Samoa Relief

Matt has found himself heading up a charity drive for the people of Samoa. We have a family in our ward whose husband's family lives in Samoa. His father's family lives near the coast and their whole village was destroyed. They haven't heard from this part of his family, so they don't know if they're even alive. His mother's family lives more inland and they are all fine and accounted for. But all the people who lived on the coast only had 6 minutes to evacuate and they ran for the higher ground and are camping out in the park in the middle of the village. His family is sharing food, clothing, shelter and everything they have with those whose homes were destroyed.

So our neighbor has decided to go to Samoa for 3 weeks to find his family and help rebuild. Matt was assigned by our bishop to try and find a way to get supplies to Samoa that he could distribute. He can't take much on the airplane, so Matt is working with our shipping company and our customers to get things sent. The shipping company is giving us a discount and our customers are donating money to help with shipping. We're sending t-shirts and our ward members are donating hygiene and first aid supplies.

We have gathered as many supplies as we can afford to ship, but if anyone wants to donate money to help the people in Samoa, our bishop is collecting money that he will give to our neighbor for when he goes to Samoa. There is a big grocery store (it sounds like it's similar to Walmart) that has food in stock for purchase. He will use the money to buy food for his family and the refugees in their village. He's leaving October 24, so the money has to be to our bishop before then. I can give you more info if you're interested.