Community residents got up bright and early on Saturday for Serve Santa Maria, a biannual event where volunteers clean up and improve areas around the city.

The 31st gathering began at 8:30 a.m. and wrapped up in the mid-afternoon. 

At the start of the day, 150 volunteers gathered at the Abel Maldonado Community Youth Center and enjoyed coffee and doughnuts for breakfast until they split into groups. Organizer Carl Nielsen said 250 people stopped by to help throughout the day.

According to Nielsen, Serve Santa Maria has a roughly 10-person leadership team.

It is supported by the city government granting free landfill access, code enforcement flagging homes of residents with code violations, and Bedford Enterprises, which donates eight roll-off trash containers.

Volunteers stopped by multiple schools in the city, including Ontiveros Elementary School, where they painted maps of countries around the world. They also helped senior living residents with landscaping at Casa Del Rio Mobile Estates.

Assistant City Manager Chuen Wu, who serves on the Serve Santa Maria leadership team, said volunteering at Casa Del Rio helps older residents who may struggle to maintain their properties.

“(Santa Maria has) many property owners that just need help,” Wu said. “They may be older residents that cannot physically do some of the work on their property, and so we’re helping them out.”

Nielsen said Serve Santa Maria assists those who may want to give back but are unsure of where to start. 

“There are a lot of people … who want to help others. They’re just not sure how to do that,” Nielsen said. “I think Serve Santa Maria gives them an opportunity to help in the community.”

Julia Robinson, a churchgoer at Bridge Central Coast Church, landscaped at Preisker Park with her young children. She said she decided to join on Saturday since “God says it’s better to give than to receive” and wanted to uphold biblical principles.

To Robinson, when the community comes out to help one another, they understand what it is they really need.

“I think we get to see the need in the community,” Robinson said. “Rather than just living life and being so consumed with ourselves, we get to really see what the community is really in need of, and it makes us love (our) community a lot more.”

Wu shared the same sentiment about community.

She said volunteers actively make the city better for others as well as themselves.

“I think the beautiful thing about service is that it helps the recipient, but those that are serving (as) volunteers themselves can feel good about contributing to the community,” Wu said. “They feel connected to their community and just feel like they’re doing something that’s positive.”