Annual Day of Service Saturday in Lovell

Community members and students will once again fan out across Lovell and the immediate area this Saturday to join together for the fourth annual Lovell Day of Service.

The Day of Service will be held from 9 a.m. to noon on Saturday at various sites.

Held in conjunction with Global Youth Service Day, the Day of Service was first held locally in 2022, and around 75 youths and a few adults turned out on a cold and rainy day to work at various sites. The following year organizer Darece Grant expanded the program to include the entire community and organized the service opportunities through the website www.justserve.org. Grant said around 170 people participated that year -- 54 at the Lovell Library alone -- including several elementary school students.

Last year between 175 and 200 people participated, Grant said, adding that the day is being held a bit later this year, in part because the Lovell school district didn’t have a day off from school on the day of the junior-senior prom – the traditional day for the project -- and there is not a local high school track meet Saturday (middle school only).

Grant said youths and adults working together has greatly enhanced the Day of Service.

“We thought it would be good to include parents, siblings and other adults,” she said. “It’s good to serve alongside each other. I read a study from BYU about the benefit of teens who serve. It said service promotes positive outcomes and feelings of hope, gratitude and self-esteem. Teens who serve are less likely to show aggressive behavior and delinquent behavior.

“We invite people to come out as families, youth groups, friend groups or by yourself and make a new friend.”

All ages are welcome to participate, Grant said, with supervision requested for children.

Volunteers can sign up for a specific project by going to the website www.justserve.org and putting 82431 in the search bar. People can also scan a QR code printed on posters around town. There will be a supervisor at each volunteer site.

“The good thing about volunteering through the website is that the coordinators (supervisors) at each site will know how many volunteers they’ll have,” Grant said, adding that those who don’t sign up online can simply go to one of the project sites.

The sites

The list of sites for the Lovell Day of Service on justserve.org, as of Tuesday, is:

• Hyart Theatre, 251 East Main. The theater staff will host a morning of cleaning, described as follows: Spring clean the Hyart. Wipe down auditorium seats and arm rests. Vacuum, sweep and mop all floors. Teenagers and adults preferred.

• Bighorn Canyon National Recreation Area Visitor Center, 20 Highway 14A East: Bring your rakes and gloves and help clean up the grounds around the visitor center. Help is needed cleaning out the flower beds and refreshing the mulch.

Also, the visitor center is open seven days a week during the summer from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. They are in need of extra hands to help keep their grounds beautiful. If you are interested in helping, please stop by or call Christy Fleming at 307-548-5406. Families, individuals, school or church groups, friend groups -- all are welcome to help. Bring your own gloves, sunscreen and mosquito spray. Many hands make light work.

• Foster Gulch Golf Course, 925 Lane 13: Golfers and anyone else, come help get the golf course spruced up and ready for the summer season. Bring a rake if you have one and gloves to help clean up around the greens.

• Sand Draw Cemetery (Road 13 east of Lovell off U.S. 14A), sponsored by the Lovell-Kane Area Museum: Clean up around headstones and walkways at the cemetery. Bring your own rakes and gloves.

• North Big Horn Senior Citizens Center, 757 Great Western Avenue: Interior and exterior windows need to be washed at the Senior Citizen Center. All supplies will be provided. Also, the vans that transport senior citizens need a good cleaning, need to be vacuumed and washed out. All supplies will be provided.

• Lovell-Kane Area Museum, 354 Oregon Avenue: The Lovell-Kane Museum needs help raking leaves outside of the museum, cleaning out the shed and cutting off old flowers.

• Rose City West, 472 West 7^th Street: Clean out rain gutters, rake leaves along fence. Bring your own gloves and rake.

There are also a number of ongoing volunteer projects listed on the justserve.org website from recurring blood draws to adopt-a-highway days and delivering meals to senior citizens.