Campus Life

Students to perform community service on MLK Day

In honor of Martin Luther King Day on Monday, Jan. 15, Penn State Berks students will volunteer in the local community and complete community service activities on campus in an effort to honor the life and legacy of the civil rights leader.

Throughout the day, students will visit several organizations. They will travel to the Olivet Boys & Girls Club PAL Unit on Walnut Street in Reading to assist with their MLK celebration from 10:30 a.m. to noon. Another group will prepare lunch for the clients of Opportunity House from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m., and yet another group will spend time playing games with the residents at Country Meadows on Tulpehocken Road from 1 to 3 p.m.

On campus, community service activities will take place throughout the day in the Multipurpose Room in the Perkins Student Center. Beginning at 10 a.m., students will package school “success” kits with motivational notes to donate to the Berks County Intermediate Unit for homeless youth, while others write letters and create origami gifts for children receiving care at Penn State Health Milton S. Hershey Medical Center.

Then beginning at 11 a.m., students will work to create blankets and beginning at 1 p.m., they will make bags from old T-shirts. The blankets and bags will be donated to local shelters.

The students will be working under the supervision of Autumn Fritz, assistant director of community development, who will challenge them to think about themes from Martin Luther King Jr.'s messages and how they relate to serving these very different communities.

For additional information, contact Fritz at 610-396-6098 or amr40@psu.edu.

Last Updated January 18, 2018