(Story and Photos by Gabie Cardenas)

Saturday April 28, 2012, under the state-wide effort “Helping Hands” of the Mormom Church, two local projects took place simultaneously: at the Santa Clarita Aquatics Center and at Castaic Lake.

Over 350 mormons and friends gathered at the Aquatic Center at 8 A.M. and after receiving a briefing/training by the City staff and a few words of encouragements from Mayor Pro Tem Bob Kellar, they started work. Over 1/2 mile of fencing was divided into sections and given a fresh coat of paint by mormons of all ages and their guests. According to Kathy Kellar and Santa Clarita Stake President Steven Lindberg, this effort saved the City a good $26,000 in labor. “Giving service in any humanitarian way, to individuals or to the community, is such an important part in what we do in our Church”, Lindberg said, “plus look at the kids working here today: they are all smiling, it makes people feel good to help others”.

At Castaic Lake, the Helping Hands of Valencia Stake offered to plant trees, paint curbs and weed the area.

This was the 4th event of its kind taking place in Santa Clarita. Past projects include work at: Santa Clarita Civic Center, Todd Longshore Park, Lost Canyon Bike Trail and Angeles National Forest at Bear Divide.

Other over 700 events took place on April 28 in California and Hawaii, where approximately 180,000 people were working helping communities.

Kathy Kellar, Mayor Pro Tem Bob Kellar’s wife, overseeing the Helping Hands (left).	Santa Clarita Stake President Steven Lindberg and his wife, giving a helping hand.
The 1/2 mile of fence was painted in shorter time than expected, due to the	great number of volunteers that worked simultaneously, by sections.