MLK Day of Service kicks off week inspired by leader
While some students used the extra day off class for Martin Luther King Jr. Day as an excuse to sleep late or go downtown an extra night, more than 400 USC students participated in the 17th annual Martin Luther King Jr. Day of Service on Monday.
Students woke up bright and early to be bussed to different locations in the Columbia area and serve the community in the spirit of the late civil rights leader.
“It’s an amazing way to honor Martin Luther King and all he stood for: equality for all and being united as fellow humans,” said Stephanie Bishop, a second-year early childhood education student who volunteered at the Burton Center in Lexington, which employs and offers care to mentally disabled adults.
Monday’s day of service, sponsored by USC’s Community Service Programs, was the largest offered, with 420 initial reservations. A total of 429 students -— and President Harris Pastides — ended up going to trips to places like Habitat for Humanity sites, the Belser Arboretum and PETS Inc.
“I basically just worked with cats. I swept and mopped, cleaned cages, washed dishes and held some of the kittens,” said first-year psychology student Katelynn Burgess, who volunteered at PETS Inc., an animal rescue shelter. “It was hard work, but I enjoyed every bit of it.”
Students could choose their destination on a first-come, first-served basis, but some popular locations filled up quickly. Some students, like Bishop, went to a site they were unfamiliar with and learned new ways to serve the community.
“I honestly had no idea before I went what to expect because I had no idea what my site would be. I expected just to clean or do yard work, but it turned out to be so much more than that,” she said. “I was surprised, because at the Burton Center, the mentally disabled adults actually work for a paycheck. Every day, they take disposable cameras apart and sort them by the hundreds for recycling.”
Bishop said that after volunteering Monday, she made plans to visit the Burton Center every Friday.
“A Vision of Freedom,” a collection of photographs and artwork submitted by members of the USC community, was also put on display Monday on the second floor of Russell House. It will be up for viewing until Friday.
Several other events will take place in the coming week to honor King’s legacy. A blood drive is taking place in the Capstone Campus Room today from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Carolina After Dark will be presenting “Mississippi Burning,” a movie set during the civil rights movement of the 1960s in the segregated South, at 9 p.m. in the Russell House Theater. Community Service Programs, Empower, RHA and Capstone will host a dialogue on civil rights in the 21st century on Thursday at 7 p.m. in the Capstone Carolina Room, and two more MLK Days of Service will take place Friday and Saturday, beginning at 10 a.m. and 9 a.m., respectively.