Volunteers Lend a Hand Fixing Fair Oaks Park

Volunteers from The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints volunteered with members from  in Fair Oaks Park on April 28. From 7 a.m. till noon the team completed projects such as painting fire lanes, painting gates, raking, and sweeping. However, the largest project of the day was removing river rock from approximately 10 planters in Fair Oaks Park, said District representative Katy Albers.

The Fair Oaks Recreation and Park District began working with the church in 2010 for its first “It’s My Park Day” event. The church brought out more than 400 volunteers to help beautify the parks in Fair Oaks that year, Albers said.

"Unfortunately, our “It’s My Park Day” event didn’t fall on their annual Mormon Helping Hands day in 2011 or 2012, so we worked out a plan with them to setup an additional “work project” day in April each year," Albers said.

This year the church brought out more than 50 volunteers, some of whom also assisted with the Kids Art Festival being held that same day at the , which is another event put on by the District, in partnership with San Juan Unified School District and the Fair Oaks Presbyterian Church.

"The volunteers were extremely motivated, hardworking, and such a pleasure to work with," Albers said. "We truly enjoy the time we get to spend with the group every year and we look forward to another great project day in 2013."

In addition, Senator Ted Gaines and Country Supervisor Susan Peters both attended the BBQ that was held in Fair Oaks Park for all the volunteers.