Helping with their hearts and hands

Young Chang

Strangers helping strangers. That’s what Jaimie Day and fellow project

organizers with the Newport-Mesa Irvine Interfaith Council want to see

Nov. 17.

It’ll be fun, Day said, to watch adults and Boy Scouts alike sew

little pouches stuffed with school supplies for kids in less-developed

countries. At another corner of the Hearts and Hands Multi-faith Family

Service Fair, mothers will assemble and collect baby quilts, a project

they’ve been working on for some time already.

And throughout the service event, booths and tables will beckon

unwanted clothes, shoes and accessories to send to people all over the

world, including those in Afghanistan.

Held at the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints meeting house

in Newport Beach, the inaugural fair for families who want to serve will

involve a variety of faiths -- Christian, Jewish, Muslim, Bahai,

Unitarian Universalist and others -- to help people around the world.

“It will bring members of various faiths together that don’t have the

opportunity to get to know each other,” Day said. “If we can’t bridge the

gap between things and get to know each other and form relationships, we

can’t accomplish much good in the world.”

The fair also will celebrate National Family Week, which annually

falls on the third week of November.

“I can’t imagine that we can’t in some way be able to give back,” Day

said, “and to our other brothers and sisters around the world.”

One of the largest activities at the fair will be led by Eagle Scouts

from area schools, who are making school supply kits. They have asked

adults and fellow Scouts to donate pencils, paper, erasers, rulers and

other stuff to accompany the coolest feature in the kit: chalkboards and

chalk.

Nate Packer and other Scouts made the boards with a wood frame.

They’re practical, said Nate, 14.

“And because [kids] can use them for many years,” the Newport Beach

student added.

When the supplies are gathered and the pouches are sewn, 300 bags will

be sent to the Latter-day Saints Church Humanitarian Center for

Distribution in Salt Lake City. Officials there will then send the kits

to parts of the world where children need amenities to go to school.

The baby quilts will also be sent to different parts of the world --

namely, Afghanistan or its bordering countries.

Day and her associates are also working on peace quilts. They invite

individuals and groups to stop by their area of the fair with fabric

squares symbolizing anything from peace to love and unity, and they may

be incorporated into bigger quilts.

During lunch, local fire officials will sell food to send proceeds to

the Firefighters’ Assn., and a company will sell New York fallen

firefighter bracelets. Proceeds will be donated to the New York

Firefighters 9-11 Disaster Relief Fund.

Representatives from the Adopt a Social Worker Foundation will attend

the fair to collect food items for needy families. Members of Friends in

Service to Humanity will also participate by publicizing their

adopt-a-family program for the holidays.

Garment collections will continue throughout the three-hour event, and

one Corona del Mar woman already plans to donate a car trunk’s worth of

warm clothing and shoes. Melba Michelle Sukiel’s husband is in poor

health and can’t use many of his clothes, so his wife, 88, has committed

herself to a heavy contribution.

“I love to be of service, and I feel genuinely sorry that they have to

go through such a time in their life and be in such dire circumstances,”

Sukiel said.

Day, also the vice president of the Interfaith Council, added that

serving others shows more than just a generous heart.

“There is no better way to measure the value and strength of a family

than in the service they give to strengthen others,” she said.

FYI

* WHAT: Hearts and Hands Multi-faith Family Service Fair

* WHEN: 9 a.m. to noon Nov. 17

* WHERE: The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints meeting

house, 801 Dover Drive, Newport Beach

* COST: Free

* CALL: (949) 509-0101