How Delco will mark the Martin Luther King holiday
Media Fellowship House and Media NAACP host MLK celebration
MEDIA — Media Fellowship House and the Media NAACP will join together to host the 31st Annual Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Celebration 3 p.m. Sunday, Jan. 19, at the First United Methodist Church of Media, 350 W. State St., Media.
Nikki Johnson-Huston, Esq., will be the keynote speaker. Johnson-Huston is an unlikely success story. Born into poverty, she was homeless at age 9 and failed out of college by age 18. She did not let that stop her. Nikki got a job as a nanny during the day, went back to college at night and graduated in 1998 from St. Joseph’s University. A 2004 graduate of Temple University Beasley School of Law in Philadelphia she earned a J.D./M.B.A/ LL.M in taxation in only four years. Today Nikki is a prominent Philadelphia tax attorney in Philadelphia, a sought-after speaker and media commentator and cofounder of the Donafy App which allows people in need to use their phones to locate social services.
The event will also include performances by the Performances by the Penncrest High School Chamber Orchestra, Delco Mass Choir, and the Congregation Beth Israel of Media BIMAS Klezmer Band.
A reception with the NAACP will follow the celebration. Everyone is welcome. For more information, visit mediafellowshiphouse.org.
Food drive planned in Prospect Park for MLK Day of Service
PROSPECT PARK — Prospect Park Youth Club and the Prospect Park Fire Co. are co-sponsoring a Food Donation Drive as part of the 25th Annual Greater Philadelphia Martin Luther King Day of Service. Donations will be accepted 8 a.m. to noon Monday, Jan. 20, at the Prospect Park Fire Co., 1001 Lincoln Ave., Prospect Park.
Suggested non-perishable food items are canned food, jars of peanut butter or jelly, rice, cereal, dried fruit/raisins, breakfast bars/healthy snacks, and more. Donations will benefit the Loaves & Fishes Food Pantry and the F.E.R.B program at Delaware County Community College. For more information on this and other King Day of Service events, contact mlkdayofservice.org.
This project is co-sponsored by the Prospect Park Youth Club and the Prospect Park Fire Co. This is the third consecutive year of a MLK Day of Service project in Prospect Park. The Greater Philadelphia Martin Luther King Day of Service is the largest King Day event in the nation and is organized by Global Citizen.
YMCA holds 2020 Unity Day Breakfast
UPPER DARBY — The YMCA of Eastern Delaware County will hold its Dr. Martin Luther King 2020 Unity Day Celebration Breakfast 8-9:30 a.m. Monday, Jan. 20, at the Drexelbrook Special Event Center, 4700 Drexelbrook Drive, Drexel Hill. Guests can enjoy a buffet breakfast, award-winning student essay, live spiritual music by the Frontline Ensemble, and special keynote address by Malcom Yates, district outreach and constituent engagement director for U.S. Rep. Mary Gay Scanlon, D-5 of Swarthmore.
Tickets cost $20 for adults and $10 for children under 18. Guests are also encouraged to bring nonperishable food for the local food bank or toiletries for a local shelter.
To register, go to cyedc.org.
Media Fellowship collects toiletries on MLK Day
MEDIA — The Media Fellowship House Youth Coalition and Women of Harmony Inc. will hold their 3rd Annual Toiletry Drive supporting local women’s shelters in the community on the Martin Luther King Day of Service, 1-4 p.m. Monday, Jan. 20, at Media Fellowship House, 302 S. Jackson St., Media. Donors can drop off items during this time slot or arrange an alternate drop-off time by emailing isabel@mediafellowshiphouse.org.
Chester Housing Authority holds MLK service event
CHESTER — The Chester Housing Authority and New Integration Accommodations invites the community to participate in a powerful two-hour service event “Reclaiming Chester’s King” 8:30 a.m. to 10:30 p.m. Monday, Jan. 20, at MJ Freed Theater in Chester. The Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. spent three important years at Chester’s Crozer Theological Seminary and this year volunteers in the city of Chester will honor his legacy on the streets, in the market places and in the homes of Chester residents.
