Students volunteer at MLK 4 a Day

Brian Smith

More than 100 students woke up early Monday morning to sign up and help out at the Martin Luther King Junior Just 4 a Day event at the Cohn Jewish Student Center. The event was sponsored by Hillel at Kent State and the Kent State Office of Quality Initiatives and Curriculum.

The event started at 8:30 a.m. with breakfast for volunteers before they were dispatched to their chosen location around Portage and Summit counties. The locations included: Kent Social Services, Goodwill, Campus Greenhouse, Freedom House, Hattie Larlham, Campus Kitchen, POWERCorps, Habitat for Humanity Restore, Mobile Meals and Stow-Glen Retirement Community.

When volunteers finished helping out, they returned to the Cohn Jewish Center to discuss what they learned during the day and reflected on the importance of volunteering.

Just For a Day debuted for Veteran’s Day 2009 and has regularly rotated between the two federal holidays. Students are encouraged not to simply sleep in on those days but to begin a habit of volunteering and giving back to the community.

Contact Brian Smith at [email protected].