Of many, one

Knitting a pink, fuzzy hat for a hospital patient, 18-year-old Mantej Rajpal sat in the gymnasium of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints on Dover Drive Saturday with volunteers from across Newport-Mesa as part of the Hearts and Hands service day.

In its eighth year, the event is sponsored by the Newport-Mesa Irvine Interfaith Council.

“I think it’s really awesome that people of different faiths are coming together to help people,” said Rajpal, who attended the event with the Sikh center of Orange County.

Volunteers from more than 10 different faiths helped out during the service day, said Jaimie Day, vice president of the Newport-Mesa-Irvine Interfaith Council, who helped to organized the event. The service day attracts about 800 people each year to do things like make quilts for cancer patients and triage kits for troops in Iraq.

“It brings families in the community together regardless of faith or ethnicity,” Day said. “One of the few common denominators here is that we all have a desire to help people.”

Melinda Howell, a Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints member helped high school students to clip photographs out of magazines to create picture books for needy children at the Saturday event. A special education teacher in the Newport-Mesa Unified School District, Howell also has her students work on the books.

“I think I get a sense of fulfillment by helping others, and then I get to help others help people as well” Howell said.

Service day organizers try to attract young people in the community to participate each year, said Day.

“We hope young people get a taste for service and how rewarding it can be,” Day said. “More participate every year.”

Children could draw with magic markers on swatches of fabric at the service day that will be sewn into a peace-themed quilt by the Orange County-based group Spiritual and Religious Alliance for Hope. The faith-based women’s group has created 26 quilts featuring children’s peace-themed drawings that circulate to service groups a community organizations around the world.

“You’ve got people of all faiths working together here for something that is greater than themselves,” said Sande Hart, one of the founders of Spiritual and Religious Alliance for Hope.

BRIANNA BAILEY may be reached at (714) 966-4625 or at [email protected].