Terre Haute, IN (WTWO/WAWV) Over 100 Indiana State Sycamores joined Americans across the country to participate in the Martin Luther King Jr. National Day of Service.
Alex Whitmore, Assistant Director for the ISU Center for Community Engagement, was proud to say that “Sycamores were out and about serving the community today!”
Working to make their community more equitable, students volunteered for service projects including the Million Meal Movement to package a couple thousand macaroni and cheese meal kits for local families in need.
Student volunteer, Emani Marks, was taken back to her childhood when she learned the meals, she would be packaging were for the local food pantry.
“I chose to volunteer because of MLK Day first of all and then…I used to be a person who went to food pantries as a child and I didn’t know it was going to the food pantry, but I knew it was packing food for people. …when I got here, I found out it was a food pantry, so I think it’s like really special, because we used to go to the food pantry to get food,” Marks said.
Marks commented that while she was packaging the food, she was wondering if she ever ate one of these types of meals that someone may have prepared for her family.
In addition to the Million Meal Movement, volunteers also helped out by sorting and boxing books for Bountiful Books, as well as community service projects for Habitat for Humanity, The Chamber office, and the Kid Kare Project in Clinton.
“One big thing that we try to emphasize, this isn’t just a service project, but to remember the legacy of Martin Luther King Jr. So, we watched a video this morning, I gave them a brochure with some educational pieces, we have some quotes that we gave out that was just something to think about and reflect on while they’re doing service, so this day is about him {MLK}. About what he stood for and what he did.
ISU students have been volunteering in the MLK Day of Service for many years. Organizers were very pleased with the turnout.
