Monday, Jan. 19 marked Martin Luther King Jr. Day, a holiday that has been celebrated since 1986 to honor the birthday of Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and his achievements across the Civil Rights Movement. In his honor, Pittsburg State held the Martin Luther King Jr. Day of Service. Students gathered some music and speeches, then proceeded to go around the Pittsburg area and campus volunteering.
“MLK Day of Service is kind of an idea that turned into an annual event,” Bailey Talkington said, the Assistant Director of the Campus Activity Center. The event that originally started as a simple candlelight vigil in The Oval soon evolved into the day of service known across campus today.
The third annual Day of Service began with a kickoff in the Overman Student Center’s ballrooms, where students, staff, alumni, and other Pittsburg residents had an Einstein Bros. breakfast and a time of fellowship, as well as free beanies for new volunteers and specially designed shirts for returners.
Deatrea Rose, the Associate Vice President of Campus & Community Resources, took to the lectern to introduce the event and its history. From there, others came to speak, including speeches from Pittsburg State president Dr. Thomas Newsom and senior elementary education major Charlie Judd. A duet of Sam Cooke’s “A Change is Gonna Come” was performed by Dean of Students Dr. Jon Bartlow on the saxophone and Pittsburg State alumni Lem Sheppard on the bass guitar. At the conclusion of the kickoff, Talkington expressed her gratitude to the audience.
“We start pushing this event before the students leave for Christmas break,” Talkington said. “We were a little nervous about if they’re gone, we won’t have the opportunity to advertise the event. So, we try to push that to them about Dead Week or Finals Week. But we really do get a lot of sign-ups.”
Talkington cited the day as a great way for students and staff alike to connect, grow, and ultimately give back to the community.
After the kickoff concluded, volunteers all headed off to numerous destinations in the Pittsburg area. While most of the service projects were within city limits, such as reading to children at Sonshine Childcare and helping organize at the Wesley House, some of them stretched to nearby cities, like helping organize at the Miners Hall Museum in Franklin, or playing games with residents of Arma Health and Rehab in Arma.
There were even service opportunities on campus. One such opportunity was helping out in the donation closet in the U-Club, which is sponsored by SparkWheel, a nonprofit that helps provide students with resources like food and clothing. Here, volunteers helped assemble shelves and organize clothes. Francisco Castaneda, a senior double majoring in Early Childhood Education and Spanish was one of those volunteers.
“I’m from the local area, and I’ve seen SparkWheel doing a lot with the schools I had been to,” Castaneda said, going on to talk about how he dressed up as Santa around Christmas and worked with SparkWheel at the Family Resource Center as Saint Nick. When asked about how he gave back to the community, Castaneda talked about the service projects he does as a member of the Student Government Association, and how he also gives back to the elementary school he went to by volunteering his time at events, especially the school carnival.
Days of service like this are designed to give back to the community, but to also honor Dr. King’s legacy. In the words of Dr. King, “The time is always right to do what is right.”