Update from Jonelle Harris, Director of Diversity and Inclusion

In January of 2017, Community School’s Parent Diversity Group (PDG) hosted their first All Family Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Day of Service event. The vision was to unite our school community to serve those outside our four walls. It is a way to honor Dr. King’s dream for us all.

Each year we select a variety of organizations to work with—everything from food pantries to nursing homes. We work with the different agencies to find out what their needs are and how we can best help them. Our Service Learning Student Council representatives participate not only in the presentation the day of but also in helping to spread the word about the event and why it is so important. Next to PDG’s All Family Bowling Night, this event has grown into one of the largest events we host. We average around 150 people who volunteer each year, which speaks to our school community’s commitment to service. In January of 2021, we had to move the entire event online via Zoom. PDG saw this as an excellent opportunity to help educate participants on the health disparities that Covid-19 highlighted and the impact it has in our community. The online event included poetry readings from Community School parent, Lyah Beth LeFlore-Ituen, inspirational words from members of our Service Learning Student Council, and the sharing of engaging picture books that covered topics such as asthma, diabetes, anxiety, and people with disabilities. We also were able to hear from representatives from the Asthma & Allergy Foundation of America: St. Louis Chapter and the Sickle Cell Association. We closed the event with the lighting of candles while listening to part of Dr. King’s “I Have A Dream” speech. It was powerful to see all of the lit candles while the words of such a remarkable man washed over us. We had about 75 participants who attended the virtual event and well over that number of people who donated items to give to various organizations that work specifically with those who were most impacted by Covid-19 due to a preexisting condition.

After each MLK Day of Service event, I always hear from some of our parents and students how much they enjoy being a part of this day. They truly appreciate the opportunity to help educate their children about the importance of serving, the variety of organizations that are working hard to help others, and how they themselves can have a positive impact on their community. This past school year, we were able to have our service day in person which everyone was excited about. We weren’t able to go to many organizations to volunteer due to Covid-19 restrictions; however, we were still able to collect items that they needed and work together on campus to organize and get the items we collected delivered. There was such a sense of joy as we we were working throughout that morning.

We look forward to many more years of coming together to serve our community and celebrate Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

If you are interested in being a part of our All Family MLK Day of Service event whether in person or through donations, please don’t hesitate to reach out to me. We would love to have you!

Organizations we have served:

Junior League

Rose Hill House

The Salvation Army Family Haven

Independence Center

Harvey Kornblum Jewish Food Pantry

Gateway 180

Operation Food Search

St. Patrick Center

Youth In Need

Our Little Haven

Xale Reew Mi Project