The minister at the Greater Bright Light Baptist Church says he has high hopes to restore the place of worship to make it more inviting and to give back to the community - something that starts with removing traces of an act of vandalism.

The Greater Bright Light Baptist church, located at 1320 Sutter Ave., has an adjacent property that the minister says has been plagued with graffiti since the pandemic.

Minister Michael Pugh is looking to restore the church and vacant space for the community to use.

"We went to plan to get our day care center back open. We want to plan some more programs for youth to get the community, the young people back involved," said Pugh.

He says he needs volunteers to help jumpstart the project.

Anyone interested in helping is being asked to show up to the church at 4 p.m. on Friday to help clean up some of the graffiti and take that first step in restoring the church.