Self Makeover

Here is the second story for the day!



In a world where some are absorbed with themselves, members of the BYU 2nd Stake seem to have found a cure — lose yourself in service.

Each week there is at least one service project happening in the stake, but more often there are two or three opportunities of service to choose from.

Stake President Robert H. Todd has made a promise that if members of the stake are faithful home and visiting teachers, learning to love the people they have been called to serve, Heavenly Father will bless their efforts in finding sweethearts and spouses.

Thus far there is no statistical evidence as to how many have found eternal mates, but they are learning patterns and principles of service, Todd said.

“We are eager to set a pattern [of service] with these wonderful young people of our stake,” he said. “There is a metaphor, ‘When you help your brother across the street you will find yourself there also.’ ”

Two members of the high council, Ben Hill and Dean Dickerson, have been assigned to find service opportunities for the stake. Because the stake pulls leadership from four different stakes in Utah County, Hill and Dickerson contacted all the bishops from these feeder stakes, specifically asking if there were any needs the students could assist in.

The most recent project began last weekend on a 100-year old home in Orem. This home makeover will continue July 31 and Aug. 7, culminating with a barn dance held in the Wilkinson Student Center on Aug. 7.

More than 55 students showed up for the work project, ready to tackle the day’s assignment of chest–high weeds, overgrown vegetation and decades of layered wallpaper. People in the neighborhood have considered this home a fire hazard not only because of the yard situation but also because of interior problems.

Siblings from Hong Kong and LDS members have lived in the home for more than three years. Their parents bought the home so they could receive an American education, but left them on their own, unprepared for the language and culture barriers.

Son Lee, former home teacher to the siblings, understands the culture barriers these young people have faced. He, too, came to America, fleeing communist Vietnam as part of the boat people in 1975. He understands the complexities of coming to a new world.

Lee, also a member of the stake high council, said he feels the service being offered will help break down barriers and build relationships with these wonderful young people.

Benefits and blessings of this service extend far beyond the family for whom the service is rendered. Part of the process is learning patience, diligence and developing a hard work ethic, said Liz Blomquist, a stake member from Santa Cruz, Calif.

“We learn more about teamwork and we get to spend time with a lot of great people who like to do the same things,” Blomquist said.

Royce Herbst, bishop of BYU 3rd Ward, noticed a difference in his ward members as they learned to serve together. He said there is a greater love for each other as they observe each other outside of a student environment.

The stake provides numerous types of service, such as a service “sit-in.” Stake members came together with their laptops and did Family Search indexing together.

“It is the best video game in town,” Todd said.

This month, the stake was involved in a beta-testing program for the LDS Church to determine whether a new website could handle large amounts of traffic. Many students gathered in the WSC with their laptops to log-on to the new website: serve.lds.org.

When others sense your willingness to serve, others then are willing to serve you, said Josh Epperson, a stake member from Murray.

“I have suggested that if you want to have a really neat date, invite somebody out and go find somebody to serve,” Todd said.

23,000 divided by 100,000=4.34 hours of service per person

Had two stories in the D.U. today.

More than 23,000 BYU students have logged 100,000 hours of service this past year.

For the third year in a row, both the city of Provo and the state of Utah have been rated the No. 1 city and state in the U.S. for service and volunteerism.

Being nationally recognized is directly attributed to BYU’s involvement in service, said Bill Hulterstrom, CEO of Utah County United Way.

While attending the National Conference on Volunteerism and Service this past June in New York, Casey Peterson, director of the Center for Service and Learning, was approached by many organizations and colleges seeking strategies that will help them to be as successful.

“This is nothing about the organization,” Peterson said. “It is more about the students, using service to identify their reason why they are here.”

The Center for Service and Learning uses the community for its lab. Each year, the number of students continues to increase. Students are developing into world citizens, becoming aware of service opportunities and the issues that surround them.

One of the newest organizations BYU has partnered with is Utah Refugee Services, located in Salt Lake City.