Some 200 volunteers will spend 60 minutes spread across the city distributing reusable shopping bags fashioned with the image of the civil rights icon. Volunteers will work with a team of ten other volunteers, walking through neighborhoods, in stores and within senior facilities to hand deliver nearly 2,000 bags promoting messages of hope, harmony and health.
Upon completion of the 60-minute project, volunteers will reconvene at MJ Freed and discuss their work and the legacy of King. This project is designed for participants 12 years old and up. Participants under 12-years-old must be with a parent or guardian. Space is limited.
People can register their group by contacting coordinator Ulysses “Butch” Slaughter at ulyssesbutchslaughter@gmail.com. For more information, visit www.chesterbusiness.org.
MLK Day ‘Hoops from the Heart’ benefits Community Action Agency of Delco
UPPER CHICHESTER — Four area colleges and their men’s and women’s hoop teams are joining together to host the 19th Annual “Hoops from the Heart” Basketball Youth Clinics on Martin Luther King Jr. Day. Young players across the county will drive to the hoop to raise funds and food donations for the Community Action Agency of Delaware County Inc., a social service agency that helps families and individuals to move toward selfsufficiency.
Called “Hoops from the Heart,” the MLK Day of Service initiative was started in 2002 at Haverford High School and has since raised over $130,000 for Community Action Agency programs that serve low-income residents in Delaware County.
Cabrini University in Radnor and Haverford College in Haverford will host the clinics from 9:30 a.m. to 12 p.m. and Neuman University in Aston and Widener University in Chester will host from 9 a.m.–noon.
The college and university men’s and women’s basketball teams and coaches
will run the clinics.
The clinics, open to boys and girls in grades one through eight, will cover all aspects of fundamental play. Each player who preregisters will get a complimentary T-shirt. Cost for the clinic ranges from $20 - $30, depending on which school is hosting the clinic.
In addition, each athlete is asked to donate one or two non-perishable food item that will go to the Life
Center of Eastern Delaware County, one of CAADC’s emergency housing programs. The Life Center is located at 63rd and Market streets, Upper Darby, and houses 50 homeless individuals and serves over 150 residents each year. The Life Center also operates a feeding program that serves 150 - 200 people daily.
All proceeds raised from the basketball clinics benefit CAADC programs, which include emergency housing, social services, employment training and life skills training. In addition to operating shelters for individuals and families, the CAADC also provides many vital services including welfare-to-work programs, and food and fuel assistance.
For information about the 19th Annual “Hoops From the Heart” event, contact Sharon Grasty at CAADC at 610-874-8451.
To register, access online forms available online at each school’s website, or call Haverford College Coach Bobbi Morgan at 610-446-9397; Neumann University athletic director Chuck Sack at 484-8404711; Widener University coach Alisa Kintner at 610499-4476; or Cabrini University coach Kate Pearson at 610-902-1016.
MLK benefit fundraiser features concert by Philadelphia Boys Choir
LINCOLN UNIVERSITY — Local non-profit, Compassion Corps, has announced a repeat partnership with the world famous Philadelphia Boys Choir and Chorale to host a benefit concert 2-5 p.m. Saturday, Jan. 18 at Lincoln University’s International Cultural
Center. The concert is a fundraiser to benefit charity work in Africa. A preshow will feature Lincoln’s own acclaimed Concert Choir & Men’s Ensemble, and an inspiring program focused on compassionate service in the spirit of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.
With funds raised at previous concerts, Compassion Corps has built homes for orphans and schools in Liberia and has helped to construct health clinics in Liberia and Uganda. Proceeds from this year’s event will go toward construction of a primary school in Liberia, as Lincoln University has historic ties to this West African country, as well.
Along with the choral program, the event will offer a shopping experience for concert guests. Compassion Corps will be displaying African handcrafts, ancient trade bead jewelry from Mali, and unique African coffees.
Doors open at 1 p.m., so people can come early for pre-show refreshments and shopping. For more information or to purchase tickets, visit www.CelebrateWithCompassion.com.