Volunteering means life-changing experience for woman, children she's helping


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SOUTH SALT LAKE — At South Salt Lake's Lincoln Elementary, there is a volunteer who puts in full-time hours.

This spring, Lizzie Whiffen came aboard to help keep a school store stocked with food, household items and toys. But soon, Whiffen was reading with refugee children and organizing the delivery of pillows for every one of the school's 517 students.

In fact, Whiffen has become addicted to giving back to this special community of children. Refugees make up 36 percent of the student body at Lincoln Elementary. These are children who have arrived in Utah in the last two years from their war-torn countries of origin or from refugee camps.

Lesa Coleman-Taggart is the outreach coordinator for the Granite School District. She originally recruited Whiffen to help stock and work in the school's Lincoln Loot store.

"Liz just loves those kids and they love her right back," said Coleman-Taggart.

The day we visited the school, Whiffen took us and a group of her reading buddies on a tour of the Lincoln Loot store.

"I got here and my job was just to help out here once or twice a month with making sure that this Lincoln Loot store was stocked," said Whiffen.

Whiffen reached out to friends and former neighbors across the state, and donations started pouring in. Whiffen says there was an immediate impact on her life. "Once I got here, I just fell in love."

So Whiffen started reading with children like Asifa, an 11-year-old refugee from Afghanistan who said, "She is so nice. I love Miss Lizzie."

Hawa is a 12-year-old refugee from Kenya who is very attached to Whiffen. Hawa said, "She's teaching us and she's so nice to us. I love her."

Photo: KSL TV
Photo: KSL TV

In short order, Whiffen went from part-time to full-time volunteer — reading with a group of refugee children at least three hours a day and continuing to support the Lincoln Loot store.

"The more time you spend here, the more time you want to spend here until you're completely addicted," she said.

This fall, the Lincoln Loot store moved out of its cramped space in a refurbished janitor's closet into a large classroom-size area. There's more space now for the kids to stroll around, pick out and purchase items using pretend dollars they've earned for good grades and behavior.

Most of the kids will actually go for food and household items like blankets. "These kids, you would be surprised, they're always cold. Refugees come from hot, hot climates, so we always try to have blankets," said Whiffen.

Coleman-Taggart agrees. "The Loot Store here is so much fun, these things mean a lot to these kids."

Photo: KSL TV
Photo: KSL TV

And that is why Whiffen wants to transform the store into something really special. "I would like it if we could raise the funds so that we could turn this Loot Store into a magical place that has built-in shelves that go all the way around and a new floor," Whiffen said.

Just before Thanksgiving, Whiffen arranged for Malouf Bedding of Logan, Utah, to deliver 517 pillows and pillow cases — one for each of the children at the school. Whiffen called it just another example of the "tremendous hearts" people have here in our state and desire to help others.

Coleman-Taggart sees that every day in the volunteer work Whiffen and others do for the children at Lincoln Elementary. "People that are helping other people have a tendency of growing deeper relationships" with those they help, she said.

That has certainly been the case with Whiffen. She shared with us that she has two wonderful step-children but has never been able to have children of her own. "That hole in my heart, the older that I got just got worse and worse for me," she said.

But after nine months of volunteering at Lincoln Elementary, Whiffen said, "that hole is gone and these kids have filled it for me and I am in love with them."

So it's no surprise that Whiffen has a special wish she'd like to grant for the kids at Lincoln Elementary this holiday season. She's looking for donations of time, money and/or skills to help put permanent shelves and new flooring in the Lincoln Loot store.

If you would like to help, visit the Lincoln Loot Store's fundraising page.* *KSL.com does not assure that the monies deposited to the account will be applied for the benefit of the persons named as beneficiaries. If you are considering a deposit to the account, you should consult your own advisors and otherwise proceed at your own risk.

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