Volunteers make big impact across state on MLK Day

Volunteers in Ypsilanti delivered Meals on Wheels. In Alpena, volunteers put together 80 emergency kits to distribute to the area’s elderly. In Lansing, volunteers assembled personal care packages for the homeless.

Thousands of residents across Michigan participated in the annual Martin Luther King, Jr. Day of Service and helped their communities with some of life’s most pressing issues.

The Michigan Community Service Commission (MCSC) helped fund 29 MLK Day of Service projects across the state of Michigan with $8,902. A total of 2,610 volunteers participated in these projects, serving 7,879 hours.

“Michiganders are always more than willing to step up and help their community,” said MCSC executive director Ginna Holmes. “We are so proud to play a role in these great projects and always excited to see the impact they make across the state.”

At Baker College in Flint, nearly 100 volunteers gathered to assemble 220 personal care packages, 34 fleece blankets and sleeping mats to donate to the Shelter of Flint.

“It’s a dire need. They house 200 people a night,” said project coordinator Maureen Miller. “It’s awesome to see this community come out when there is a need.”

One of the volunteers was Courtney Baldwin, 23, of Detroit. The AmeriCorps member, serving with Evidence Based Literacy Instruction Corps, brought her 7-year-old nephew to serve on MLK Day to expose him to volunteerism and helping others.

“He goes to school in the inner city and doesn’t always get a chance to contribute and be around people serving others,” Baldwin said. “My dad had me volunteering at a young age and I want to pass that experience on to him so he can share it with his younger brothers and sisters.”

More than 100 Loyola High School students volunteered at various locations in the Detroit area including Forgotten Harvest, Gleaners Food Bank, Saint Vincent de Paul and the Cass Community Center. The helped package 16,000 lbs. of food, sorted through 400 items of clothing and helped serve 400 meals.

"In a world that continuously reports the negative, it warms the heart to see an entire school community try to make a difference working together to achieve a goal of making history better one day at a time," said Katarina Grosska, who organized the service for the students.

Jeremiah Debrosse, 15, served with about 30 of his classmates at Forgotten Harvest in Oak Park by sorting and organizing apples.

“Some people don’t have what we have and we can help,” he said. “It feels good.”

In Lansing, Big Brothers Big Sisters Michigan Capital Area and Peckham Inc. teamed up for a children’s book drive, collecting 1,429 books. The organizations then installed three children’s book nooks in Lansing barbershops.

“It’s really exciting. I’m from Lansing, so it’s personal to me. We call it taking back the city. If I come back and see a kid reading a book here, my heart will smile,” said Jamie Griggs, who helped organize the service project.

Other MLK Day project highlights across Michigan

• In Kalamazoo, 256 volunteers participated in 18 service projects at 16 locations serving 800 hours to help the community through Volunteer Kalamazoo.
• 189 Oakland University students volunteered for a variety of projects and served 945 hours. They organized 10,000 food pantry items at Gleaners Community Food Bank and helped feed 500 people.
• In Detroit, the AmeriCorps Urban Safety Program hosted 500 volunteers to secure 30 vacant properties and clear 10 blocks of trash.
• The Detroit Youth Energy Squad distributed 75 warm-weather items to those in need.
• In Dearborn, youth volunteers with ACCESS distributed more than 200 items of clothing and served more than 200 meals with the Neighborhood Service Organization in Detroit.
• In Grand Rapids, volunteers with the Heart of West Michigan United Way helped renovate spaces to house clients and made eight houses more energy efficient.
• In Traverse City, volunteers with the Northwest Community Action Agency made welcome home baskets for 20 families transitioning to stable housing.
• 101 Eastern Michigan University students volunteered 303 hours for 12 service projects helping the community.
• All Hands Volunteers helped Detroit residents with clean up and rebuild from the 2014 southeast Michigan flood by mucking and gutting three homes.
• University of Michigan students visited local elementary students to engage children in a reading activity through the Ginsberg Center for Community Service and Learning in Ann Arbor.
• Volunteers in Lenawee County served with Habitat for Humanity to help the rehab of a home.

You can view photos of the projects on Flickr.