Mormon Helping Hands Clean Parks
May 5, 2010 by admin
Filed under Mormons Serving Local Communities
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is calling upon its members to volunteer in a day of service on May 8, 2010. Known as “Mormon Helping Hands Day-Renewing California Parks,” the Church will join hands with the Rancho Simi Parks and Recreation to clean and restore two parks in need of repair.
Tasks range from the small, such as pruning shrubs and repainting wall that had been sprayed by graffiti, to the large, such as rebuilding fences and creating and widening trails. The park overhaul requires a real labor force—more than 400 people. Volunteers will lend a hand beginning at 8 a.m. and going until the cleanup is done.
California is not the only area where members of the LDS Church are aiding in cleanup efforts. Mormons in both California and Hawaii have decided to focus on cleaning parks. Recently, in the Church’s North America Southeast Area, hundreds participated in a park cleanup during the second annual day of service for that area.
Challenger Park is a well known equestrian park with two miles of hiking trail, oak groves and a stream in the southern foothills of Simi Valley. The other park, Corriganville, has passed through some famous hands and has been the site of multiple films and television shows. It was the backdrop for movies and television programs such as Fort Apache, The Lone Ranger, The Adventures of Rin Tin Tin, Sky King and Star Trek and featured such actors as Hopalong Cassidy, John Wayne and Ronald Reagan. At one time, Corriganville was listed as one of the “Top Ten” places to see in the United States. However, the park was swept by several fires, with one in 1979 destroying all the structures. Since that time, the regional park has been subject to taggers, overgrowth and trash.
Volunteers in both locations will be recognizable by their yellow Mormon Helping Hands volunteer vests, the official vests used by Church members when participating in humanitarian service projects and disaster relief efforts throughout the world.
Update:
70,000 members of the Mormon Church showed up for the clean up projects. Read about the results here.
