Mormon Helping Hands Project

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They  seemed to be everywhere; bright yellow safety vests and t-shirts. 200 adults, children, and teenagers. They were volunteers with Mormon Helping Hands, and they came to clean, paint, polish, and plant at the Presidio Interfaith Chapel as well as clean the gravestones at the San Francisco National Cemetery next door. Every year on the same day, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints in California and Hawaii choose a major project in their communities and spend a half-day on a Sat. doing whatever it takes to make the project a success. This year, the San Francisco Stake (similar to a diocese) of the LDS church chose the Chapel and cemetery as their project, and what a difference they made. It was quite exciting to see all these great people pulling together; there were even plumbers and carpenters to overhaul the kitchen and bathrooms.

State Senator Leland Yee stopped by to bestow a Senate Certificate of Recognition that “honors and recognizes the members of the Church of Jesus Christ of latter day saints on the occasion of their annual Clean-Up Day. We commend their dedication to keeping California beautiful, and applaud their exemplary service to our community. We further wish them continued success in all their future endeavors.” As if that weren’t enough, they were the lead story that evening on Channel  5’ s CBS local news. What an exciting day.

Many thanks to Board V.P. for Development, Camilla Smith, Board Treasurer, Paul Andrews, Sandi Pilon, Chapel Manager, and especially for Kathleen Moran, volunteer extraordinaire for working so hard on this project.