San Francisco Citizen

And actually, they’re already here. Anyway,  up to 80,000 members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints are fixing on volunteering to clean up 200 state, regional and city parks all over the Golden State on May 8th, 2010.

After that whole Proposition 8 thing, the Mormons* can use all the good ink they can get, right?

Now, how will San Francisco react?

All friendly?

Or all sore, like a year or so ago?

via Daniel R (MisterDarcy)’s photostream

Stay tuned.

*That South Park was heavily edited - the ep. as a whole was actually pretty nuanced, anyway.

80,000 Volunteering to Help Renew California’s Parks on Saturday. Mormon Helping Hands to Perform Necessary Labor at 200 Parks Throughout State

CALIFORNIA, May 4 — Up to 80,000 members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and their friends throughout California will volunteer on Saturday, May 8, by laboring in state, regional and city parks that have been hit hard by the recent downturn in the economy.

Under the banner of Mormon Helping Hands, an international volunteer program of the Church that has provided manpower in distressed communities and organized relief efforts after natural disasters, the LDS volunteers have chosen parks in their own communities to perform work that ranges from clean-up and maintenance to painting and construction projects.

“Members of the Church in the 1840s were instrumental in the establishment and building up of the major cities of the state, from San Diego and Los Angeles to San Francisco and Sacramento,” said L. Whitney Clayton who presides over California for the Church. “We want to follow Jesus Christ’s example of service to others by helping to improve the communities in which we live, especially during these tough economic times for local and state governments.”

Church members and their neighbors and friends will perform service in about 200 parks throughout the state. Here are just a few of the projects:

 –  In Sacramento County: Construction of a natural playground, weeding of
     non-native plants, restoration of a pond and other projects at Effie
     Yeaw Nature Center in Carmichael. Funding for Effie Yeaw is being cut
     from the county budget July 1 and the work projects are part of an
     effort to keep the nature center open.

 –  In Coloma: The painting and restoration of several buildings at the
     Marshall Gold Discovery State Historic Park, where early members of
     the Church helped to discover gold and spark the Gold Rush. The state
     park has been threatened with closure.

 –  In San Diego: More than 1,000 volunteers will be performing beach
     clean-up projects up and down the southern coast.

 –  In Redlands: Church congregations have coordinated with the city to
     refurbish public facilities and add amenities at local parks. The
     project received a $35,000 grant from the Home Depot Foundation to
     cover the cost of materials.

 –  In Red Bluff: Hundreds of volunteers will perform projects at the
     William B. Ide Adobe State Historic Park. Ide, an early Mormon, was a
     pre-Gold Rush pioneer who was the first and only President of the
     California Republic under the Bear Flag Party Proclamation of 1846.

 –  In Los Angeles: Church congregations will work with the City of Los
     Angeles to clean and restore sections of the iconic Griffith Park.  LA
     City Councilman Tom LaBonge has been instrumental in supporting the
     volunteer efforts as a model for volunteer and municipal resources
     working in harmony to accomplish a worthwhile project for the
     community.

 –  In Inglewood: the Jesse Owens Community Regional Park will undergo a
     transformation for the first time in 20 years as church congregations
     paint walls, buildings and fences, plant new shrubbery and perform
     general cleanup.

 –  In San Dimas: Church congregations will work to paint, clear foliage
     and clean up on the grounds of  the McKinley Home for Children, an
     organization that helps repair the lives of abused children.