More than 100 members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints tossed on bright yellow vests and got their hands dirty on April 30—“Helping Hands Service Day.”
The people—under the banner of Mormon Helping Hands—were part of a volunteer effort to serve local communities. The mission of Mormon Helping Hands is to provide community service and disaster relief to those in need.
In California and Hawaii, up to one million people volunteered more than 10 million hours of service to national forests, community parks, coastlines, and deserts. This is the third year all of the Central and Southern California congregations have volunteered on the same date.
This year, members of the church gathered at the 1,500-acre Los Flores Ranch, a relatively new open space park, on Dominion Road in Santa Maria.
Los Flores Ranch provides environmental education, recreation, and the opportunity for land preservation as one of the only parks of its kind in the Santa Maria Valley. Visitors will find about eight miles of hiking, biking, and equestrian trails at the park.
At 9 a.m., volunteers started to repair trails, plant seedlings, install drip system and wire cages, weed, work in the nursery and hydroponic gardening area, assemble picnic tables, and other similar activities.
“This is a way for us to express our gratitude for the community that we live in, and the beautiful gifts of nature that God has provided for us,” Brother Don Zimmerman of the Santa Maria Stake Public Affairs Department said in a press release.
The Santa Maria Parks and Recreation Department assisted and supervised the effort, and several docents provided transportation. The park was still open to the public.
For more information about Mormon Helping Hands, visit mhhcalifornia.org or call Carly Neubert at 354-8061.
Intern Sarah Parr compiled this week’s Community Corner. Send comments or ideas to the Sun via e-mail at intern@santamariasun.com.
This article appears in May 5-12, 2011.