And if you haven’t seen this video from the time of Hurricane Sandy, it’s well worth a watch.

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As of late, there have been busloads of people from The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints wearing the “Mormon Helping Hands” yellow vests assisting in clean-up efforts after the devastation of Hurricane Sandy. Local missionaries also hang up their suits and ties (or skirts and blouses, as the case may be) to help.

In addition to helping victims of the storm clean up, drives were held to gather and distribute clothes and supplies to those in need.

New York Mormon Josh Brown created the following video capturing some of the devastation…as well as some glimmers of hope and comfort that come as assistance arrived.

“With a catastrophe you see the worst happen physically, but emotionally and socially, it can turn and you can see the best in some people.”

Mormons weren’t the only ones helping. Dozens from Islamic Charities and Catholic Charities as well as people from neighborhoods not as severely affected as those in the Rockaway, NY area also jumped in and put on yellow vests to help clean up.

NOTE: If you know someone who has been affected in the NY/NJ area who is needing help, you can go to one of the following Facebook pages for more information about how to submit a request for help so that volunteers can be coordinated and sent out.

Also, if you are in in the area and are able to help, you can find contact information for those coordinating the service efforts to let them know when you could be there and to find out where the greatest needs still are.

Mormon Helping Hands NYC

Mormon Helping Hands NJ

Mormon Helping Hands New England

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But for Mormons, service is not something we just do for each other within our own faith. One of the ways we seek to serve others is through the Mormon Helping Hands program.

Perhaps you have seen people wearing yellow jackets or T-shirts, working in their communities. Sometimes they appear after a disaster like the tsumani in Japan or Hurricane Katrina or the devastation in Joplin, MO.

Other times, they plan community service efforts to help with ongoing needs in their communities, such as with service activities organized in California this past spring, or efforts last month in 40 countries in Africa such as “Madagascar, Reunion and Mauritius in celebration of the 5th Annual All Africa Mormon Helping Hands day Saturday, 20 August 2011.”

The LDS Newsroom article talking about Mormon Helping Hands’ service in Africa explains simply what MHH is:

Mormon Helping Hands is a worldwide program where Latter-day Saints reach out in their communities to give service and help those in need.

We as members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints believe strongly in the admonition of the Savior, Jesus Christ, to love and serve those around us. Mormon Helping Hands is one way Latter-day Saints seek to follow His example and His commandments.

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The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints takes this passage of scripture very seriously. As members of the Church, we believe it is our duty and privilege to help one another (of all religions and countries) in times of need, without expectation of anything in return. Humanitarian efforts are constantly underway all over the world:  Asia, Africa, Europe, the Pacific, South America, North/Central America .

For example, recently volunteers from the Church worked with the United States navy and several humanitarian organizations on a project called Continuing Promise 2009. Traveling with a medical ship called the USNS Comfort, workers and volunteers stop at seven different countries — Haiti, Dominican Republic, Antigua, Colombia, Panama, Nicaragua and El Salvador — on a medical training and care mission.

More information on that mission can be found here at the LDS Newsroom.

This video, created last year and reporting upon the world-wide Humanitarian efforts of LDS members in 2007, shows the importance of service with love:

For more information on getting involved with humanitarian work, see here.

Also, keep your eye out here on Mormon Women in the next days and weeks as several Mormon women share how they have used their talents, resources, and interests to serve people all over the world through charitable work.

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