Early this year, the Highland Utah South Stake, a group of Utah County congregations of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, was looking for a service project.
In chatting with a member of Congregation Kol Ami in Salt Lake City, they came up with a plan: Xeriscape the Jewish synagogue’s six-acre site.
They spent months planning, budgeting and calling businesses to provide goods and services for free or at a deep discount.
This week, about 50 members of the stake met up with about a dozen synagogue members every day at 7 a.m. to help rip out the lawn and bushes and replace them with rocks, succulent plants and trees hooked up to a drip system. They created pathways and patios with concrete.
“With all the volunteer hours and items that were donated or purchased at a reduced price,” said Rabbi Sam Spector, overcome with gratitude, “we probably saved hundreds of thousands of dollars.”
