Hundreds of boxes of supplies are stacked throughout the Smith Field House indoor soccer field at Brigham Young University. Volunteers buzz around the room, busily organizing and unpacking those boxes to prepare the tens of thousands of comfort kits, blankets, hats, capes, wands, pillows, journals for at-risk adults/youth, keepsake envelopes for parents who have lost a small child — and many more items — that will go to help local individuals and families in need.

BYU Women's Conference service #byuwc

The women on the service committee of BYU Women’s Conference interviewed 90 different organizations and had the painstaking task of trying to decide which projects to include in this year’s conference. The needs even within a relatively small radius around the university were overwhelming to consider. Click on any of the service projects in this list to learn a little more about how they will fill needs of children, youth, adults, and families.

#byuwc service project preparation

Once projects are decided upon, local Church members are invited to be project leaders, and those leaders then recruit volunteers to help get everything ready for their project. It’s breathtaking to consider the number of hours that have gone into getting these projects ready over the past few months, even before Mormon women gather at Women’s Conference to finish the projects.

#byuwc mormon women relief society service

In a truly extraordinary way, in two short two days, tens of thousands of projects are completed via take-and-make opportunities, work in service learning rooms (women listen to conference addresses while working on projects), and the three-hour Evening of Service on Thursday night, which includes assembly-line-like cooperative efforts, quilt tying, and more.

#byuwc byu womens conference service

 

The following infographic captures some of the miracle that happens every year at Women’s Conference.

And we echo the invitation from BYU Women’s Conference (which is co-sponsored by the Relief Society). “Bring miracles to your own communities and do something to help someone else.” The hope is that women will leave Women’s Conference more aware of the breadth of needs that exist in every community, and more motivated to work with local Church and community leaders to help and lift others. “As BYU’s motto goes, “Enter to learn, go forth to serve!”

For service project instructions and ideas, you can visit the BYU Women’s Conference blog or Pinterest page.