More than 100 students and community members filled the Waubonsie Valley High School cafeteria Monday afternoon to take part in the sixth annual Martin Luther King Day of Service.
Organized by Parents Advocating for the Greater Enrichment of Students, the event provides attendees with several ways to give back to their community in honor of the late civil rights activist.
“It’s called a ‘Day On,’ instead of a day off. We provide this opportunity for our community leaders, staff from the school, parents, and students to come together, to serve and to give back to the community, as a representation of the legacy of Martin Luther King Jr.,” said Latoya Whittier, president of PAGES.
Several hands-on activities at MLK Day of Service
The event featured four stations for guests to participate in, including a toiletry kit packaging station to benefit Wayside Cross Ministry in Aurora, a station for writing letters to military members, and another to create friendship bracelets for guests at an assisted living facility. New this year was a station where they could make Valentine’s Day cards for cancer patients.
Organizers said the activities allowed everyday people to gather and make a difference in the lives of others.
“Dr. King was about helping and supporting one another and to really build ourselves up and build up your neighbor. And so that’s really the heart of what this is about, coming out to do something for someone else,” said Whittier.
Event highlights King’s message
One organizer emphasized the importance of students participating in the event, as it allows them to learn more about King and his messages of equality and inclusion.
“To commemorate his birthday, the kids have the day off. But to have them come in to do service projects, I think, reminds them of: Why do we have this day off? What did he do? What was he about? And so this gives them an opportunity to connect the dots on some information, some history and things that they may have not known,” said Bertha Jackson, chairman of PAGES.
For Waubonsie junior Jashon Rule, president of the school’s Black Student Alliance, the event embodied what King was all about.
“I feel that his whole thing was just community and bringing the community together instead of separating us, no matter how you look or how you stand. I feel like, as a community, we should all just come as one, and I feel like we did that today,” said Rule.
“There are a lot of people in there writing, doing bags and stuff, and it doesn’t matter how they look or where they came from. It’s the fact that we came as a community and wanted to help out others today.”
Organizers say they hope to keep King’s Legacy — and the MLK Day of Service — alive for more years to come.
“I think we had almost around 150 people here today, maybe even more…We really feel that people come here and they do feel that sense of community that we’re hoping to build,” said Whittier.
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