Repeat: Mormon 'Helping Hands' Annual Service Day Saturday, April 25, 2009 - 8am...

Repeat: Mormon 'Helping Hands' Annual Service Day Saturday, April 25, 2009 -
8am to 5pm

More than 20,000 volunteers tackle 500 service projects

LOS ANGELES, April 25 /PRNewswire/ --

WHAT: For the past 11 years Mormon "Helping Hands" programs have aided
disaster relief and community projects around the block and around the world.

WHO: This year, more than 20,000 Mormon volunteers from Southern California
congregations are expected at 500 sites throughout the region to help with a
wide variety of community service projects

WHERE: More than 500 sites in five Counties: Los Angeles, Ventura, Orange,
Riverside, and San Bernardino

Los Angeles County:

-- Simi Valley 8:00 a.m. - 4:00 p.m.

Rebuild Samaritan Homeless Shelter 280 Royal Avenue, Simi Valley
Volunteers will completely restore this important local service center for the
homeless including rewiring and upgrade of electrical system, new flooring,
installation of ceiling fans, painting, landscaping exterior, building new
patio, organizing office space. Press Conference featuring State Senator
Audra Strickland scheduled at 10 am.

-- Chatsworth Park 8:45 a.m. Reopen Chatsworth Park North 22232
Chatsworth
Street, Partnering with L.A. Councilman Grieg Smith for Earth Day in
refurbishing and reopening the long neglected North acres of
Chatsworth
Park.

-- West Los Angeles 10:00 a.m. 49th Street Elementary School: 750 East
49th
Street Los Angeles, CA Recreation Center: 345 East 51st Street Los
Angeles, CA

Partnering with 9th District L.A. Councilwoman Jan Perry in improving 49th
Street Elementary School and local recreation center.

-- Santa Monica 9:00 a.m. LDS Church Building 3400 S. Sawtelle Blvd., LA
90066

Food drive for Westside Food Bank (1710 22nd St, Santa Monica, CA 90404),
local non-profit providing food to several local social service agencies.
Volunteers will arrive at stake center, and will pair up and canvas for food
donations on given route.

-- Downey 9:00 am - NOON Burns Avenue/Old River School Road/Paramount
Boulevard

Clean up Burns Ave. railroad track area between Old River School Road and
Paramount Blvd. Volunteers meet at assigned wards 8:30AM then carpool to work
area.

-- Inglewood 8:00 a.m. - Noon Jesse Owens Park 9651 South Western Avenue,

Los Angeles

Walk All Over Cancer 5K Providing transportation and relay support, post race
entertainment and food.

-- Lennox Middle School 11033 Buford Avenue, Lennox, CA 90304

Partnering with LA County SupervisorMark Ridley-Thomas in Lennox Annual
Community Clean-up.

-- Long Beach 8:00 a.m. - Noon Food Bank Deliveries 10941 Reagan Street,
Los Alamitos, CA 90720

Provide canned and packaged food to three local food banks in Los Alamitos,
Lakewood and Long Beach.

Santa Clarita and Valencia 9:00 a.m. - 4:00 p.m.

-- Santa Clarita Senior Center 22900 Market Street Santa Clarita, CA
91321

Painting the local Senior Center with Mayor ProTem Laurene West.

Orange County

-- Huntington Beach 8:00 a.m. - Noon

Painting and Restoring 1500 city fire hydrants.

-- Corona Del Mar 9:00 a.m. - Noon

Partnering with the Marine Division to provide 600 hours of rehabilitation of
the coastline. Other service sites include Anaheim, Fullerton, Cypress, Buena
Park, La Palma, Stanton, and San Clemente.

Ventura County

-- Newbury Park 10:00 a.m.

American Cancer Society Relay Run begins at 10 a.m. at Willow Elementary
School, 29026 Laro Drive, Agoura Hills. 500 members of the Mormon Church
providing labor for the 24 hour event. Projects also scheduled in Camarillo,
San Luis Obispo, Santa Barbara, Santa Maria, Simi Valley, Thousand Oaks.

Riverside County8:00 a.m. - 4:00 p.m.
Contact: LDS Media Relations Director Kathy Smith for project sites and
supervisors in the following communities: Menifee, Jurupa, Palm Desert,
Redlands, Temecula, Yucca Valley and Murrieta. For sites and start times.

San Bernardino County/High Desert 8:00 a.m. - 4:00 p.m.
Contact LDS Media Relations Director Kathy Smith for project sites and start
times in the following communities: Barstow, Apple Valley, Hesperia, Phelan,
Adelanto and Victorville.

The Mormon Helping Hands program was officially established by the church in
1998 to aide in both disaster relief and community projects. Since then,
hundreds of thousands of volunteers have donated millions of hours of service
to their communities. The program has spread to every corner of the world.
Large-scale service projects have been completed from South America to North
America, Europe, Australia, Asia and most recently Africa, where, in 2007,
nearly 100,000 volunteers worked together in a continent-wide "Mormon Helping
Hands" project to clean up their communities. This weekend, hundreds of
thousands of Latter-day Saints will join forces in 11 Southern States to
provide "helping hands" in their communities. Simultaneously, and for the
first time in Southern California, Mormons will unite their efforts.

SOURCE The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints of Los Angeles

Kathy Smith, LDS Media Relations Director, +1-661-373-0884,
kathyks353@aol.com