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Volunteers help clean up the grounds of a local park. JustServe volunteers serve in many different capacities for various nonprofit community partners throughout Houston. The clean up initiative at the Houston National Cemetery scheduled for Sept. 10, 2022, will be the largest citywide National Day of Service event JustServe has planned to date.

Volunteers help clean up the grounds of a local park. JustServe volunteers serve in many different capacities for various nonprofit community partners throughout Houston. The clean up initiative at the Houston National Cemetery scheduled for Sept. 10, 2022, will be the largest citywide National Day of Service event JustServe has planned to date.

Volunteers will help with clean up efforts at the Houston National Cemetery on Sept. 10, 2022, as part of the September 11 National Day of Service. Shown here are flowers left on a gravesite following the Memorial Day Ceremony at the Houston National Cemetery on Monday, May 27, 2019.

Volunteers will help with clean up efforts at the Houston National Cemetery on Sept. 10, 2022, as part of the September 11 National Day of Service. Shown here, volunteers place flags on gravesites in the National Cemetery in Houston in preparation for Memorial Day on Sunday, May 26, 2019.

More than 1,000 volunteers are expected to help spruce up the Houston National Cemetery as part of JustServe.org’s National Day of Service project. 

JustServe is affiliated with The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, including Houston-area churches that serve about 70,000 members. The JustServe website is a nationwide resource for people seeking volunteer opportunities in their area.

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The group organized the cemetery clean-up event, which is set for Sept. 10 from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. at 10410 Veterans Memorial Dr. in northwest Houston. The project is being carried out in conjunction with the September 11 National Day of Service, or 9/11 Day, a federally recognized day created to encourage acts of community service to "rekindle the spirit of unity that arose in America in the immediate aftermath of the terrorist attacks."

Folks from around Houston and of all backgrounds will gather to paint fences and other cemetery structures, clean and straighten headstones and pick up debris. Families and people of all ages are welcome.

Mary Mercado, a Houston metro media specialist for the church, said this is the first year JustServe has organized events for 9/11 Day.

“The idea came from our church leadership,” Mercado said. “They asked us to make an effort to show our commitment in our community.”

She said she’s been blown away not only by the volunteer interest but also by the numerous groups the church has partnered with to make the event a reality. 

JustServe teamed up with the city of Houston as well as Carry the Load, a veteran’s charity, to recruit volunteers. The Houston ToolBank is set to provide tools and other needed supplies, and Clear Channel Outdoor is promoting the event on its billboards around the city. Congressman Troy Nehls is also slated to appear.

Nearby Sam Houston Race Park has offered volunteers and event organizers the use of its parking lot, and a local bus company will shuttle folks from there to the cemetery. Finally, members of a military honors funeral team will be on hand for a flag ceremony.

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Mercado said volunteers will be greeted with cheers as they enter the cemetery. They will then take part in a 11 a.m. remembrance ceremony, including the flag ceremony and a performance of the national anthem.

“People are going to see two fire trucks with large American flags and youth there greeting them, so there will be a patriotic mood, but we come to work and get things done,” she said. 

Kris Booker, a church member who lives in Conroe but was in Manhattan the day the Twin Towers fell, will offer a few words during the ceremony.  

Booker plans to talk about how she saw New York City residents coming together to help and serve one another the best they could. She recalls witnessing city shopkeepers assisting folks covered in blood and ash from the attack.

“Every morning shopkeepers would hose down the area in front of their stores, but that day they were hosing people down,” Booker said. “That was the first act of service I saw.”

The good deeds continued, with members of her church – nurses, doctors, emergency medical technicians and others – working to serve those impacted by the tragedy. Some members even collected stranded airline travelers at nearby airports and offered them home cooked meals and laundry service until they could travel again. 

Booker said she can’t think of a better way to celebrate those first responders on 9/11 than with the National Day of Service.

“What were those first responders doing that day? They were literally running into burning buildings in service of their fellow man, so having this day is the best way to honor them,” she said.

Jana Humphreys, Houston metro assistant communication director for the church, said she and her team are excited about how much interest the cemetery clean up event has garnered.

“I think the reason it's been embraced is people are excited to have a big group together unified for a common project,” she said. “This is also a family-friendly project, so everyone can come and we’ll have a job for them.”

Humphreys said there are plans to expand the event and make it an annual project.

“We talked to the cemetery about it and they want to make it happen,” she said. “Next year we hope to arrange an Air Force fly over and we want to invite other groups to partner with us and get even more funding.”

Several other National Day of Service projects will be taking place around Houston, including weeding and painting at Unity Park in Magnolia; preparing food bags for assisted living facilities; and moving furniture and assembling food boxes at Northwest Assistance Ministries.

For more information visit www.justserve.org.

Carissa D. Lamkahouan is a correspondent for the Houston Chronicle.

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