This blog is an uncensored look into my soul. I am writing this as part of my healing process, but am leaving it public so others can follow me through my journey.

If you'd like to start from the beginning, click on the beautiful, adorable picture of Hailey on the right hand column.

You can also email me at: haileyshalo@yahoo.com

Sunday, April 22, 2012

Mormon Helping Hands

As most of you already know, I am LDS (or Mormon).  In our church everyone has a "calling," which is basically an unpaid, volunteer assignment carried out for a period of time ranging from a couple months to several years.  Callings can be anything from the Bishop, to a Sunday School teacher, Youth Leader, Librarian, Greeter, etc.  I have had many different callings in the fifteen years I've been a member of the church: Relief Society (Women's Organization) Secretary, Sunbeam (3 yr olds) Teacher, Sunday School Teacher to 13 and 14 year olds, Young Women's Leader, Primary Teacher (8 yr olds), and many more. 

So why am I sharing this with you?  Well, my current calling is our Ward Public Affairs Rep, meaning that I handle all the things our ward (which is similar to a parish or branch of a church) does within the public realm.  One of these events is called Mormon Helping Hands.  This actually is a yearly event, scheduled this year to take place throughout California and Hawaii on this Saturday, April 28th.  

A quick fact about Mormon Helping Hands: The worldwide Mormon Helping Hands program was officially established in 1998 and since then hundreds of thousands of volunteers have donated millions of hours of service to their communities throughout the world.  

Since my calling has to do with all the public stuff within the church, my "job" was to plan this event.  As I sat in a meeting brainstorming with some representatives from other wards about where to do our volunteer project, I kept hearing this little voice saying, "Hailey's Place, Hailey's Place."  Everyone there knows about Hailey, so I was actually a little scared to suggest it out of concern that either they wouldn't like the idea or they would feel obligated to accept it so my feelings wouldn't be hurt.  But after about 10 minutes of throwing ideas out there and nothing really being agreed upon, I spoke up.  My heart was racing with vulnerability because Hailey's Place is a very special and tender place in my heart.  I was so nervous about how I would feel if it wasn't accepted among everyone.  

As soon as I mentioned El Toro Memorial Park (aka: Hailey's Place), several of the faces in the room lit up.  One of the men stated that they have never volunteered there before and his grandfather is buried there.  (I thought it would be a good place for that very reason.  Many people in our area also have family or friends buried there, which would mean it was probably a special place to them as well.)

Well, I guess my little Hailey was pulling for it too because the idea got a unanimous yes and I was put in charge of planning the event!!!  There will be between 150-200 volunteers there as well as The Orange County Register.  They'll be posting an article about it in the weekend paper!!!

 So, for those of you who would like to come join us and help out (You do not have to be LDS.) it will be this Saturday, April 28th, from 8-12 at El Toro Memorial Park in Lake Forest. Below is a list of the things we will be doing.  If you can make it, I would LOVE to see you, so please find me and say hi! 

I'm so excited for this project!  I've never planned something of such a magnitude, especially at a place so special to me.  I want people to come see Hailey's Place and how beautiful it is there.  Cemeteries are often considered "creepy," but not this one!  El Toro Memorial Park is so peaceful and beautiful.  I hope that the volunteers who come to help out will see that and feel the sacredness of those who are resting there.

For those of you who can't make it, I'll be sure to write an update about how it went and attach the article from the paper!

The Projects

1.  Repainting the wrought iron fences that are peeling or rusting.

2.  Landscape clean-up.

3.  Cleaning off markers and benches.   (This is a great one for children to help out with.)

 

1 comment:

  1. The Lake Forest Patch just published this beautiful article this morning. Wendy is mentioned quite a bit in the article.

    http://lakeforest-ca.patch.com/articles/mormon-helping-hands-clean-up-el-toro-cemetery

    ReplyDelete