By Jonathan Smith, Staff Writer
The Service Action Leadership Team is asking students to spend Monday’s Martin Luther King Jr. Day holiday serving ACU’s campus and staff.
“We want students to give back to the school and we want to emphasize unity by all working together,” said Sarah Haynes, senior communication disorders from Chesterfield, MO., and SALT’s chairperson for the MLK Jr. service day.
Students will have three capacities in which they can serve.
Childcare for the faculty and staff’s children will be provided from 1:30-4:30. The bowling alley, Hilton Room and Bennett Gym have been reserved for the children ages 4-10.
Students will be needed to work on the mailbox encouragement project from 1:30-4:30 p.m.
Encouragement notes with a quotation from Martin Luther King Jr. and candy attached will be put together so they can be distributed the next day to all campus mailboxes.
Volunteers are also needed to work in the Bean for lunch and dinner, replacing the staff and student workers for a day. Students choosing to do this will need to attend an orientation meeting before the meals.
Sign-ups have been going on since Tuesday, but students may register at the campus center ticket window Friday from 11:30-1:30 p.m.
“We don’t know as far as numbers and how many students to expect since this is the first year we’ve done this, but we need as many as possible,” Haynes said.
Service workdays have generally been scheduled on Saturdays, but SALT decided to take this opportunity since students were given MLK Jr. Day off for the first time last year. Several SALT members heard about similar service days on MLK Jr. Day and decided it would be a good service opportunity for students.
“Across the states, schools and organizations offer service opportunities on Martin Luther King Jr. Day,” Haynes said. “Many organizations give challenges and offer chances for city-wide service, but we wanted to focus on the campus here and building unity.”
SALT wants to make the MLK service day an annual event and hopes it will grow in the future.
