Palouse churches hoped to make the Pullman community a little stronger last weekend.

Ten churches around the Palouse participated in an event called ServeFest. It is a celebration of service, and will highlight the importance of helping those in need.

Derek Murphy, ServeFest director, said a variety of community service projects will be hosted by the churches. These projects will range from cleaning yards for the elderly to building playground equipment.

“We aren’t trying to go out and preach, but love people in real ways,” Murphy said.

Each church had its own service project, and some were involved in more than one. Murphy estimated that more than 500 members were involved in the project.

Mike Bowman, practitioner of Saint Augustine Catholic Student Center, said his church planted trees at the University of Idaho.

The historic trees on campus are beginning to disintegrate, and their seeds had been collected and grown. The Saint Augustine Student Center planted these new trees Saturday.

“Here we have got the future leaders of America contributing to the history of our campus,” Bowman said.

While the Saint Augustine Catholic Student Center had its main project in mind, Bowman said his organization was only a small part of ServeFest.

“We are just a seed in the big tree,” Bowman said.

Chad Christianson, deacon of Evangelical Free Church of the Palouse, said his organization also took part in ServeFest.

Rather than hosting one large project, Evangelical Free Church helped through eight service projects in Moscow and Pullman. These projects included volunteering at a Moscow elementary school, two landscaping projects in Pullman and a neighborhood cleanup.

“These projects are living proof of a loving God. Hopefully people will see that God is real and people are serving,” Christianson said.

Nate Anglen, youth minister of Bridge Bible Fellowship, emphasized the importance to serve immediate neighbors.

Bridge Bible Fellowship completed home-improvement projects including trimming lilac hedges, siding houses and painting.

Anglen said that it is important for local churches to reach out to the community.

“Churches in the community need to reach out and serve,” Anglen said.

Reporting by Ali Smith