The idea for Park City Humanitarians came to Karen Marriott as she looked for ways to connect her church with opportunities for community service. As she researched the needs, she discovered the free app Just Serve, which connects volunteers to service needs in their community.
“You can use it anywhere throughout the world,” Marriott said. “You can type in London and see what London is doing for service projects. And if you're on a family vacation, somewhere you can type in if you want to do something meaningful, you can do that. And so that is what really energized me and I want to do this with all my friends and all my people in my community. And as I discovered, that's really what energizes me around this Park City Humanitarians, if it's easy, people will do it.”
Marriott started the Park City Humanitarians Facebook page to help connect Summit County nonprofits and would-be volunteers through the Just Serve app. She says it’s a private group to help stem spam, but everyone is invited to join.
Marriott is also organizing the “Serve Park City” day of service across in Summit County on Sept. 14.
“We just had an amazing overwhelming response to people who want to serve, and the nonprofits are wanting to connect with people that want to serve,” she said. “So, we're going to put together hopefully, enough service projects for 800 people. Right now, we've got service projects for 450 people. Our goal is 800 because I learned in Wasatch County, they do a 9/11 National Day of Service and Remembrance which we are connecting Serve Park City with. And they did 800 people last year and I'm like, well, they can do 800, we can do 800.”
Signups for those 800 volunteer spots for Serve Park City begin Aug. 1, on the Just Serve app or online at justserve.org. Marriott says several nonprofits, like Utah Open Lands, Hope Alliance and Summit Community Gardens and already expressed interest.
