MLK Day

Yesterday was Martin Luther King Jr.'s Day of Service at Northeastern. Working with the Massachusetts Promise Fellowship, approximately 400 young people came out on our day off to do some service in the Boston area.

I didn't know what to expect and hadn't been told much about what I would be doing in the day. Luckily for me, I was told I would be a point person for a group going to Volunteers of America. So I set out 30some strong to the Arlington St. Church by the Commons where we walked into chaos. Our project was to help put together 500+ meals for the homeless and then distribute to major shelters and personal delivery across Boston on such a cold and precipitory day.

Despite too many hands and not enough direction or resources, I thought it went incredibly well. Our group managed to put together a good portion of meals with different types of sandwiches, an apple, water, and chips. We finished a little early and then went out in smaller groups to distribute the meals.

My group walked to City Hall and then over to MGH, but we only passed out a few meals along the way. As we got ready to leave, I took the remaining lunches and stood outside Park station where I met a nice man who stood with me and helped distribute lunches. He told me it wasn't too busy because of the weather, but I only stood outside with a "Free Meal" sign for 20 minutes max. I saw a man across the street and walked over and gave him a meal or three. It's selfish, but the feeling of giving a stranger something he really appreciated was great.

I had only stood outside for 20 minutes and still had pink hands when I got home, I felt both deeply saddened and encouraged by what had happened throughout the day. I'm glad I got an opportunity to volunteer my time on MLK Day and I'll look towards my future volunteering in a new way.