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Members of the Hemet California Stake prepare to ride in a float in a Christmas parade in Hemet, California, on December 3, 2022. Photo courtesy of Tyler Minor, courtesy of Church News.All rights reserved.
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By Mary Richards, Church News
A substantial day of service in September around Hemet, California, has created a farther-reaching impact than organizers first imagined.
Use of JustServe.org is increasing. The relationship between The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and city leaders has strengthened. And friendships with other faiths are growing.
All this led to a wonderful community response to the Hemet California Stake’s Christmas parade and live Nativity last Saturday, which 1,000 people attended.
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A volunteer operates a tractor while cleaning up a property in Anza, in the San Jacinto Valley, California, during a day of service on September 24, 2022. Photo courtesy of John Evans, courtesy of Church News.All rights reserved.The Hemet Day of Service
Many years ago, the town of Hemet used to have the slogan, “Hemet is heaven.” One of the Hemet stake’s goals for the year was to “make Hemet heaven again,” explained Jon Ranes, the stake communication director and member of the stake high council.
As stake leaders talked about service projects and cleanup efforts for the area, they felt strongly they should involve the community and other faiths. Earlier this year, Ranes was named the president of the Hemet San Jacinto Interfaith Council and the stake’s JustServe specialist was named the secretary.
Through the Interfaith Council and JustServe — a website and app where volunteers can find service opportunities — a day of service was planned and successfully carried out on September 24.
Around 350 volunteers took part, including members of about a dozen churches, youth from local high schools and other community members. They did yard work for older residents, filled sandbags for areas affected by the Fairview fire, cleaned up landscaping for local churches and assembled furniture in a home for a refugee family.
Volunteers removed more than eight tons of trash from about 20 sites recommended by the Interfaith Council, Ranes said. They also worked on the hillsides to prevent mudslides in the heavy rains.
“It was a tremendous effort. A lot of good positive experiences came from it,” he said.
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Volunteers hold a welcome sign for a refugee family after helping furnish their new home in San Jacinto Valley, California, as part of a day of service on September 24, 2022. Photo courtesy of John Evans, courtesy of Church News.All rights reserved.
Recognition From the City and County
Ranes drove the mayor of Hemet around with him to view the work and the volunteers’ progress that day. While the mayor saw the interfaith effort, he also recognized that the majority of the volunteers were members of the Church and mentioned that he thought the Church was the most active service organization in the valley.
Later, the Interfaith Council and the Church were recognized at a city council meeting and at a state of the city meeting and members were honored for their work.
“A lot of good things have come from it, we built a lot of rapport in the community,” Ranes said. “People have good feelings about the Church right now.”
The city and county plan to do more service next year, and the Interfaith Council would like to have a cleanup day twice a year, if possible.
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Hundreds of volunteers gather for lunch hosted by the Morning Kiwanis Club and the Exchange Club of Hemet, California, during a day of service on September 24, 2022. Photo courtesy of Jon Ranes, courtesy of Church News.All rights reserved.
The Growth of JustServe in Hemet
Ranes said that since the day of service, the JustServe website has become a bigger tool for Hemet.
“The city has started posting activities that we have going on there. They asked us to plug it when we went to the city council meeting a couple weeks ago,” he said. “We talked about that for a moment and let people know it was there. We have a lot of organizations reaching out to us now about it.”
Ranes said the stake president had a great vision and goal to “make Hemet heaven again.” When people serve something, they learn to love it — and service makes things become sacred. Ranes said city leaders are thankful for that goal and recognize how it has improved their community.
“The service aspect has become instrumental in us achieving our stake objectives, and as a result, we’ve been really blessed,” Ranes said.
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JustServe volunteers and members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints clean up a site in Hemet, California, as part of a large-scale day of service on September 24, 2022. Photo courtesy of Jon Ranes, courtesy of Church News.All rights reserved.
The Hemet Stake Christmas Activity
The strong relationship between the Church and city leaders led to a Christmastime invitation for the Hemet stake.
Last Saturday, December 3, the stake presented a Christmas parade with two floats and a live Nativity in the park, which included six vignettes from the scriptures. They also handed out cookies and hot chocolate. Hundreds of members of the stake volunteered and 1,000 people from the community attended.
| Temple Square is always beautiful in the springtime. Gardeners work to prepare the ground for General Conference. © 2012 Intellectual Reserve, Inc. All rights reserved. | 1 / 2 |
The event became a way for the Church members in Hemet to participate in the #LightTheWorld campaign in December as well.
“All that has come because of the service aspect [and] that the city leadership has seen our members out there with our sleeves rolled up and wanting nothing in return other than simply to ‘make Hemet heaven,’” Ranes said.
“Good things are happening, all from service.”
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