Love was in the air Valentine’s Day week in Central Florida as the Light Orlando team and hundreds of volunteers gathered to spread love throughout the community through acts of Service.
Light Orlando’s Volunteer Experience (L.O.V.E) week was started in 2023, and is a week dedicated to showing others that they are loved and, in turn, feel the love that comes to you when you serve others. Events took place throughout the week in Central Florida!
The week started on Monday, February 12th in Washington Shores, Orlando, where volunteers worked together to assist in cleaning up the streets to show love to the residents in the community in partnership with Frontline Outreach. On Tuesday, February 13th, Light Orlando treated their volunteers to a little FUN before the hard work with a Zumba class in partnership with Zumba Orlando, followed by an event to make sandwiches for the homeless and “welcome home” baskets for residents staying at Dave’s House Foundation, hosted at The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints on Reams Road in Windermere. On Tuesday afternoon, the Light Orlando team headed to Edgewater Highschool, where the Edgewater Key Club students assisted in assembling snack bags for families staying at the Ronald McDonald Home. On Tuesday evening, the Light Orlando team finished out the day with dozens of volunteers at the Winter Garden Hope Center, cleaning the grounds and inside of the thrift store and pantry. While there, we had a chance to speak with Justin from the Hope Center:
By the time Wednesday, Valentines Day, rolled around, Central Florida was feeling the love, but the Light Orlando team wanted to ensure that the community members around the West Orange Dream Center knew just how LOVED they were! On Wednesday afternoon, volunteers joined the Light Orlando team to begin arranging flowers, and then spent their evening walking through the area, spreading love by sharing the arrangements with the residents of the community.
The LOVE did not stop at Valentine’s Day! Light Orlando capped off the week with two additional events on Thursday the 15th and Friday the 16th to keep the spirit of LOVE alive in Central Florida through service! On Thursday evening, volunteers joined the Light Orlando team in partnership with Future Leaders United to assist in cleaning up with streets of the Pine Hills Community. Volunteers worked together during this event to pick up trash and debris along the streets and load them into bags and trucks for disposal, showing love to the residents of this Central Florida Community. On Friday afternoon, the team finished off the week with a Community Food Distribution in partnership with The Desire Foundation. Volunteers helped to assemble food bags for residents of the Paramore community who may otherwise go without.
Throughout the week, the Light Orlando team asked different volunteers how volunteering made them feel and what volunteering meant to them. The answers were a testament to how serving others is truly an act of LOVE. Here are some of the heartfelt responses, many of them from youth volunteers!
“Volunteering is one of those awesome things that makes me feel really good inside and helps me be able to give back to a community that’s given me so much.” – Izzy S.
“Volunteering makes me feel very happy understanding that what I’m doing is going to help others with whatever they need”-Xander U.
“Volunteering makes me feel closer to the Lord”- Katelyn S.
“I like to serve because I know if I needed help, I would really enjoy it if someone would help me out”- CC S.
“I like to serve because it just makes me feel really happy to be giving back to the community and everyone around us, and it just feels good!”- Darla H.
Thank you to all of the volunteers and organizations who made this year’s L.O.V.E week a success! May we all continue to spread love throughout the year through acts service, big and small!
A Note about the Bed Build Project:
The L.O.V.E Week Bed Build Project was originally scheduled for Saturday, February 17th, 2024 at 9:00am. This event has been rescheduled due to rain and is now scheduled for Saturday, March 9th, 2024 at 9:00am. Please click here for additional details.
View the Full L.O.V.E Week 2024 Gallery HERE!
