Hundreds of volunteers -- some old, others young, all with a big heart -- descended upon Koinonia Christian Fellowship Church in Hanford on Saturday morning to serve their local communities in Kings County. As part of Serve Day, the volunteers, many of whom are members of the Koinonia Christian Fellowship, first met at the church and then were sent out to places as varied as the high schools in Lemoore and Hanford, the YMCA and Coe Park.

Many bent down and got dirty in order to sweep floors, rake flower beds, pull weeds, fix bikes and plaster "Save the Drain" stickers in Lemoore.

"One of the core values of the church is to serve others," said Jeff Acton, pastor of outreach for the church. "Serve Day gives people the opportunity to jump into serving their community.

"We believe as Christians that we should live externally focused lives," he said. "It's hard to do that because we live in a self-centered world."

Some of the volunteers echoed his statement that the world is self-centered. They said society could find it hard to believe that they have given up a Saturday morning to sweep floors, pull weeds and rake flower beds, all for free.

"Some people don't believe we're doing this for free," said Damaris Munoz, 37, a health care assistant from Hanford, who was raking weeds at the YMCA. "Serve Day shows people that there's still good people willing to share with the community."

Others bent their backs to dig up weeds to help the world become a better place.

"The world is changed by small acts of kindness done with great love," said Andrew Cromwell, executive pastor at the church, as he was pulling weeds at Hanford West High School. "We want to show the community that we care. The church is about getting outside the wall, not just staying inside."

The reporter can be reached at 583-2423.