Southland agencies honor MLK through efforts to help homeless, children

Flossmoor Mayor Paul Braun surveyed the dozens of youngsters at the village hall busily transforming plastic bags into “plarn” — a project for the village’s Martin Luther King Jr. Day observance.

“It’s a great opportunity for the kids,” Braun said as the Flossmoor Green Committee & Parker Junior High “Green Team” developed the basis for crocheted sleeping mats used by homeless individuals.

The local effort — which involves more than a dozen area groups in activities in Homewood and Chicago Heights — is part of the Martin Luther King Jr. National Day of Service, intended to offer an alternative to using the civil rights icon’s special day as just another day off.

“It’s a day of service instead of a day sitting around,” said Braun, who has headed Flossmoor for the past seven of his 14 years in village elective office. Braun pointed to a King quote on his tablet computer: “The time is always right to do right.”

Although Flossmoor continues to be one of the most affluent suburbs in the Southland, Braun acknowledged that its youngest residents encounter less fortunate individuals through the school system. He estimated 40 percent of elementary school students — mostly from neighboring towns — are low-income.

Braun credited the work of the Flossmoor Community Relations Commission in helping to keep volunteerism key to village life, and noted that village trustees James Crum, James Wilder and Diane Williams were working at a nearby table.

A few yards away, in the Infant Jesus of Prague School cafeteria, teens and elementary school students were making special blankets for people in need.

Flossmoor Community Church provided a 12-hour program for the men of PADS, offering hot meals and free haircuts, along with free clothing and boots. Speakers offered inspiration and advice, and participants also had access to entertainment, and medical and social services.

In Homewood, students in St. Joseph’s eighth-grade religious education program collected food, diapers and puzzles, as well as personal care items, as part of their service requirement. That meant some students stood outside in the rain to meet and greet donors, while others sorted items inside the parish hall.

In Mokena, JourneyCare, formerly Horizon Hospice & Palliative Care, encouraged folks to drop by to make Valentine’s Day cards for patients and to drop off adult socks and individually wrapped candy.

In Chicago Heights, Flossmoor Service League volunteers helped provide breakfast and games for children at Jones Memorial Community Center.

Back at the Flossmoor Village Hall, members of LighthouseLGBTQ collected feminine hygiene products for a facility in Chicago that supports homeless lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender teens and young adults.

Braun, responding to a question about how King would have felt to have his day include such a wide array of activities, said, “I think he’d be pleased.”

Dennis Sullivan is a freelance reporter for the Daily Southtown.