The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (L.D.S.) from the Savai’i South Stake have donated close to $10,000 tala worth of goods and cash to the Home of the Elderly at Mapuifagalele.

The representatives of the church visited the aged care facility at Vailele on Thursday morning to present their donation as well as provide entertainment to the delight of the residents.

The donation of cash and kind, which was made to the Little Sisters of the Poor who manage the facility, marked the first time for the L.D.S. members to assist the Home of the Elderly.

The President of the L.D.S. Savai’i South Stake, Pupi Sosaiete Fititaimagalogo, said their visit provided a platform for their church members to provide service to the elderly in accordance with their church mission to serve people with love and prayer.

“The actual total cost for the donations (goods and products) is nearly $10,000 tala and a monetary gift of $1000 tala,” he said.

“But money is not the problem for us, we want to offer our support and help to Mapuifagalele, we have been trying what we can do so that we can give to them for their meals in a day.”

The donated goods included wholesale items such as boxes of milk and chicken as well as bags of rice, boxes of noodles, bags of flour and sugar and boxes of vegetables.

The first time visit for the L.D.S. group was not lost on President Pupi, who also revealed that a number of food donated were grown by the church members.

"This is the first time we’ve visited Mapuifagalele to offer help in terms of assisting the needs of the people. 

“All the vegetables included in the donation this morning were grown by the youth of the Savai’i South Stake in one of our projects.

“Apparently we don’t just donate food and money, but it’s for us to come and deliver a spiritual message to the elderly.

“We know that they live away from their family so we hope our donations and the message we deliver encourages them to lift up their faith and make them feel like they are home.”

Part of the entertainment by the visiting group included an evangelical dance and song led by the youth group of the LDS with some of the elderly residents at Mapuifagalele also joining them.

Sister Maria Francis Pale, who spoke on behalf of the aged care facility, expressed their appreciation to the women’s Committee and the visiting L.D.S. group for the donation.

“Seeing them coming is very touching, some of them do tell a story of taking care of their elderly and it breaks our hearts,” she said.

“In Mapuifagalele it's everybody’s home. We welcome anybody on the street, different religions and races are all about God love and mercy.

“We are so grateful because all of this donation (food and money) will help our elderly with three meals a day and also the variety of goods they brought in are healthy foods for them, so thank you very much again."