Massive Service Day Benefits Thousands
June 8, 2009 by Gale
Filed under Mormons Serving Local Communities
27 April 2009
From coast to coast, members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints joined hands with friends and neighbors to clean up and serve their communities in a far-reaching day of service. Hundreds of thousands of volunteers stocked shelves, constructed houses and helped families in transition get their feet back on the ground.
“Helping others is valuable to the person being served but may be of even more importance to the person serving because it causes him or her to forget their own problems for just a few minutes and experience the joy of service,” said Elder Walter F. González, who oversaw volunteer efforts by the Church in the southeast area of the United States.
In Southern California Mormons staged an organized event that summoned some 40,000 volunteers to carry out service projects throughout all of Southern California, including 11 Orange County cities. Although service is a core value in the Mormon belief system, this is the first time members of its congregations have united statewide on the same day in such a uniform fashion. Projects included cleaning parks in Cypress, building a park in Fullerton, donating food to the Orange County Food Bank in Huntington Beach, informing residents about proper smoke detectors in Tustin and more. Though the movement was organized by Mormon congregations, non-church volunteers were encouraged to participate (Orange County Register). Read more
