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40 Separate Projects 

  1. Southwest Community Center, Santa Ana, CA   clean up, sorting, organizing  

  2. Mile Square Park soccer fields (Rec Ctr) planting and mulching 

  3. Mile Square Park Nature center. . weeding, clean up

  4. FVSD Masuda middle school Emergency storage bin,  gum scraped 

  5. United Methodist Church,FV, homeless breakfast

  6. FV Heritage Park Painting storage shed, remove large plant, 

  7. Eader Elementary School Paint lines and US maps, trash, weeding\

  8. Sowers Middle School cleaning Break room and library,

  9. Dwyer Middle School  gum cleaned off 

  10. Surf city United Methodist package food for the  homeless

  11. HB Youth Shelter gardening/repair

  12. Harvest Club - fruit from backyard trees and deliver  

  13. HB Art Center Tape & paint hall, scrape sign, dust panels

  14. HB city Gym painting door frames and window sills 

  15. HB city Beach re-paint words on  fire rings

  16. HB Wetlands Conservancy planting/painting

  17. Edison Com Center painting benches

  18. Bartlett Park pick up trash, clean up

  19. Lake Park picnic area staple out and paint tables

  20. Overlook Park weeding

  21. Huntington Central Park by mulch, weeding, repairing trails

  22. HB Urban Forest Spreading mulch, planting, 

  23. Huntington Central Park East of GW St. Remove vines and invasive plants

  24. Gibbs "Butterfly" Park mulch, painting,  weeding, 

  25. Golden View Elementary School Farm Clean pond, repair fences, weeding, cleanup

  26. Murdy Park Community Center Painting projects inside and outdoors

  27. HB Adventure Playground in Central Park Repair wooden forts, clean pond, paint, fixmudslide, paint, weed, remove pine cones, trim bushes by fences

  28. Huntington Central Park Plant Demo Garden pathways, paving stones, weed, trim

  29. Huntington Harbor Balustrades Projects Weed & clear,, help install balustrades 

  30. Oak View Community Projects Community cleanup and  outdoor projects

  31. Bolsa Chica Wetlands Conservancy Cleanup, weeding, watering

  32. HB City Beach clean up

  33. HB Senior Center 8 separate homes  fix, repair ,build

More than 1,000 volunteers turn out for Compassionate Day of Community Service
in Huntington Beach and Fountain Valley
 
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  • Ed Kennedy transports his daughter Bethany Kennedy, 12, both of Huntington Beach, at Mile Square Regional Park in Fountain Valley Saturday as they helped add mulch to planting areas.

 

By JAIMEE LYNN FLETCHER | Orange County Register

April 29, 2014 at 1:13 p.m.

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More than 1,000 volunteers spread across Huntington Beach and Fountain Valley with shovels in hand and paint brushes ready for the largest community outreach effort of the year.

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The inaugural Compassionate Day of Community Service on Saturday included nearly 40 projects intended to bond residents through giving back.

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“We wanted one day where all different faiths come together,” said Jynene Johnson, of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. “The more you rub shoulders with other people, the more you realize we’re not all that different from each other.”

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Projects included sprucing up local school sites, cleaning beaches, helping the homeless, providing home repairs for senior citizens and beautifying parks.

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Huntington Beach resident Irma Naylor, 53, said she and her family have made an annual tradition of volunteering at Adventure Playground, one of the projects of the day.

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“It beautifies our city, and we enjoy it,” Naylor said. “It’s fun helping the community.”

Work at Adventure Playground included dredging the lake, repairing forts and pulling out weeds and debris to ready the site for the summer season. 

Mile Square Park in Fountain Valley also served as a popular service spot with more than 300 volunteers turning out to shovel mulch, plant native vegetation and pull weeds.

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“We came out so our children could learn to work in the community and meet other people,” said Fountain Valley resident Megan LeBaron.

Although this is expected to be the largest outreach effort the cities have seen, it is not the first time a collective volunteer event has been organized for the area.

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The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has been organizing a large service day for more than five years called Helping Hands Community Service Day.

This year, the church partnered with the Greater Huntington Beach Interfaith Council to expand its impact and invite volunteers from varying faiths to join in.

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Church groups, local businesses and youth organizations all had a hand in Saturday’s effort.

“It’s the first time we’re doing it like this under such a broad umbrella with the community involved,” said Don Garrick, of the Huntington Beach Interfaith Council. “It’s following up on the proclamation on Huntington Beach being a City of Compassion.”

Huntington Beach became a city of compassion in August 2013, joining more than 200 cities worldwide.

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The label means Huntington Beach city leaders have committed to making city policies with tolerance in mind and local organizations plan to work together to give back to the community.

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“People are realizing from a grass-roots level we can mobilize and pull together resources,” said Rev. Peggy Price, co-chair of the Compassionate City Committee. “By doing that, we can be more effective.

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“It’s a big vision, and it’s a great vision because why wouldn’t we want to have more kindness in our city?”

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Contact the writer: jfletcher@ocregister.com

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