By Cecily H. '16
On Monday January 20th, over 225 people gathered at Germantown Academy to continue the tradition of honoring Martin Luther King Junior in a day dedicated to service. For some people it was a day off, but for many more it was an opportunity to help people less fortunate than themselves, even if it was only for little while. Tynetta Alston, mother of Nichelle Hall ’15 and co-chair of the event alongside Allison Herald and Genie Hill, has been working and organizing the event for 11 years. She said, “The GA community, varying all ages, as well as seniors from the Ambler Senior Activity Center, worked together to do service projects where all of the hard work, efforts and dedication will help hundreds of people have food, be warm, smile, and feel loved.”
Service projects included wrapping the new sneaker donations from the GA community for teens at St. Mary’s Villa, preparing ziti meals, canned food, and packaged rice for Manna on Main Street, a soup kitchen in Lansdale. Volunteers sorted and packaged over 1,500 articles of clothing for the Mattie Dixon Food Cupboard, Cradles to Crayons, and other community organizations. Teams packaged over 400 hygiene bags for local shelters and soup kitchens and made over 25 blankets and 100 Peace and Smile activity boxes of arts and crafts for pediatric patients in our local hospitals. Dog and cat toys were made for local shelters, volunteers decorated cupcakes for children at Carson Valley School, St. Mary’s Villa, and Manna on Main Street. Valentine's Day candy treats for nursing home residents and napkin rings for Meals on Wheels were made with love.
There is no reward more gratifying than feeling like you’ve helped someone’s day making it even the smallest fraction easier, but Meriwether-Godsey came close by donating a delicious lunch for all of the volunteers. Tynetta Alston said, “All in all, it was an amazing day and a great response to one of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.'s quotes, "Life’s most persistent and urgent question is, what are you doing for others?"
Photos by Cecily H. '16 and Emmy D. '16
Click on the photo slideshow above to scroll through the pictures!
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