Students mark Martin Luther King Jr. Day with community service
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Elana Kolko, 9, of Point Breeze, addresses an envelope for a letter asking Millvale High School alumni for donations to complete the Philippina Johnston Community Room of the Millvale Community Library Monday in Millvale. The volunteering is part of the UPMC Center for Inclusion Dignity & Respect Tip No. 29, which is "Lend a Hand," to celebrate the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday by volunteering.
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Pia Campbell could have taken a long weekend.
Instead, the Shady Side Academy sophomore spent her Martin Luther King Jr. Day at the Pittsburgh Toy Lending Library in Shadyside helping to clean toys and other parts of the facility.
"I did not just want to spend the day watching TV and see news feeds about people doing things for the community," she said. "I wanted to do my share."
Ms. Campbell, 16, was among about 300 Shady Side students, parents, faculty and staff who volunteered for community service projects at nine different locations in the Pittsburgh region on Monday.
Martin Luther King Jr. Day -- a federal holiday first observed in 1986 -- was designated by Congress as a national day of service in 1994.
Across the country, Americans used the holiday from work or school as an opportunity to embark on a service project. President Barack Obama, along with his wife and daughter, Malia, joined other volunteers at Browne Education Center in Washington, D.C., to help build bookshelves and a reading corner in the school library.
During brief remarks, the president said there was no better way to honor King than by doing something on behalf of others.
That's what about 20 volunteers -- all wearing Shady Side Academy "Got MLK?" shirts -- were doing at the Toy Lending Library Monday, as they cleaned toys and washed windows.
"They've done a great job," said Katy Perrin, a board member and volunteer. "It's been a great help in having them in."
Shady Side Academy, a private school with prekindergarten through 12th-grade classes, is usually closed on the third Monday of every January. Last year, with the hope of creating an annual tradition, the school held its first Martin Luther King Jr. Day of Service, and about 230 people volunteered at three locations.
In its second year, the service day has grown, with more people volunteering at more locations, including the Braddock Carnegie Library.
In the cavernous library building, about 20 students, parents, teachers and staff organized books and DVDs and moved furniture up the stairs to a new children's library that is scheduled to open in March.
"They are helping with the big jobs that we don't have the opportunity to do daily," said library director Anita Greene-Jones, whose mother is a teacher at Shady Side Academy.
Julian Schwartz, a Shady Side Academy freshman who lives in Hampton, sat at a table in the library Monday morning organizing a new collection of books on tape.
He had never even been to Braddock before, let alone the Braddock Carnegie Library. But Julian, 15, wanted to spend his Martin Luther King Jr. Day doing service, an activity he felt was in line with King's legacy.
"The way he would want to be honored is giving back to the community, rather than having the day off and not doing anything," he said.
Correction/Clarification: (Published January 19, 2012) President Barack Obama was joined by first lady Michelle Obama and their daughter Malia at a service event Monday in Washington, D.C., for Martin Luther King Jr. Day. A story Tuesday said both daughters were at the event.
First Published January 17, 2012 12:00 am
