More than 350 members of local congregations of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints are uniting to serve their communities as part of the National Day of Service and Remembrance Sept. 11. It is part of the faith’s inagural Northwest Day of Service.

Seven congregations in the Bothell and Woodinville areas will collect food for Hopelink, a local nonprofit agency serving those in need with food, housing and other aid, and will also package and can food with Food LifeLine, a Western Washington local hunger relief organization. Members will collect food door-to-door and provide donation containers at local grocery stores.

Bothell’s and Woodinville’s Northwest Day of Service projects are part of a larger effort of many other congregations of the Church in Western Washington — from Centralia to the Canadian border. More than 190 congregations and at least 6,800 people have planned 129 projects such as blood drives, American Red Cross emergency response training, wetlands restoration, school-yard clean up, park clean up and more. One group is even creating a new park. Many projects involve serving active and retired military personnel.

Members of The Church of Jesus Christ are heeding President Barack Obama’s call in the summer of 2009 asking Americans to volunteer as part of the United We Serve initiative. Last year marked the first time the nation observed Sept. 11 as a National Day of Service, however the effort began years before by families impacted by the events of that day.

“We are grateful for opportunities to give meaningful service to our community, and we hope to join with others each year to make the National Day of Service a valuable tradition in our community,” said T.D. Sam Baxter, president of the Bothell Washington Stake of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.