University students remember Martin Luther King, Jr. through day of service

On a day where many of their peers slept in and took a break from classes, dozens of Troy University students took part in the in 2013 MLK Day of Service in honor of civil rights activist Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

The students were divided in to six different groups, each with their own service project and location. Students helped clean up and provide volunteer efforts at Head Start, the Boys and Girls Club, Noble Manor, The Colley Senior Complex, Habitat For Humanity and the Pike County Lake.

“The theme for this year’s Day of Service is Make a Day On Rather Than A Day Off,” said Jonathan Cellon, Coordinator of Learning Initiatives. “We have multiple projects all over the city of Troy, and will help the places with whatever they need.”

King gave numerous speeches through the years on the topic of helping the community in which you live, and the neighbors around you.

In one instance, King delivered a speech urging young people to be more active in the community in which they call home.

“Everybody can be great…because anybody can serve,” King said. “You don’t have to have a college degree to serve. You don’t have to make your subject and verb agree to serve. You only need a heart full of grace. A soul generated by love.”

A group of students pitched in a hand at the Colley Senior Complex to do a little spring cleaning in January. The students helped the staff wash the large glass windows on the front of the building, clean the blinds and curtains and decorate the building in a Mardi Gras theme.

Catherine Jordan, director of the Colley Complex, said the help was much appreciated.

“It means a lot just when two or three young people come lend a hand,” said Jordan. “But to see over 30 people come is overwhelming, in a good way. I am just so thankful that so many of these students wanted to help. They didn’t have to, but they did it out of the kindness of their hearts.”

The students ptiched in wherever there services were needed.

One student loved the experience of helping out in her adopted home town.

“It was a great expereience,” said Nichole Iacuzion, a social science education major from Derry, N.H. “This is the second year the MLK Day of the Service has happened, and the fourth day of service the university has sponsored. I have loved seing it grow of the last couple of years and all the students who come ouf for it. It’s great to see to the Trojan community come together not just for the school, but for the city as well. Troy is my home away from home so being able to give back and volunteer is an awesome feeling.”

The MLK Day of Service is a part of United We Serve, the President’s national call to service initiative. It calls for Americans from all walks of life to work together to provide solutions to our most pressing national problems.