{"id":219926,"date":"2023-01-18T14:11:59","date_gmt":"2023-01-18T19:11:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.montclair.edu\/newscenter\/?p=219926"},"modified":"2023-01-19T09:50:12","modified_gmt":"2023-01-19T14:50:12","slug":"a-day-of-giving-back","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.montclair.edu\/newscenter\/2023\/01\/18\/a-day-of-giving-back\/","title":{"rendered":"A Day of Giving Back"},"content":{"rendered":"

Mariana Luna-Martinez still recalls vividly when, as a small child, she and her family lost all of their belongings in a fire, as did everyone else who lived in their apartment building. She also recalls how the community rallied around her family and helped them get back on their feet.<\/p>\n

Luna-Martinez, now a junior Biology major at Montclair and a Bonner Leader, learned from her parents the importance of community service from a young age, so not surprisingly, this was her third year to volunteer for the University\u2019s Martin Luther King Jr. Day of Service. \u201cWe always made sure we helped other people,\u201d she says. \u201cThose lessons and being brought up like that \u2013 that you volunteer not just specific days but every day\u2026. It\u2019s just those things that make me realize that MLK\u2019s message is more than just going to help out for two to three hours.\u201d<\/p>\n

She and more than 230 Montclair students and alumni answered the call to give back, participating in Montclair\u2019s MLK Day of Service on January 16 in a big way. Students gathered at University Hall for breakfast and to reflect on the words and messages of the slain civil rights leader before being deployed to various locations both on and off campus \u2013 in Montclair and the surrounding area \u2013 for their volunteer assignments, which included everything from making blankets and sandwiches for shelters to distributing fire safety information with the Montclair Fire Department.<\/p>\n

Those gathered also viewed a recorded message from President Jonathan Koppell and Union Baptist Church Pastor William Freeman. The church in Orange is the site of one of Dr. King\u2019s last speeches in 1968 just days before his assassination. Freeman recalled how the church was filled for Dr. King\u2019s talk, where he conveyed a message about \u201ca beloved community.\u201d He urged people to \u201csee ourselves as one big world,\u201d Freeman said, adding that being real \u201chumanitarians is what it\u2019s all about.\u201d<\/p>\n

Koppell urged students to think about their call to service not just on MLK Day but throughout their lives. \u201cI can’t wait to see the good things that you do, not just today, but in the years ahead,\u201d he said in the video.<\/p>\n

That message resonated with Keiva Edghill, a junior Biology major and Bonner Leader. She was delighted to see \u201cpeople from my community being highlighted in a big way.\u201d<\/p>\n

When growing up, \u201cI visited that church,\u201d Edghill says. \u201cJust seeing the pastor, it was easier for me to go into the day already knowing the mindset that I needed to be in to serve.\u201d<\/p>\n

It was her second time to volunteer for the MLK Day of Service. \u201cFor me this is a special day because my family and I always celebrate his birthday,\u201d says Edghill who went with fellow volunteers to Camp YDP, which provides after-school and summer camp programs in Paterson. While there, they set up for a planned community luncheon and played with young children.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was really fun,\u201d she says, recalling her days as a day-care volunteer at her church in Newark. \u201cSeeing or visiting children just puts me in a great mood. We’re still the same; I remember doing the same things when I was younger.\u201d Edghill says she played school, with a young girl playing the teacher role. \u201cShe was teaching me things. I told her, \u2018You’re really smart.\u2019 I don’t remember doing these things when I was her age.\u201d<\/p>\n

But Edghill says it was more than about fun and service, \u201cIt was also an opportunity to meet new people and to network; I got to network with the director of Camp YDP, and I’m thinking about going back to volunteer again.\u201d<\/p>\n

Ryan Breyta, a senior Journalism and Digital Media major and president of the Phi Delta Theta fraternity, volunteered at the Montclair Fire Department handing out fire safety information to local residents. It was his first time to participate in the MLK Day of Service.<\/p>\n

\u201cI definitely saw that Dr. King’s message about service was right, \u2018You only need a heart full of grace, a soul generated by love.\u2019 That’s what makes serving others special,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n

\u201cDr. King will forever be a man who fought for change and impacted the world around us. Although we are not quite where we want to be in regard to Dr. King’s vision for the world, we must continue the fight and legacy that he started day in and day out \u2013 not just on his day of remembrance.\u201d<\/p>\n

Volunteer Center Volunteer Coordinator Katharine Culp says Dr. King said it best when he said: \u201cIf I cannot do great things, I can do small things in a great way.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThe service completed [on MLK Day] no matter how small it might seem, makes a big difference for our community partners and those they serve,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n

Student Luna-Martinez, who volunteered at the YWCA in Montclair where they assembled hygiene kits for clients of Family Promise of Essex County, a shelter for people experiencing homelessness, agrees. \u201cI personally love community service,\u201d she says, adding that people can be of service every day by doing simple things, such as \u201cmaking food for a friend, giving them advice, checking up on them. Those things make a difference.\u201d<\/p>\n

Photo Gallery<\/h2>\n
Two students stop to take a selfie during the MLK Day of Service Breakfast at the Student Center.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
SGA President Richard Steiner-Otoo rallies some of the more than 230 fellow volunteers for their Day of Service assignments.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
Students leave the Student Center to their respective volunteer assignments.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
Students were shuttled by bus to their off-campus volunteer assignments.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Six
Montclair junior and Bonner Leader Mariana Luna-Martinez (standing, right) and fellow volunteers board the bus bound for the YWCA in Montclair where they assembled hygiene kits for clients of Family Promise of Essex County, a shelter for people experiencing homelessness.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
Students work on making blankets, which were donated to the Covenant House.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Three
Students share their experience about the MLK Day of Service.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
A student makes peanut butter and jelly sandwiches to be taken to Toni\u2019s Kitchen at St. Luke\u2019s Episcopal Church in Montclair.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"A
A student checks hygiene kits to be donated to a nonprofit organization.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Students
Students write letters to foster children as part of MLK Day of Service.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"People
From left, Associate Vice President for Community Partnerships Bryan Murdock and staff members with the Center for Community Engagement Sara Duricko, Krystal Woolston, Daniela Chica and Jessica Pichardo show off their handiwork.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Two
Students put together hygiene kits for a community partner.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
Quwayne Thompson, a member of Iota Phi Theta, puts together a hygiene kit.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"A
Maziely Crisostomo, director of NextGen Service Corps, talks to students about the program during a service fair at University Hall on MLK Day of Service.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Young
Blue cardboard cutouts, representing actual survivors of human trafficking, are part of the In-SIGHT campaign, a popup exhibition by the Global Center on Human Trafficking to bring awareness to the global problem of human trafficking. The cardboard cutouts were placed around campus on MLK Day of Service.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"A
A camper grabs blocks beneath a display of Martin Luther King Jr. and other historical or famous African Americans at Camp YDP in Paterson.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

 <\/p>\n

Story by Staff Writer Sylvia A. Martinez<\/a>. Photos by John J. LaRosa<\/a>.<\/p>\n