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It all started with soup.

Janet and Bert Page had great childhoods — Janet and her sister, Sherry Carlson, in Draper and Bert in Bountiful. Janet had a cleaning business, Bert a construction company. Both were married to other people, then experienced sad endings to their marriages.

Janet and Bert married, combined her four children and his three, and they had one together. They built a home together in Sandy and moved to Murray after three years. It was a great time for them as they raised their children.

Life often brings challenges, and Janet and Bert experienced their own. After some years, a legal issue with their business took everything away from them, and they faced being penniless.

“Thankfully, a blessing emerged when Bert obtained a job managing 80 condos where I cleaned,” said Janet. “Coming to this building set the ground work for caring for people outside of our own family needs.”

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Also, one of Janet’s daughters became addicted to drugs and lived on the streets for about 15 years before she tragically died from a drug overdose. They then adopted their daughter’s child and wanted to help others like their daughter.

Watching a show on TV and seeing what a woman was doing in her community, then hearing the phrase “Think celestial” in the October 2023 general conference of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, propelled Janet and Bert to do something more to help others.

Janet had been making small batches of soup and taking it to those in need. She then made a big batch and shared it with many in their building. Finally, she told Burt they should get bigger.

Sherry’s husband passed away, and Janet and Bert approached her to help her find another purpose in life. Consequently, Bert, Janet and Sherry formed the organization My Hand to Yours “to extend a helping hand to individuals and families in need, offering resources, support and compassion to uplift the less fortunate,” according to https://myhandtoyours.org/.

For the first six months, Bert, Janet and Sherry self-funded the project. Soon, people heard about what they were doing and donated money and goods to help the cause. They let people know what they were doing, and individual members of their church congregation helped with food and money.

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“We began feeding the homeless last Thanksgiving and just started with sandwiches,” Janet said. “After doing a big Christmas thing, we decided to do something every Monday. Our goal was to serve at least 100 people each week. Now, after just one year, we are now feeding over 200 homeless people each week.”

My Hand to Yours provides a meal each Monday for the homeless, mostly in Library Square and Liberty Park in Salt Lake City. They prepare a simple meal of sandwiches along with either soup or a pasta dish, potato chips, fruit, cookies that Sherry makes each week, and water.

They believe that providing a meal allows the homeless to look forward to something.

“The homeless people really have nothing to look forward to,” Bert said. “They have no hope and little peace in their lives. Our showing up with food allows some hope that someone cares about them.”

One young man they serve is Joe, who has no legs and no fingers on one hand. Sometimes they don’t see him. Yet, when they do see him, he is positive and greets them warmly. Recently, Joe became part of a miracle.

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“We received a zero-degree sleeping bag and thought about who should receive it. Our answer came immediately: Joe,” Janet said. “The very first person we saw that day was Joe. When we gave the sleeping bag to him, you would have thought we had given him the moon. He was so grateful to have something so warm.”

Meal preparation takes the most time as well as many hands. Janet shops on Friday or Saturday. Volunteers come to help assemble the food.

“Often on Sundays after church, families come to our home and prepare the vegetables for 200-plus people,” Janet said. “For our Thanksgiving feast, many families in our building provided their ovens to cook the casseroles, even if they were out of town.”

On the Monday of Thanksgiving week this year, they prepared a Thanksgiving feast with the help of several families and volunteers. They helped the Pages put together a meal of hot chicken casserole, green bean casserole, rolls, an apple or orange, pumpkin pie with whipped cream, a fruit snack and bottled water.

They drove to Liberty Park and served up a Thanksgiving meal for the homeless, then motored to Library Square and fed the homeless there. An added bonus was offering dog and cat food to those who had animals.

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All the homeless who came were kind, respectful and grateful for the meals. There were lots of “thank yous,” “God bless yous,” smiles and a few fist bumps.

For the recent Thanksgiving meal, Bert posted on his Facebook page that they wanted to do something beyond just food. Soon, people were donating money, clothing, coats, hats, gloves and blankets. “Amazingly, we gathered 10 large bags of clothes, which we gave out,” he said.

My Hand to Yours sees constant miracles. “Some weeks we have less than $200 in the coffers, and people just call and offer to help us feed the homeless each week,” Bert said. “They donate food, money, plastic containers and boxes of bowls and lids. It just comes together, and we know it is divine.”

Another miracle happened when Janet and Sherry received a $25 check in the mail from a woman who wrote that it was all she had to give. They found a young man without shoes and used the $25 to buy a good pair of shoes for him on sale for $23.

Janet, Bert and Sherry still worry about challenges as they continue their work among the homeless. “Being the practical one, I worry about the money and whether there will be enough,” Janet said. “Bert, on the other hand, has a lot more faith.”

“My biggest challenge is to be patient and wait for things to happen, but we try to help nudge it along,” Bert said.

Sherry said, “My challenge is staying healthy and strong enough to do all of this.”

Quinn, Janet and Bert’s adopted daughter and a high school sophomore, thought it was a bit crazy when her parents introduced her to My Hand to Yours.

“My parents are the most selfless and inspired people and so giving. They encourage me to be a better person,” Quinn said. “I am grateful they introduced me to a whole different side of the world. Even some friends want to help because they think it is cool.”

My Hand to Yours makes a difference in so many ways. “In reality, we give the homeless hope, and we give our volunteers hope,” Janet said. “Some of them are homebodies, and they now feel they have purpose when they volunteer. Plus, they have created a group of friends they can rely on.”

The future looks bright for My Hand to Yours. Bert’s goal is to create something like My Hand to Yours in more cities. “I want to do this in every city that needs it,” he said. “Once we do Utah, I would like to go to all states.”

Additionally, they want to buy a motel where the homeless can live and become more self-sufficient. “Our ultimate goal is not to just provide food and clothes,” Sherry said, “but also education, shelter and tools to help individuals reach their potential and then pay it forward helping others.”

Those who participate will have to pass a drug test, work at the motel learning food preparation and cleaning skills, receive counseling and participate in obtaining job skills, jobs and education through various community organizations. The culminating opportunity will be helping participants work through a homeowner’s program to move into an apartment or purchase a tiny home.

“To help us with all this, we have recently partnered with the United Way and The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, with more partnerships to come,” Bert said.

As to their future plans, Janet, Bert and Sherry have great faith and hope. “I don’t know how it is going to happen,” Janet said, “but it is going to happen.”

Those wanting to donate to or volunteer their time with My Hand to Yours can call 801-706-4581, send an email to bertpage63@gmail.com or go to https://myhandtoyours.org.