In honor of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., on January 15th, 2018 Youth Action organized its first organization led day of service to commemorate his legacy at Neumann Goretti High School (NGHS). Over 70 student volunteers from Youth Action, TeenSHARP (a local college access non-profit) as well as students from NGHS participated in this year’s MLK Day of Service. 

Students sorted and packaged clothing and winter essential items for local shelters, prepared food packages for those experiencing homelessness, discussed issues/concerns in their communities, created greeting cards for hospitalized youth, and ended the day with a discussion about educational obstacles facing low-income girls in Ghana.

This service project resulted in monumental success resulting in members collecting over 500 articles of clothing for various shelters in the Philadelphia area as well as delivering 116 food and beverage packages to homeless individuals at 30th Street Station, Jefferson Station, Suburban Station, and Sunday Breakfast Rescue Mission shelter. Active volunteerism and civic engagement are pertinent to Youth Action. Thus, participating in MLK Day is quite relevant to Youth Action’s mission.