By Nicole Pajer
Do you “Have the nerve to serve?” That’s the theme behind this year’s 19th Annual Sacred Service Saturday, a day on which more than 700 volunteers will fan out throughout the LA metropolitan area to perform a multitude of service projects. The June 23 day of giving back includes such diverse opportunities as serving meals to the homeless, cleaning up local beaches, painting community centers, and helping to pair stray animals with worthy homes.
According to Sacred Service Saturday Director, David Silverstein, “The idea of doing this one big event is to bring our congregates together and send them into the community to spread love and embrace the idea of what Agape (a Greek word that translates as love) is all about.” While the event is hosted by Agape International Spiritual Center, Sacred Service Saturday is open to anyone who’d like to participate.
The big day will feature more than 30 different volunteer projects across various locations. “We meet at Agape and start in the morning with a breakfast, which we provide to volunteers, and then we have a send off ceremony,” says Silverstein. Participants then carpool to various events, spend the day doing good deeds, and come back to share their experiences through sharing circles.
Bill Robertson, who has been participating in Sacred Service Saturday for the past 11 years, says volunteers will amaze themselves by being of service and by bringing unconditional love to others through the various events of the day.
“I’ve typically headed up the Critter Crusade, where we go into animal shelters and enhance the lives of stray animals,” says Robertson. “Once we were planting trees in the yard of a local shelter yard and we stumbled upon a box of abandoned pit bull puppies. Everyone got on their phones and by the end of the day, we had adopted out every single one of the puppies. It is unbelievable what can happen on these days.”
Silverstein says volunteering on Sacred Service Saturday is the perfect way to better the community and make new friends in the process. “It’s a beautiful day and it’s filled with love and joy and lots of sweat and dirt!”
Agape International Spiritual Center, 5700 Buckingham Parkway, Culver City 90230, 310.348.1250. www.agapelive.com
Photo courtesy Madhavi Patel
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