Church Volunteers Prepare for Community Service Project

Volunteer workers like these members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints will take part in the "Menifee Better Together" event this Saturday.

Hundreds of church members and other community volunteers will take part in community service projects at three locations on Saturday as part of the "Menifee Better Together" project.

The idea for this project began last year, when members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints worked with Habitat for Humanity in the Sun City senior core area of Menifee. About 150 volunteers did yard work and other jobs on 11 homes as part of the "Mormon Helping Hands" program.

Lesa Sobek, a member of the LDS Church and chair of the Menifee Interfaith and Community Service Council, brought to the city the idea of uniting churches in the community to expand the program.

Sobek arranged a meeting with Interim City Manager Rob Johnson and Tammy Marine, the executive director at Inland Valley Habitat for Humanity. Together with Allen Yun, administrative analyst for the city, they incorporated the Habitat for Humanity project with the city's plan for a Quail Valley Clean-up.

Thus the Menifee Better Together program will include three projects beginning at 8 a.m on Saturday. About 90 volunteers are expected for a trail clean-up at Kabian Memorial Park in Quail Valley. A second group of about 70 volunteers will form a neighborhood street clean-up team in Quail Valley.

The largest group, numbering about 180, will help to clean up 14 homes of senior citizens in the Sun City area.

Volunteers must sign a release form and should report to the parking lot of the Sun City Civic Association on Cherry Hills Blvd. across from the golf course between 7:30 and 8 a.m.