Utah State University Celebrates Martin Luther King Jr. Day through Service

The Utah State University Center for Community Engagement and Public & School Partnership celebrated the Martin Luther King Jr. Day holiday through a number of service projects that engaged USU students, staff and faculty in the Cache Valley community. A total of 125 volunteers served 282 hours at seven service projects for Bear River Head Start, Cache Pride Center, Jump the Moon, Logan Regional Hospital, Terrace Grove, Zootah and the USU Student Nutrition Access Center. 

Amy Anderson, director of outreach at the Sunshine Terrace Foundation, was in charge of matching volunteers with Terrace Grove residents who would like to be interviewed. Residents were asked about the civil rights movement and the impact of this movement in their lifetimes. 

“Our residents really enjoyed and appreciated the students coming,” Anderson said. “I’ve gotten a few of their interviews and I wish I had time in my day to listen to all of them!”

Martin Luther King Jr. Day is the only federal holiday observed as a national day of service – a "day on, not a day off." The MLK Day of Service is a part of United We Serve, a national service initiative. It calls for Americans from all walks of life to work together to provide solutions to our most pressing national problems. The MLK Day of Service empowers individuals, strengthens communities, bridges barriers, creates solutions to social problems and moves people closer to King's vision of a "Beloved Community."

USU’s Center for Community Engagement was formed in 2013 with a mission to develop active citizens through community engagement and scholarship. 

The Public & School Partnership is an educational nonprofit organization with a mission to build partnerships between schools, parents and the surrounding community. More information about Public & School Partnership is at http://www.publicschoolpartnership.com.