Sign up to serve at second annual Park City day of community service

Young Men's Service League volunteering to paint the Senior Center, Park City. Photo: TownLift//Randi Sidman-Moore

PARK CITY, Utah — On Saturday, September 13, hundreds of volunteers will spread throughout the community to give back to key community organizations. Now in its second year, Serve Park City is a fast-growing community event designed to connect people through meaningful, hands-on service.

“Last year was our first year. We had 900 volunteers, and so this year we’re shooting for 1,000,” said Karen Marriott, founder of Park City Humanitarian, the group organizing the event.

This year’s lineup includes more than 35 service projects. Volunteers can sign up for everything from trail work and stream cleanups to indoor tasks like writing letters, sorting eyeglasses, and assembling hygiene kits.

Each project has a different amount of volunteers they can host. To register, participants can visit justserve.com/serveparkcity and select the projects that are marked with the Serve Park City 2025 logo. Projects are filled on a first-come, first-serve basis, so participants are encouraged to sign up early. “There’s still some projects that will continue to get posted on Just Serve,” Marriott said.

The day will kick off at 8 a.m. in City Park with a free breakfast and a short community program. “We do a little program in the park, and we’ll have one of our first responders give a thought,” said Marriott. “And then we have some bagpipes playing, a moment of silence, and bugle taps. And then everybody heads off to the projects between 9:30 and 12.”

Marriott emphasized that the event is not a fundraiser. “We aren’t fundraising,” she said. “Nobody’s asking anybody for any money. It’s just an opportunity to give of our time and feel more connected to our community.”

The projects vary in size and scope, and participating groups include local schools, the Christian Center, People’s Health Clinic, and Park City Municipal. Some projects, like clearing Poison Creek or planting trees, are built for 100 people. Others are limited to just a handful. The goal, Marriott said, is to allow everyone to find a project that speaks to them.

The message behind the event is simple, but powerful: building community through service.

“At the end of that day… people of all ages feel connected through service,” Marriott said. “I genuinely believe that when we’re serving together, we get to know people in a different kind of way.”