Mormon Helping Hands 2011

Thousands of volunteers converged on Redlands to participate in the third annual Day of Service on Saturday.
The Redlands Service Club Council, in conjunction with the Mormon Helping Hands, beautified about two miles of median along the east end of Redlands Boulevard and spruced up the Redlands Bowl.
The area between Fern Avenue and Ford Street was renovated using 1,069 cubic yards of mulch, 72 trees, nearly 1,700 plants and tons of river rock.
Workers spread mulch on the median of Redlands Boulevard during the community's Day of Service on Saturday. "This is Redlands at its greatest," said Mayor Pete Aguilar.
The projects were completed in about half the four hours they were expected to take, and volunteers made their way to Sylvan Park for a free lunch, music and kids' activities.
Sara Frost, with Mormon Helping Hands, said the amount of volunteers almost doubled from last year's 1,100.
"This is something our church promotes statewide, with 300 different projects going on today," said Mike Strong, president of the Redlands Stake.
At least 100 athletes from Redlands High School helped to spread rocks along the median.
"We're always asking the community for support, so we try to give back where we can," said Athletic Director Ken Morse.
About 250 volunteers at the Redlands Bowl used more than 150 gallons of paint, 160 rollers and pans, along with 80 brushes to refurbish the benches.
Boake Winegar, 15, left, and Chad Hinkley, 15, joined hundreds of volunteers to paint seats at the Redlands Bowl.
A donation of $12,500 by local service clubs and a $40,000 grant from the Home Depot Foundation made the purchases possible.
"Without the grant, we wouldn't have had enough materials to keep this many volunteers busy," said Tabetha Johnson, volunteer and intern resources coordinator for the city. "But it's not just the money. It brought our community together -- and that's priceless."
Redlands Mayor Pete Aguilar said the bottom line is that it would take years for the city to be able to accomplish these types of improvements.
"This is something we coordinate with the Redlands Service Club Council," said Aguilar.
"Part of this is so everyone can take pride in their community. This is Redlands at its greatest."
Robyn Mortensen, 9, was one of many young children who gave up a sunny Saturday morning to plant shrubs and pick up flag markers when they were done.
"I wanted to help out and make it look pretty," said Robyn, of Redlands. "This is what the Lord wants us to do."

I am amazed at how much my kids love to do this. We went at 8:00 am and stayed for about 45 minutes. We had soccer games and I figured they would be getting whiney after about a half an hour. Instead they were upset, mainly Paige, because I told them we had to leave. I promised them we would come back and help as soon as the games were over. Darn volunteers had it finished by the time we were done.
It was pretty cool to look up and down the boulevard and see this many people out working.
The following Monday Paige asked if we could go see the work that was done. We drove up to Ford park and opened our windows and drove the length of the boulevard that was completed.