Local members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints kicked off the Labor Day weekend a few days early on Sept. 3 by doing just that - labor.

They spent hours in the hot sun harvesting grapes from a church-owned 80-acre vineyard in Madera that will be made into raisins and sent to needy families throughout this country and the world.

The annual harvest drew more than 10,000 members of the church from throughout the Valley who cut grapes and put them on paper trays so they could dry into raisins.

Paul Thompson was among the group of more than 50 volunteers from Hanford who picked grapes in the rows numbered 72 through 74 on Sept. 3.

He's been participating in the grape harvest for 25 years and this year picked alongside his 11-year-old grandson Nicholas Ball.

"It gives me an opportunity to serve others and provide a product for our worldwide food distribution," Thompson said. "It's also a nice break from my normal office work and puts me close to the land."

He and other members of the church will return to the vineyard to roll the raisins before they are picked up and locally processed.

They will then be shipped to the church's headquarters in Salt Lake City, Utah where they will be distributed through the extensive welfare and humanitarian assistance programs the church has established.

The raisins will be distributed in food boxes bound for victims of natural disasters, and the families of the unemployed, along with produce harvested from several church-owned farms and ranches across the country.

Jamie Hansen of Madera is the vineyard manager who oversees the huge volunteer work force who converge on the fields every fall. The volunteers also prune and tie the vines in the winter.

"It is always hot and the work is dirty but when you are among family and friends and doing it for a good cause, it doesn't seem so bad," he said. "You hear people laughing and joking and sometimes singing and whistling as they work."

Member of the Hanford ward Sue Sorenson said volunteers range in age from 8 to 80 and are pre-assigned rows.

Thompson and the rest of the Hanford volunteers wrapped up this year's harvest early on Sept. 3, but the process often lasts throughout the weekend.

"Well, we do get a lot of help from above," Hansen said about the successful harvest.

This reporter can be reached at 583-2427.

(Sept. 12, 2009)