Each year on MLK Day, GA celebrates the legacy of Martin Luther King Jr. with various events. This year, GA students and faculty collected essential supplies for people in need. Along with this, a virtual event was held on January 17 in honor of the national holiday.
Every year, GA holds several activities to commemorate Martin Luther King Jr. Day, including collecting bagged donations. This year, all three divisions across GA provided essential items to over 2,000 people. The Lower School packed bags with snacks, handmade thank-you cards, and gift cards for veterans. They donated over 270 bags for residents at a local veterans’ hospital. The Middle School CSO packed over 260 bags with toiletries and inspirational cards in-person this year, which helped support female Afghan refugees in Fort Dix, New Jersey and Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
The Upper School filled nearly 1,500 bags with socks and snacks for people experiencing homelessness in the Philadelphia area. Upper School CSO coordinator Yvette Marquez talked about the impact of these bags, especially during the COVID-19 pandemic. She said, “One little note or energy bar cheers you up. It’s the thought that we are all in this together.”
The GA community was invited to a virtual MLK Day assembly on Monday, January 17 in place of the traditional in-person day of service. Over Zoom, fourth grade teacher Julia Blumenreich read aloud the children’s book Change Sings by award-winning poet Amanda Gorman. After the reading, students from each division shared their dreams to improve our world, including Upper School students Ajeet Bagga ’24, Serena Bagga ’23, and Hassan Ayub ’22. Anika Walker-Johnson, Director of Equity and Inclusion, closed the meeting with her remarks on the importance of diversity inside and outside of the GA community.
Once the meeting concluded, students were welcome to share their own dreams on a virtual community bulletin board. In past years, GA has held a day of service where students and their families took part in various service projects on campus such as sewing blankets, writing cards, preparing craft kits, and much more. However, this year, GA could not host the day of service in-person because of the pandemic. Even so, the GA community joined together virtually to remember the legacy of Dr. King and the impact he left on our society.
For most, this day goes beyond the remembrance of Dr. King. All school CSO Coordinator Anthony Commale said, “It’s a way to show our support for diverse populations and give people an opportunity to provide service.” Upper School CSO coordinator Yvette Marquez said, “Each year I relearn everything, and each year I can learn a bit more.” She talked about how it “makes us pause. It makes us see how far we’ve come, but it also makes us see how much we still need to do. There’s still a lot of progress that needs to be made, and this day allows us to rejoice in what we have done but also think about what we need to do to move forward.”
Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. said, “I know that love is ultimately the only answer to mankind’s problems.” This MLK Day, GA honored his words by showing love to others in need within and beyond our school community.