Adam recently helped out with a community car wash through Mormon Helping Hands. It was a pretty simple affair -- they setup a hose, filled some buckets with soapy water, and waited for people to come get their cars washed.
Most car washes held in our community are intended to be fundraisers. Mormon Helping Hands however is a program designed to provide service to a community without anything requested or expected in return. Our car wash was a no-cost, no-donation, all-the-cookies-and-juice-you-can-handle car wash.
Mormon Helping Hands is primarily geared towards bettering a community through Christ-like service. You may have seen Mormon Helping Hands on NBC's Nightly News during Hurricane Katrina or after Hurricane Ike. From natural disaster relief to delivering food baskets to needy families the message is the same: Strive to serve others with unconditional Christ-like love and strengthen your community by providing relief for your neighbor.
The Mormon Helping Hands program was designed by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, however, you do not have to be a member of the church to participate in these service opportunities. The events are purely service oriented, in fact church members are instructed NOT to pass out brochures or talk about the church unless they are directly asked. The only catch is that you'll be asked to wear a bright yellow "Helping Hands" vest, but they really aren't too bad:)
As for our recent car wash, Adam helped wash about 55 cars in 4 hours. What was really great about the event other than meeting new people and seeing them smile was that 15 people gave us their contact information and asked to be involved in our next service activity. This is what Mormon Helping Hands is all about, uniting a community and working together to make the world a better place.
