Stepping Up and Helping Out

Dr. Harris Done, an Irvine-based dentist, has traveled several times to South America to provide free care for children whose teeth had never been examined before his clinic came to their town.

But on Saturday, in a makeshift clinic set up in an elementary school library, Done was able to do the same without leaving Orange County. With a crew of about 10 dentists and oral hygienists, he helped give checkups, fillings and other treatment to 130 low-income children as part of Volunteer Connection Day, a countywide effort that drew nearly 10,000 volunteers in more than 90 projects.

The annual event, which coincided with the final day of National Volunteer Week, was begun in 1993 to promote community service and address social problems through volunteer efforts.

“This type of work gives me tremendous satisfaction,” Done said, adding that most of the children he examined Saturday were first-time dental patients. “In a way, this is really a selfish act because I love it so much.”

Thousands of workers planted flowers and trees, painted classrooms, removed graffiti and repaired parks.

On the coast, from Seal Beach to San Clemente, volunteers picked up hundreds of pounds of trash from beaches.

A Westminster group accompanied foster children to a morning at the bowling alley, while volunteers in Seal Beach organized a picnic for battered women and their children.

More than 300 people turned out to assist a food collection drive in Yorba Linda, and nearly 1,000 helped clean, paint, prune trees and make repairs at Costa Mesa’s Canyon Park and its surrounding neighborhood.

The fourth annual Volunteer Connection Day, which started with 3,000 volunteers in 1993 and drew 9,000 last year, was the most successful yet, organizers said. About 10,000 volunteers put in a collective 45,000 hours of free services, valued at about $546,000, and various collection drives produced more than 2,000 pounds of food.

“I’m incredibly excited about the turnout,” said Jeanette Wood, spokeswoman for the Volunteer Center of Orange County, the nonprofit group that organizes the event. “I think people are beginning to realize that every community has problems and that we can’t, and shouldn’t, rely on government to help solve them.”

Wood said the organization expects Volunteer Connection Day to expand every year despite statistics from the group that show volunteerism in Orange County to be lower than the national average.

“People see the need around them but don’t always know how to get involved,” Wood said. “This provides the vehicle for them to get out and make a difference. An event like this demonstrates the power that people have in numbers, but it also shows the power of the individual.”

Many who volunteered said the event provided a chance to give something back to their communities.

“It doesn’t take much, just one day out of the weekend,” said Lisa Dunn, who was helping to improve a playground area at the Blind Children’s Leaning Center in Santa Ana. “This is what it’s all about--giving back to others.”

About 30 volunteers at the center dug pits and filled areas around the play equipment with sand, and constructed “tactile markers” along the playground wall that visually impaired children can touch to identify their location and proximity to the equipment.

“This is going to enable them to find the play equipment totally on their own,” said Lois Lauer of the Learning Center. “The rest will be an added safety factor.”