WILTON — Area members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (commonly known as Mormons) will be gathering in Kineowatha Park from 8 a.m. to noon Saturday, Oct. 22, to clean the park and get it ready for winter. Community members are welcome to join in.
Church leaders challenged local congregations to look for a service opportunity that would allow all ages and abilities to participate.
“Kineowatha Park is such a great resource for the whole community,” said Bryce Cundick, one of the church leaders in charge of organizing the project.
“Mormons have a strong belief in the importance of families, so doing something to help support the services that are used by local families just made sense.”
Franklin County has one of the largest Mormon populations in the state. Initially established as the third congregation in Maine more than 175 years ago, the congregation serving Franklin County was reestablished more than 50 years ago and serves more than 400 local members of the church. There are now 28 LDS congregations in Maine with more than 10,000 members.
Participants will be raking leaves and painting the dugouts in the park. In case of rain, the project will be pushed back to Saturday, Oct. 29. “We hope that community members will join us in this project to spruce up the park and beautify our local recreation area,” said Dan Hayes, congregation leader.
This one day of service is part of a broader worldwide commemoration of the church’s welfare program, which began 75 years ago this year to help church members suffering from the devastating effects of the Great Depression in the United States.
The objective is to care for the needy while teaching principles that will help people become self-reliant and retain their self-respect. Funding for the welfare program is provided by donations from church members, who go without two meals one Sunday a month and give the money they would have spent on food to the church.
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