By Julie Slama | [email protected]

To an onlooker, it appeared that Copperview Elementary was having a gigantic yard sale as items from bed linens, coffee tables, dishes and clothes stretched across the front of the school campus.

But there also were boxes of food, that to many families who attend Canyons School District’s four Title I schools — Copperview, Midvale, East Midvale and Sandy — was much appreciated.

The efforts came together between Boy Scouts Tyler Balls and Hawkin Vawdrey, and their Draper Latter-day Saints second ward church, who assisted the teens in gathering items to hold the Community Give-Away as part of their Eagle projects.

“We learned from Copperview’s assistant principal that a lot of the population at these schools are refugees in need of food and furniture,” said Hawkin, a ninth-grader at Corner Canyon High. “The people in the ward embraced the idea so Tyler gathered the donations of furniture, silverware and items for the home while I worked to get the contributions of the food.” 

Over two months, Hawkin gathered 60 boxes and 25 bags of food and his counterpart received enough donations to flow from the front yard to the sidewalk of the elementary school.

Lisa Wright, a member of the Draper ward, said that the two boys organized the items and got volunteers to bring them to the school.

“They had them sorted by category, had people help load everything out and be here to hand out the items,” she said. “It’s so rewarding to see how grateful these people are.”

Mahammad Alkhalaf, who moved to Utah from Syria, said he was looking for Christmas tree accessories for his family.  

Doris Hernandez, who originally lived in Mexico, said she was looking for a kitchen table.

“I found sheets and am looking for a pair of shoes for my second-grader,” she said.

Midvale Middle sixth-grader Mubarak Alshaher translated for his mother, Rashdah Al Jashaam.

“We needed clothes, sofa, TV, chairs, tables, a mixer, a meat grinder and anything, sheets and blankets, for our bed,” he said, adding that his family with six children moved two years ago from Iraq. “We haven’t found everything, but this helps so much.”

Hawkin took a minute from helping people to soak in his accomplishments: “This is awesome. It makes it worth it.”