'Make it a day on, not a day off' was the government's slogan this year for Martin Luther King day. As part of President Obama's call to service, Martin Luther King day has been designated as the MLK Day of Service. So here's what I and a room full of old, young, and in-between volunteers did that day.
We chose to spend a couple of hours at
Associated Youth Services, an organization where about 4,500 youth in crisis in the state of Kansas are given hope. AYS does health fairs at schools. They run an alternative school for 12-19 year olds suspended for 90-100 days and help them catch up and graduate. They run drug and alcohol prevention and treatment programs. They have parent support groups (in English and Spanish) to help families deal with the stress of troubled kids, some who are part of the juvenile justice system. Associated Youth Services has a statewide foster care program. With that background in mind, we went right into eating donuts and drinking juice or coffee. For our project, we made birthday cards for foster kids in the system. With strips of colored paper, markers, crayons, and glue we made cards for kids who may never have had a birthday card nor a birthday cake made especially for them with their name on it. The cards with phrases, 'You're special', 'You have a secret admirer', 'Have a happy day', 'Someone is thinking about you today', will make a kid smile ear to ear.
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| Strips of paper |
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| Art supplies |
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| My card is somewhere in that pile |
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| This card will make someone happy |
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| Some are so creative |
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| All age volunteers working hard |
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