Tens of thousands of sandbags filled during big volunteer event at Murray Park

MURRAY — As temperatures rise, the snow in the mountains melts, and the water quickly flows down to the valley, causing lots of sandbagging events to happen Saturday.

Salt Lake County officials prepared one at Murray Park, where hundreds of people were helping to get ready for potential flooding.

Janae DeGuzman brought her 3-year-old son Marley DeGuzman to the sandbag event. She hoped he'd learn what these piles of sand were really for.

"He was like, the beach! Let's go to the beach. We're going to build sandcastles. And I was like, instead of building sandcastles, we're going to help people save their castles, and he is so excited," Janae DeGuzman said.

The mother and son duo were part of a huge volunteer effort at the park to fill sandbags.

"Look at this one, Mommy," said Marley as he scooped some dirt with his little red shovel and put it into a sandbag.

"That's a good one," Janae DeGuzman responded.

Even though they don't know anyone affected by flooding, Janae DeGuzman felt it is important to help your neighbors anyway.

"Service," she said. "Service fuels my soul. It is just what I live for. And that's one of the most important things I want to teach him."

And hundreds of people felt the same way.

"We are sandbagging so we can protect all the creeks where it's going to overflow," said one volunteer.

There is still a lot of snow in the mountain, which must all come down. With temperatures only rising, these volunteers hope to get ahead of it.

"Everybody just jumped on weeks ago," said Sheri Van Bibber, who helped organize this event.

They hoped to fill up 12,000 bags.

"We ended up doing 18,000 bags," Van Bibber said.

Those bags were available for anybody who needed them. There was a line of vehicles waiting for sandbags. The sandbags were also delivered to places in town known to flood or where it might flood.

"Are we helping to save castles?" said Janae DeGuzman to her son.

"Yeah," Marley replied.

As she sees it, this day at the "beach" can bring some sunshine and hope for everyone.

"It is so worth it, and if it helps him grow to be a better man and help our community, I mean, it's a win-win," she said.

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