Reported by Cassie Tammy Wang
Greater Princeton AYLUS (GPA) Members Amber Yu and Anderson Chiang have been active volunteering in community service since their joining GPA. They honored Dr. King’s Legacy on the MLK Day, January 21st, 2019.
MLK Day Service Report of Amber Yu:
Dr. Martin Luther King was a well-known civil rights leader and activist who had a great deal of influence on American society. Instead of simply allowing this to be another holiday, I decided to take this unique day to witness the power of an individual’s contribution to the neighborhood around us.
On Jan. 21, 2019, I had the privilege to attend two services in memory of Dr. King and his legacy. The first service was focused on “MLK Day of Service & A Community Dialogue” in Hightstown, New Jersey. We started off at 10 am. During the 3 hours, I joined other volunteers in helping with: (1) ‘I Have a Dream’ poster station; (2) Writing cheerful notes to send along with packages; (3) Assembling food items and winter clothes to benefit RISE and local food pantry. In addition, there was a community dialogue about promoting justice, equality, and peace during these challenging times. Some volunteers shared their views about how to make Dr. King’s dreams into a reality through community service activities.
In the afternoon, Anderson Chiang and I participated in another volunteering event called “MLK Day of Service/Food and Clothing Drive”. This was the third time I did volunteering there. No doubt, the West Windsor Arts and Human Relations Council made the annual MLK Day of Service a great success again. Within the 2 hours (1 hour for Amber), we assisted in packing healthy items into individual bags with cheerful notes. Furthermore, we used the sewing skills we learned from the life skills class to cut, pin, sew and iron pillowcases. We were struggling a little in the beginning, but were able to quickly catch on. This event was really productive and definiety will help kids feel better to heal better. I hope that those whimsical pillowcases will brighten the rooms of children in local hospitals suffering from life-altering illnesses. It was reported later that we packed over 250 meals and 50 bedtime care kits, and assembled 50 pillowcases for children in need.
Dr. King once said, “If I cannot do great things, I can do small things in a great way.” I could proudly say that I did many small things on the Martin Luther King Day!
A Note from GPA President Cassie Tammy Wang:
Keep up great work, Amber Yu and Anderson Chiang! GPA would like to see more and more members to stand up and join them in all kinds of volunteer projects, such as “Humanistic Care”, “Ed Tutoring”, “Sports Tutoring”, “Music from Heart” Performance, “Conservation”, “School Leadership”, and “Culture Promotion”, etc., and work happily together to help out our beloved community!
