Projects planned for Martin Luther King Jr. Day
School and borough park cleanups on tap
LANSDALE » Cleaning up the York Avenue Elementary School playground on Monday is a small way community members can give back on Martin Luther King Jr. Day.
It will take place at 10 a.m. at the elementary school, located at 700 York Ave., in Lansdale. Participants will be assigned several tasks including raking leaves as well as picking up trash and sticks, according to a school district spokesperson.
“North Penn is proud to be able to give back to the community and honor Dr. King’s legacy,” said North Penn School District Superintendent Curtis Dietrich in a statement. “Often we forget the true meaning of a day off school and work, and it is important to give back when we are able. I am truly proud of the excellent work from all of our schools to celebrate Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and his mission of unity.”
Additionally, a number of North Penn School District schools have hosted service projects paying tribute to the late Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Students assembled food bags, gathered children’s books and made cards.
Park cleanup in borough
In Lansdale borough, the “MLK Day of Service Lansdale Borough Cleanup,” hosted by the Boston Legacy Foundation, will take place from 9-11:30 a.m. on Monday at Whites Road Park.
Volunteers of all ages are encouraged to dress weather appropriately and bring gloves, according to event organizers. Participants will receive clean up assignments upon arrival.
Lawmakers representing the borough are expected to attend. Those interested in volunteering should contact Chip@ChefChipper.com to register.
Across the greater Philadelphia region, other organizations are finding ways for people to give back next week and honor King’s life and legacy around the date of his birthday, January 15. A Day of Service, established in 1986, is observed on the third Monday in January.
Blue Bell church activities
St. John Lutheran Church in Blue Bell will hold its fourth annual MLK Day of Service on Jan. 17.
“People are excited about it,” said Parishioner Larry Erdman.
“People want to do something valuable and it’s a way to teach your kids how to give back.”
Seventy-five people have registered for the event as of Jan. 10, according to Erdman.
Last year’s service event was held in a hybrid manner due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. Participants were tasked with assembling items at home. They would then drop the completed projects at the church.
“Our people take care of getting it all distributed,” Erdman said.
This year’s event will operate in the same fashion, according to Erdman Those interested in volunteering can choose from 16 different service projects ranging from assembling food bags to toiletries.
Organizers will be collecting the finished products from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. Monday at the church, located at 1802 W. Skippack Pike in Blue Bell. Volunteers from the church will deliver items to participating organizations.
“It’s really supporting a broad spectrum of people in our communities that have different kinds of needs,” Erdman said.
To register, and learn more about the project, visit www.stjohnbluebell.org.
Volunteers to pack meals
In Ambler, the Mattie Dixon Community Cupboard will be conducting regular food distribution to clients from 9:15-11:15 a.m. on Jan. 17, according to Executive Director Cindy Wedholm.
However, the Ambler-based nonprofit will have some extra help. Ten representatives from Toll Brothers and Do Better 4 Steve, of Blue Bell, will be “working in the back” Wedholm said, assisting to assemble several bags full of several items including toiletries and cleaning supplies.
The Giving Tree, a Montgomery County nonprofit in Gwynedd Valley with the goal of “teaching children about charity” is holding the sixth annual MLK Sock Roll Challenge throughout January. The event challenges children to “create Gifts of socks and snacks for the homeless.”
The signature “sock rolls” include “a pair of men’s crew or tube socks rolled around a granola bar and a pack of crackers,” according to a spokesperson for The Giving Tree, which also has a ready-to-assemble MLK Dream Service Kit.
The sock rolls will then be taken to area homeless shelters and soup kitchens.
To assist the area’s homeless and food insecure populations, several Penndale Middle School clubs also arranged 151 sock rolls on Monday. Students in the school’s Leo Club, Voices of Empowerment and National Junior Honor Society participated.
Those interested in participating can get more information at givingtreefamilies.org and can contact bridget@givingtreefamilies.org to learn more about the available kits.
Additionally, Friends of the Wissahickon will conduct a “large-scale litter cleanup” of a stretch of Lincoln Drive on Jan. 17.
It will take place from 9 a.m. to noon along Lincoln Drive from Wissahickon to Ridge avenues in Philadelphia, according to a statement from Friends of the Wissahickon. A number of needed items will be available for volunteers including gloves, trash bags and trash grabbers. The portion of the road will be closed to traffic during the cleanup in a joint effort between Friends of the Wissahickon and Philadelphia Parks and Recreation.
“It’s a great opportunity for individuals and groups to join together to clear the extensive trash that collects along this heavily traveled park-adjacent roadway,” said a spokesperson for the Philadelphia-based organization.
For more information, visit fow.org/mlk-day-ofservice-2022.