More than 100 volunteers took part in the Martin Luther King, Jr. Day of Service on Monday, Jan. 20 at First United Methodist Church (FUMCAH) of Arlington Heights in Arlington Heights (1903 E. Euclid Ave.).
All were welcome to participate. Church members, company groups, and anyone interested and not church members attended.
The two-hour morning event included the assembly of hygiene kits to benefit The United Methodist Committee on Relief (UMCOR), a unit of Global Ministries. Dog biscuits were handmade to be donated to local area animal humane organizations.
Project Linus blanket making to benefit children needing comfort during urgent response efforts added color to tabletops and smiles to volunteers.
“To me, this event is wonderful because it’s intergenerational, it brings together all different kinds of people from the community and it gives people the opportunity to serve,” said Sharon Noha of Northbrook, event coordinator, at the Martin Luther King, Jr. Day of Service, who added seven service projects were included that Monday.
“I think it’s what Martin Luther King’s life and legacy was all about,” Noha said. “It’s a great way to honor him.”
The morning began with prayerful words by David Profitt of Glen Ellyn, FUMCAH associate pastor. People of all ages stood in a large circle around Fellowship Hall with many heads bowed.
“Everyone has different beliefs and some people may have different feelings about faith, but I feel like what prayer can do is it can remind us to join our hearts together, and remind us that no matter what we believe in, we all have the same core values, those values like compassion and love,” Profitt said.
“If we can sense that that’s something that we all share together, we can create some unity and uplift our spirits a little bit.”
Sharon Olsen of Arlington Heights was here to volunteer with family and, “to teach my grandchildren about service to others.
“With MLK (day), I think of hope for our future.“
If Martin Luther King Jr. were living, Olsen said, “he would be,” pleased with people giving of their time and resources on the Monday federal holiday.
Of MLK’s message, “I think we need to do whatever we can to make it go forward,” Olsen said.
Parent Andrea Miller of Arlington Heights made Valentine’s Day cards of encouragement to anonymous recipients with children Maggie Miller, 8, a second-grader and Gwen Miller, 5, a kindergartner.
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“I think we’re doing a good thing today so it’s nice to know it will make other people happy,” the girls’ mother said.
Delaney Corliss, 12, a seventh-grader from Arlington Heights and her mother Colleen Corliss helped to make blankets, including one that said, “Friends come in all colors.”
It was five degrees outside during a cold snap but people came out, many wearing warm hats while they volunteered in warm Fellowship Hall on a cold Monday.
“We came out because we thought it would be a great way to honor Martin Luther King and do something positive today,” Colleen Corliss said with a smile.
For Delaney, Martin Luther King Jr. inspires, “because he was really positive and he made friends.”
Parent and church member Jennifer Sweis of Arlington Heights spent time with her children Abraham Banyamin, 9, a third-grader and Dagan Banyamin, 10, a fifth-grader,
Abraham was interested in dog biscuit making and helping on MLK Day, “just to be nice to other people and other pets, just by feeding other animals that are in need.”
Jennifer Sweis said about volunteerism for Abraham and Dagan that, “I think it teaches compassion and it teaches them at a young age that it isn’t always just about them.
“It’s also about how they can help other people.
“And so much of our lives are focused around our kids’ activities and their education, which is great,” Sweis said about the boys, but would like for them, “to think about other people and what we can do to help other people.”
Volunteer Dee Sherwin of Arlington Heights, a church member, sat at a table with others working on fringe making for Project Linus blankets.
“It’s wonderful to see all these people together, working together,” Sherwin said. “This is really wonderful.”
FUMCAH has a mission to, “Love Boldly.” Visit https://www.fumcah.com.
Karie Angell Luc is a freelancer for Pioneer Press.