Volunteers Help Restore Town Hit by Earthquake
Members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints from congregations in Elko and West Wendover joined with residents and other volunteers in the cleanup. Among the volunteers were a number of Mormon teens.
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Description
Mormon Helping Hands volunteers demolish quake-damaged chimney.
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“I was able to go around with some of the youth,” said Dale Johnson, a Latter-day Saint leader from Elko. “We went door-to-door finding those who were in need. Everyone was very appreciative, especially the elderly.”
Mormon teenagers delivered food, changed light bulbs, hauled out trash and helped with other general clean-up jobs. They took broken picture frames to a local auto parts store, where new glass was cut and refitted. The youths also gathered information about problems that had not yet come to the attention of community authorities.
Despite windy, snowy conditions, four roofing projects were completed. Damaged chimneys were removed and roofs were reshingled on houses and on a Catholic church building.
Latter-day Saint bishop Robert Johnson said that several homes and businesses were in need of electrical and plumbing repairs. “Members of the community did what they could according to their skills and abilities and were able to make a big difference in just one day,” he said.
Scott Egbert, a Latter-day Saint leader from Elko and the coordinator for Saturday’s event, was moved by an exchange he had with a leader from another Christian church.
“He asked me if we could now put aside our differences,” Egbert said. “I replied, ‘What differences, we’re both Christian aren’t we?’”
“To that, he quickly replied, ‘Then let’s go to work.’”
Style guide note: When reporting about The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, please use the complete name of the Church in the first reference. For more information on the use of the name of the Church, go to our online style guide.
