RICHMOND — Local Sikhs invite the entire community to join them on Saturday in an act of service to memorialize the victims of a massacre at a Wisconsin gurdwara, or temple, five years ago.

From 11 a.m. to 2 p.m., volunteers will work on a habitat restoration project in the Sobrante Ridge Regional Preserve in the spirit of seva, a Sikh concept of selfless community service, according to Rajanpreet Kaur Pannu of The Sikh Coalition, a nationwide rights advocacy group. The entrance to the preserve is at 5170 Coach Drive, Richmond.

It is one of a series of events scheduled in more than 20 cities and metropolitan areas nationwide to honor the people whose lives were impacted by the Aug. 5, 2012 shooting at a gurdwara in Oak Creek, Wisconsin, in which six worshipers were killed by a white supremacist. The shooter, Wade Michael Page, was killed by responding police.

“Since 9/11, Sikhs have become a frequent target for bigotry and backlash,” Pannu said in a release, citing as an example a Sept. 25 attack in Richmond in which Maan Singh Khalsa was beaten and stabbed by two attackers who also yanked off his turban and cut off his hair — turbans and unshorn hair are Sikh articles of faith, Pannu noted. Khalsa had to have a finger amputated. Two Texas men, Colton Leblanc and Chase Little, pleaded no contest to charges of felony assault with a hate crime enhancement and were sentenced in May to three years in state prison.

On Sept. 15, 2001, Balbir Singh Sodhi, a former Walnut Creek resident and member of the Gurdwara Sahib Sikh temple in El Sobrante, was gunned down in Mesa, Ariz., by a self-proclaimed patriot who later reportedly told police he did it because Sodhi was “dark-skinned, bearded and wore a turban.” The attacker, Frank Roque, was eventually convicted of first-degree murder and sentenced to life in prison for what was widely believed to be the first hate crime in the aftermath of the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks.

“From Oak Creek to the Bay Area, no community is immune to this crisis, and by sharing these stories of compassion and service in response to these dramatic acts of bigotry, we can better educate the American public,” Pannu said.

Speaking of the Oak Creek massacre, she said: “Sadly, this tragedy did not happen in a vacuum, and five years later the continual tide of hate crimes underscores the urgency of initiatives which promote an awareness and appreciation for Sikhs and other communities most affected by these crimes.”