C).
When Sandra Curtis heard about the widespread need for warm clothing from her brother serving a full-time mission there, the Laurel from the North Logan Second Ward, North Logan Utah Green Canyon Stake, decided she could help.
Sandra invited her seminary class to collect clothing to send to Mongolia. “They were really excited,” she said. “They thought it was a good idea, especially since it was during the Christmas season.”
Word of the project spread to four nearby seminaries. Within two weeks, nearly 3,000 students from seminaries in northern Utah and southeastern Idaho had collected coats, gloves, shoes, socks, belts, suits, sweaters, and blankets. One student knitted hats; another bought socks and gloves. Others searched their closets at home to find warm clothing suitable to donate.
With permission from their priesthood leaders, students asked ward members to participate, using their Mutual activities to collect donations. Chuck Summers of the Newton First Ward, Benson Utah Stake, said members made considerable and generous contributions. “The project was absolutely phenomenal,” he said.
Even with the Christmas season in full swing, the students diligently collected clothing until school was released for the holidays. By the last day of school, the hallways, foyers, and classrooms at Sky View Seminary in Smithfield, Utah, were filled with clothing. Deseret Industries in Logan, Utah, collected and packaged the clothes, filling nearly four semitrailers. The clothing was shipped in 900-pound (336-kg) bales to Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia’s capital.