Amy Wylie, volunteer coordinator of refugee services in Utah, also works with LDS Inner City Project and said the needs are great, with many opportunities to serve.

Because of time constraints and language experiences, BYU students have come to the Humanitarian Center and helped refugees with language training.

Statistics have proven that students who serve others, receive the most benefits Peterson said. They improve socially, spiritually and academically. Students also learn leadership skills as they take on mentoring roles while helping others develop necessary skills for life.

“In an incredible expression of gratefulness,” Wylie said, “a Burundian refugee asked me, ‘In my country, I would give them a cow. What could I do that will be equivalent?’ We can serve others right from our front door. From the comfort of our own home we can serve the world.”

When students apply for graduate schools or jobs, their service involvement stands out, Peterson said. Deans of other schools and employers recognize their unselfish act.

Social Innovations

Here is a story that I wrote this week. I especially enjoy interviewing people for these stories. I like learning about what they are doing and how it changes lives for those they assist and themselves.


Creating opportunities for students to make social change has become the focus for the newly named Melvin J. Ballard Center for Economic Self-Reliance.

As part of the BYU Marriott School of Management, the Ballard Center has established partnerships with nonprofit organizations that have unique abilities to create social change. Graduate students have traveled to various areas throughout the world, applying and implementing strategic business plans for these organizations.

“We are interested in social innovation to help others,” said Brad Hales, assistant to the director of the Ballard Center. “We systematically and strategically work on sustainable projects.”

Recently, BYU graduate students have returned from projects being conducted in Ghana, Paraguay, Nicaragua and Honduras.

After students are accepted into the program, they learn about the organization, the country and its culture. Their goals are to apply business principles to real-life situations. Before most graduate students begin their summer internships, there is a three-week window of opportunity in which they interact directly with these organizations.

“They get their best plan in place before they go there,” Hales said. “Oft times they have to change their plans and work on something completely different than what they expected, depending on what the organization needs at the time.”

This was the case with Andrea Cordani and Jeff Baxter, who interned in Paraguay for Fundacion Paraguaya. They expected to arrive at an agribusiness school that was supposedly self-sustaining. The school, located in the middle of the jungle, was not as self-reliant as expected.

“There were definitely several areas of improvement,” Cordani said in his project report. “Their production was meager and not sufficient to generate high returns. Before ramping their production up with products they couldn’t sell, we had to do something with their sales system.”

The result was constructing three carts to hold dairy products in order to sell the products door to door in neighboring towns. Additionally, Cordani and Baxter concluded the profit margins were greater for yogurt and cheese products. By changing the layout of their farmer’s market booth, the students were able to sell more products with greater profitability, creating more self-reliance and self-sustainability.

Another project BYU has partnered with is The Burro Project in Ghana. Some residents in Ghana and other third-world countries use batteries as their main source of energy. Families may spend up to one dollar per day for this resource. The Burro Project’s involvement for social change is addressing the cost and hazards of battery disposal by offering a rechargeable battery alternative.

Graduate students Tara Hair, majoring in human resources, and Jennia Parkin, majoring in marketing, had put together research models for the project. They were told English was the official language in Ghana, but when they arrived, they found only half of the people spoke English, and those who did often attached different meanings to certain words and phrases. As a result of the language and culture barriers, Hair and Parkin ended up using pictures drawn on pieces of paper as a way to communicate.

“People thought it was a game, and it was fun,” Hair said. “Because it was a game, more people wanted to participate and we were able to reach more people.”

The students discovered that being able to adapt quickly is vital when traveling internationally. Hair added that understanding the mindset and values of citizens in a particular country is critical for effective communication.

The primary assignment for MBA and MPA students was to help these organizations become more efficient and effective. However, graduate students come back with experiences that confirm their roles in the world by creating social change and long-term sustainability.

“I realize that there [will] always be the need of feeding people,” Cordani said. “I just know that if not carefully done, it may actually hinder people’s progress.”