Instead of heading to the beach on a sunny Saturday morning, more than two thousand members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints (LDS) from the South Florida area along with community volunteers worked over 10,000 hours on Saturday, April 25th, in a Day of Service. Congregations from the Florida Keys to West Palm Beach joined with other organizations while participating in 25 service projects.

Citrus Grove Elementary School was one of the recipients of the service. The school was landscaped by the volunteers with donations of shrubs secured by the LDS Church.  

Principal Gwendolyn Haynes Evans was at the school during the project dressed in a yellow “Mormon Helping Hands” t-shirt. Evans thanked the volunteers on behalf of her staff and children of the school.

“We're very excited for the beautification activity that is taking place,” Evans said. “We are going to make sure these plants are well kept to make our school beautiful as well as our community.”

Other projects volunteers completed were painting a homeless shelter for children and teens, conducting a food drive, participating in multiple blood drives, painting homes and cleaning up parks, neighborhoods and streets. In Miami, Neighborhood Enhancement Team Administrator, Celco Ahumada, directed over 100 church and community volunteers with rakes, garbage bags and brooms down 17 th Avenue, one of the oldest streets in Miami .

Ahumada said to volunteers, “I want to thank you all so much for making a difference in a place that needs it so much. I think this is priceless.”

Retired CEO, President and Chairman of the Board of Directors for Ryder System, Inc., M. Anthony Burns, joined volunteers in Miami . Burns is currently serving as an Area Authority for the LDS Church and on the Day of Service visited three of the projects in Miami .

“I would like to thank all of the members and other supporting organizations that are helping us in our projects not just here but throughout the Southeast [ United States ] area,” said Burns while attending Citrus Grove Elementary School in Miami where volunteers were landscaping the school.

Some of the groups that partnered with the LDS congregations were The United Way, Hands on Miami, Miami-Dade County Public Schools, Covenant House Florida, Community Blood Center, Neighborhood Enhancement Team, Fairchild Tropical Botanic Garden and Rebuilding Together of the Palm Beaches.

The Day of Service event took place in 11 southern states from Indiana to Florida as tens of thousands participated in this event.

“We really believe that by helping others that we help ourselves. By doing things together we can all be stronger as we move along this journey,” said Burns.

The LDS Church in South Florida has approximately 15,000 members who come from many nations. This was evident in their Day of Service volunteers.

“We have people from all nations here, many nations, that are united here as volunteers. They are from Cuba, Central America and from the Caribbean,” said Albert Benzion, a Miramar resident who serves as a Stake President in the Miami and Ft. Lauderdale area.

The Day of Service project is an outgrowth of the volunteer work done by Latter-day Saints during hurricane relief efforts in Southeast Florida from Katrina to Gustav. It became apparent after these events that more relief efforts were needed to help restore communities and bring relief to suffering families.

The Day of Service logo is “Helping Hands and Linking Arms”. This project was the vision of Walter F. Gonzalez, who is responsible for LDS Church affairs in the southern United States . Gonzalez presided over similar projects in Brazil which prompted him to introduce this project in the United States . Approximately 554 Day of Service projects took place.

Website: www.dayofservice.org

SOUTH FLORIDA- DAY OF SERVICE- PROJECT FACT SHEET

A total of 25 service projects were performed as part of the Day of Service 2009.

All projects were held on Saturday, April 25th, except two which are noted.

Citrus Grove Elementary School

Ludlum Elementary School

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints chapel in Marathon- Family Fun Health Fair

Blood Drive at The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints Hialeah chapel

Blood Drive at The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints chapel in Coral Springs

Blood Drive at The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints chapel in Boca Raton