Raili Brush

Professor Francis

Humanities 1010

23 April 2019

Civic Engagement Assignment

I had the opportunity to go with my boyfriend and his grandparents to the Bishop

Storehouse in Salt Lake City, UT. I went Wednesday, April 17th for just under two and

half hours. We attended with his Grandparents, as they are serving a mission at the

Bishop Storehouse for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. The Bishop

Storehouse is a place for struggling families or individuals that are struggling to make

ends meet. They have things such as food and clothing. While Christian, his

grandparents and I were there, we had two jobs. One was stocking product on the

shelves, the other was fulfilling orders that had been placed. We began our time fulfilling

orders. This consisted of us being handed lists of things people had ordered, we would

walk around the store and find the items that were listed. Once we had found all of the

items listed, we would take the orders to the cars of the families or individuals who

needed them. When we were stocking shelves, we would start in the warehouse, fill

carts of items that needed to be put on shelves and then take them to the store part of

the Bishop Storehouse.

 It took me some time and thought to figure out where I was going to volunteer my

time. I asked around my friends and family and nothing really seemed to fit in with the

religion module. One Sunday, I was at dinner at my boyfriends grandparents house and

they mentioned they were serving a mission for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day

Saints at the Bishop Storehouse, they were talking about the things they had been

doing. It clicked. ​That’s what I should do for my project ​I thought. I asked them if I could

join them and they said they would have to ask. It only took them a couple days to get

back to me, but their response was good, they said I could go with them the following

Wednesday. The purpose of the Bishop Storehouse is to help those who may be

temporarily struggling financially, which can in turn affect other aspects of life. This is a

place built on good ethics and morals. The Hebrews believed that the universe was

designed with a particular set of moral laws in place, and to me, the Bishop Storehouse

is physically built to support people who need it. (page 96) The Bishop Storehouse

offers people a helping hand when needed, it shows them love, compassion and

kindness. On of the things that Jesus said is that fundamentals of faith and compassion

are found in the Hebrew Covenant: love of God and one’s neighbor (page 101)

I would say yes. Yes it did make me feel like I was being a responsible citizen.

We all go through rough times and rely on the help of others, being in a place that’s

main purpose was to help those who may be in rough patches was grounding. It made

me feel as though I was doing something to help those people get out of their rough

patches, and hopefully give them some relief. Relief that they do not have to worry

about buying some groceries, relief that they will be capable of making ends meet. I
hope that the people who needed the help were not ashamed and felt loved as they

came in. I think that this was a weight lifted off the shoulders of some parents who I

interacted with, giving them a little more freedom to go about their days by ensuring

their family is taken care of. This made me feel grateful to not have to worry about

something as simple as groceries, yet made me happy to know that people who do

have to worry about this have a place to fall back on when they need it. I hope that in

the future I have more opportunities to serve here.

I did enjoy this experience, I learned a lot not only about myself, but about how

communities can come together to support one another, even if it is in indirect ways. I

learned that I am capable of helping others even if it means I get nothing in return. I

learned how to be empathetic in ways I hadn't known before this experience. I would

volunteer more because it truly was so eye opening. There are so many people who are

struggling financially and I am so grateful to be in a position where my biggest worry

isn’t where my next meal is coming from. From now on whenever someone asks about

volunteering I will recommend doing it, because you can really gain a lot from just a few

hours of work. I hope that I can go back and help here again because it is such a simple

way to feel connected to your community.