MLK Day see first-time collaboration between MHS and Moorestown Ministerium.
Every year, prior to Martin Luther King Jr. Day, Moorestown High School holds an assembly commemorating the legacy of the civil rights icon during which students are urged to spend the holiday giving back. Senior Emily O’Neil, president of student council at MHS, said this year she wanted to help students turn the message of the assembly from words to action.
“We wanted to extend the message of service that we talked about in the assembly,” O’Neil said.
On Martin Luther King Jr. Day, MHS offered its time, supplies and support to the Moorestown Ministerium’s MLK Day efforts. On the morning of Jan. 15, MHS students helped make birthday boxes for homeless children at Trinity Episcopal Church, and in the afternoon, students assembled toiletry bags at Our Lady of Good Counsel, which were then distributed to local food pantries.
MHS senior Alex Karanjia said when he and his fellow members of student council heard the theme of this year’s MLK assembly was “service,” they knew they wanted to offer students an opportunity to give back.
“So instead of just sitting in the assembly, and on Monday, doing nothing, we decided let’s plan something and then give people the option,” Karanjia said. “Even if it’s just for an hour, we just thought it would be something beneficial to do, and we could help the community.”
So, Karanjia, O’Neil and fellow student council member Dan Rohrbach conferred about what students could do. O’Neil began calling local churches to see if MHS students could lend their support in any way, and she connected with Director of Religious Education at OLGC Linda Dix, who told O’Neil about some of the activities the ministerium had planned for MLK Day.
On Friday, Jan. 12, O’Neil informed MHS students gathered in the auditorium they had opportunities to serve in both the morning and afternoon on MLK Day. For students such as senior Paige Hillman, the message hit home.
Hillman said the message of the assembly struck a chord with her. On Monday, Hillman arrived at OLGC to help assemble toiletry bags, and she said it was her first time volunteering on the holiday. She said the assembly’s emphasis on service made her want to take an active role in giving back to her community.
“It’s important because we live such privileged lives, and it’s important to recognize that and give back to the community,” Hillman said.
On Monday morning, MHS students, in partnership with the ministerium, brought supplies and helped children at Trinity Episcopal Church to assemble 52 birthday boxes filled with items such as cake mix to be donated to local homeless children.
That afternoon, students gathered at OLGC and brought toiletries and canned goods, which were donated to the food pantries at First Baptist Church of Moorestown and Saint Matthew Lutheran Church. MHS partnered with OLGC students to assemble toiletry bags and later helped the youngsters with their crafts.
For 10 years, OLGC has had its students participate in service activities on MLK Day. Dix said having 34 teens spend time with them at OLGC was a special delight for their students. She said the children enjoyed meeting the teens, and at one point in the afternoon, every young student was partnered with a teenager while making crafts.
“I am so grateful for the help of the teens, as their involvement gave us a deeper dimension of engagement with our younger children,” Dix said. “I am most grateful for the food gathered to meet the needs of area families.”
Dix said the ministerium saw partnering with MHS students as another great way to shed some light on the local need for food, toiletries and other basic supplies.
In speaking with Dix, O’Neil said she learned around this time of the year, food pantries’ inventories are depleted because pantries see a surge of families coming in around the holiday season. Karanjia said they told students planning to attend either event to bring canned goods to donate.
“We know there’s people in our school who need help and who are hungry,” Karanjia said. “They don’t come out and say it, but by doing this, we’re helping them.”
O’Neil said their goal for MLK Day was to instill in their fellow students a sense of gratitude and to inform them there are members of the community who go without basic essentials such as food and toiletries.
“[MLK Day] is a time to remember how much we have and how we should be grateful for that,” O’Neil said. “Gratitude, there’s an action part of that.”
Dix said she anticipates the partnership between the minitersium and MHS students becoming an annual collaboration on MLK Day. She said several students already promised her they would come back next year.
“It was a wonderful day of friendship and partnership and service,” Dix said.
