Nearly 1000 volunteers from Faith and Community based organizations in Chandler, Tempe and Gilbert united to donate over 10,000 volunteer hours of service today. 

Live Love Day in Chandler started with a breakfast and training classes for the volunteers.  Then people of all ages cleaned neighborhoods, winterized, painted and performed light construction on homes of the elderly, disabled and shut-ins.  In Tempe, a Car Care clinic for Single mothers, widows and single woman with special needs, serviced over 75 cars by providing tires, batteries, breaks, and over 50 volunteer mechanics.  They also had special activities for the kids and cosmetology and shopping vouchers for the women. 

Local businesses helped by providing materials and tools for the volunteers.  The Cities supervised all of the construction to maintain the quality of work.  High Schools in Gilbert and Chandler also joined in the events of Live Love.  One of the churches in Tempe (Christ Life Church) coupled their volunteerism with a “30 hour Fast” where high school students spent the night in card board shelters and homeless conditions.  One Student shared (Nate) – “What was special for me was being able to do service projects to get an idea what it means to give and live love.”    

Live Love Day and other organizations associated with For Our City are planning four East Valley wide service events in 2010.  Channel 3 is collaborating with this endeavor by offering promotion and the registering and tracking of volunteer hours and service opportunities.

                                                                                                                                                                                    –Jon McHatton, Founder of Care-Inc.

An interview with Melinda Gunther, co-founder of Live Love, by John Power

Q.  What was the highlight of the day, for you?
A.  "I would say that it was the amount of work that was accomplished.  We went from about 25 projects last year to 80 this year.  I kept thinking, 'Wow, we are doing a lot of work this year!'  Much was accomplished."

Q.  About how many "person-hours" would you say were contributed.  How many businesses and volunteer groups participated?
A.  "There were about 800 volunteers, and each worked/served for about 6 hours each.  So, what is that?  4,800 hours!  There were about 20 businesses that donated materials, and about 15-18 church and school organizations that participated as groups.  About one-fourth of the volunteers came as individuals."

Q.  Any particular comments from those who were served that you would like to mention?
A.  "Many people said how thankful they were for the assistance.  One woman in particular, while expressing appreciation for help with projects that she couldn't do herself, said that seeing so many people thinking of others, rather than of themselves, restores dignity and humanity."

Q.  What did you hear from the volunteers?
A.  "We received many emails from people saying things like, 'Thank you for letting us participate,' 'It was a great day," and 'We felt that we did something inspiring and significant that day.'"

Q.  Are you ready to work on next year?
A.  "We are ready to begin planning for next year.  We anticipate that Live Love Day will be even larger and we will be working in even more neighborhoods.  We are excited about what was accomplished.  We learned a lot this year about how to organize such a project, and are going to start planning while all the information is fresh."

Q.  What would you like to say to everyone who participated?
A.  "Thanks to all the individuals and organizations who participated and made it such a great day.  We appreciate your patience as we learned how to organize and do the jobs.  It was a big challenge this year, going from one neighborhood to three different neighborhoods, and we could not have done it alone!  Thanks to all!  We will see you again next year."