On April 27, the designated Day of Service, hundreds of volunteers of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, went forth working on a variety of service projects.
In the Crestview area, workers cleared underbrush in a city park to make way for a running trail. City officials expressed their appreciation for all that was accomplished.
The DeFuniak Springs ward helped two families, an invalid on a breathing machine and an elderly couple, by cutting their grass and pruning shrubs in their yard, trimming branches and cleaning debris on 10 acres of pecan trees.
The DeFuniak group of 20 also cleaned tombstones in Magnolia Cemetery and disposed of old artificial flowers and debris there. The ward has set aside every third Saturday as a day of service to continue beautifying their city by planting flowers in jardinieres downtown and sprucing up family cemeteries as well.
In Fort Walton Beach, workers of all ages gathered at the local YMCA to beautify their grounds.
The little ones worked diligently on the weeds until they found blackberries. After that they feasted on the fruit and left the work to their elders.
The youth also collected canned goods for Shelter House and a team helped clean out a storage room at their site.
In the Niceville Ward, Eagle Scouts, led by Spencer Mailles, organized an ambitious project — a Diaper Dash Family 4 K to benefit the Emerald Coast Children’s Advocacy Center.
The entry fee was a bag of diapers or a package of wipes. All ages were represented in the 130 entries from babies in strollers to grandparents and all ages in between. The route ran around the bay to the streets around the church meeting house. There was also face-painting and games for families.
The organizers of the Niceville project had three goals, which they met: Support the Emerald Coast Children’s Advocacy Center by collecting supplies and calling attention to its work, family fitness and community service.