Smiling Volunteers Make a Connection : Community: More than 7,000 people turned out countywide to get involved in various projects--from planting flowers to removing graffiti.

Hundreds of volunteers planted flowers, repaired desks and painted classrooms Saturday at a high school in Villa Park. Meanwhile, community leaders in Orange unveiled a homeless feeding center that will open this week.

And across the county, in the cities of Fullerton, Westminster and La Habra, scores of volunteers removed graffiti and planted dozens of trees at city parks.

More than 7,000 volunteers countywide participated in such activities, organized as part of Volunteer Connection Day. The day marked the official start of a countywide effort to promote community service and address social problems through volunteer efforts.

“It’s a chance to get out and do something in the community,” said Mark Pulone, the project coordinator for Lake Forest. “The whole intent is to help spread the awareness of volunteerism. If people come out and get involved, perhaps that may spark their interest in other activities.”

In all of the 31 Orange County cities, except Cypress, city officials or community groups organized volunteer events, including food drives, graffiti removal, beach cleaning and park restoration.

The Volunteer Center of Greater Orange County, a nonprofit organization with programs and services designed to help people become volunteers, sponsored the event.

At Villa Park High School, 16-year-old Ronnie Tellez and his classmates spent the day planting trees and cleaning the school’s outdoor arena.

“I get to see all the hard work we put into it,” Tellez said. “And I get to spend a Saturday with my friends.”

More than 800 volunteers in Villa Park participated in the daylong project. Many, like student Jenn Miliband, joined the project to help her school.

“I think the students will appreciate the campus more,” said Miliband. “It’s really hard for students to do it alone.”

The students had the help of community groups and residents. As with other city projects, private companies and nurseries donated flowers, trees, equipment and other supplies.

And Jack Lindquist), president of Disneyland, donated free passes to all volunteers who participated in the city-sponsored projects.

The Disneyland prospect excited many, but Daryl Pharis, 18, said he was more interested in improving the look of Villa Park High School. “The whole time I went here, it looked horrible,” said Pharis, who sanded and repaired the school benches. “It was ugly. Now it’s a nicer place to go. People will feel better about the school.”

The new landscape included planter boxes of petunias and snapdragons, a line of trees and countless shrubs and grass in a once-barren area. Volunteers repainted the classrooms, the buildings, benches and lunch tables.

“I think it’s a better atmosphere for learning,” said John Winn, an Orange resident whose two daughters go to Villa Park. “It’s just a great community project.”

Meanwhile, volunteers at Serrano Creek Park in Lake Forest cleaned up the creek bed, painted playground equipment and removed overgrown brush. Another group of volunteers built sand volleyball courts and planted trees at El Toro High School.

In Westminster, Saturday was the start of a weeklong volunteer effort called, “Keep America Beautiful & Westminster Too.” Volunteers cleaned up parks and removed graffiti.