From Muslim to Mormon, Christian to Catholic, members of Gilroy’s Interfaith Council and non-faith based individuals alike converged for a day of community volunteering.
On April 26, hundreds of volunteers got their hands dirty beautifying parks, and helping the homeless, seniors, city parks and beyond during Gilroy Volunteer Day.
Co-hosted by the City of Gilroy and Gilroy Interfaith Council, the event offered volunteers the chance to volunteer at a variety of events, topped off with a barbecue at Christmas Hill Park.
“It’s cool to be able to give to the community like that,” said Victory Outreach’s Laura Serna. “None of it is done in vain.”
Interfaith Council’s involvement with the event as a collective effort was a first, although members have volunteered in the past, according to organizers.
Some volunteers painted, others pulled weeds and some picked up trash—projects ran the gamut from education to public facilities, senior care homes to those without homes.
According to Mayor Don Gage, the event wouldn’t be possible without the support of sponsors, supporters and volunteers alike.
“It was a community effort, clearly,” Gage said. “Gilroy has always been a community of volunteers, and they proved
that again.”
According to co-project coordinator Rachelle Bedell, an estimated 350 volunteers were on-hand April 26. More than 10 organizations were represented during the event, cleaning four city parks. In addition, Pacific Point Christian Academy was home to volunteer efforts for landscaping and painting. Gilroy Demonstration Garden was spruced up with weed-pulling and mulching. Volunteers at DreamPower Horsemanship helped plant a garden by the gazebo. At Gilroy Compassion Center, volunteers painted a large mural on wood boards, according to organizers.
Gilroy’s homeless got a helping hand with 16 new quilts furnished and nine more to finish by volunteers for the newly housed homeless of Sobrato Gilroy Homeless Center. At Brownell Middle School, volunteers helped with weeding and new potting benches for the benefit of instructor Perlene Lake.
These are just some of the examples of the citywide community volunteer effort, according to Bedell.
Despite the volunteer task at-hand, several of the hundreds who gathered for the event had something in common: They wanted to lend a hand helping out their neighborhoods.
According to Interfaith Council co-chairman Jeff Holmes, one of the goals is to reach into the community for volunteerism “to foster a sense of value as a community as a whole.”
Harkening to the 12-plus congregations represented that day, Holmes said the idea is about working in common.
“How do we work on what we have in common and figure out how we can serve our communities—our mutual values?” he said of the Interfaith Council’s efforts.
Bedell, who helped Mayor Don Gage as a co-project lead, echoed a similar sentiment.
“One of the greatest ways I can change myself and become a better person is by being selfless and finding ways to help other people,” Bedell said. “If we want to make our community a better place, one of the ways we can do that is by inspiring our community to be selfless and help other people.”
It was Bedell’s third year volunteering with her congregation; for Interfaith Council, however, 2014 was the first all together.
“It has been really neat to see all of the churches working together,” Bedell said.
During the post-event lunch break, Las Animas Park volunteer Yvonne Montoya said “it’s a blessing being here and just being part of the community, helping the community out, being here eating and to see what it’s like for different churches to come together in Gilroy.”
Nearby at a Christmas Hill Park picnic bench, Kami Tankersley and her husband, Richard, made a family event of the day with their children Tobias, Hayden, Sawyer and Bella. The family, part of the Church of Latter-day Saints, was busy working at the Gilroy Demonstration Garden, moving manure, compost, “lots of weeds, wood chips and we laid a path,” Kami Tankersley said.
“It’s a neat opportunity for Gilroy to have all of the opportunities to have the whole community out doing projects to help the city,” she said.
Besides, as another volunteer Lisa Strawhorn put it, “it’s a great way to meet people.”
Volunteer John Milner of Morgan Hill, who helped paint bathrooms at Las Animas Park with his son and spread mulch at Sunset Gardens, agreed.
“I usually bring the whole family down,” Milner said.
Q: Why do you do this?
Tammy Stone-Nyambok: “To show God’s word. We’re not only supposed to be sitting in the churches on Sunday, we’re actually supposed to be out serving others in the community showing them the passion and love from us and from God and what he instills in us. Sometimes we sit in the church, but we need to put action to our words and serve in the community.”
Rachelle Bedell: “More than anything, we want to be examples of Jesus Christ. When he was here, he took care of people; he took care of the people around them, and that’s what we’re trying to do is to take care of our community and to inspire our congregations as well.”
• Sunrise Park
• Las Animas Veteran Park
• Civic Center (City Hall)
• Willey Cultural Center
• Uvas Channel
• Christmas Hill Park (by the barn)
• Brownell Middle School
• Sunrise Senior Living
