Families honor Dr. King through local service day
BY CHARLES BERMAN cberman@pioneerlocal.com January 16, 2012 8:14PM
Highland Park Monday, 1/16/12 Ten-year-old, Libby Cutler, of Highland Park works on a bird feeder during Monday's Martin Luther King Day of Service held at the Highland Park Recreation Center. | Brian O'Mahoney~for Sun-Times Media
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Updated: February 20, 2012 8:26AM
Hundreds of Chicago area families celebrated the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s birthday Monday in Highland Park by participating in dozens of community service projects in the civil rights leader’s honor.
Instead of taking the day off from school to sled or play video games, the joint city Human Relations Commission and North Shore School District 112 service day encouraged children to dedicate their free day to benefit others.
About 18 service projects were set up around the gym at the Park District of Highland Park’s Recreation Center, including booths offering participants the chance to pack toiletries for local shelters, make crafts for hospitalized children or write letters to soldiers and children of the military.
But what struck event organizer Cheryl Levi on Monday was finding a family who drove to Highland Park from Oak Park to contribute. Then she ran into three young men from Mexico who are seminary students in Mundelein.
“It was just great, more than my imagination could even comprehend,” said Levi, District 112’s service learning liaison. “This year in particular, it seemed to have grown so much as the word has spread. It’s just so humbling to see people really take it serious, take Martin Luther King’s message seriously — that it’s important to serve others. That’s what really matters.”
While plans are already in the works for the fourth annual Martin Luther King Day of Service next year (Jan. 21, 2013), Mayor Nancy Rotering approached Levi on Monday about not waiting a full year to continue the service momentum.
“People are looking for opportunities to serve,” Levi said. “We would still start it (on King Day) with the big event but continue it into the year so that’s its not just one day.
“We are already meeting next week to talk about it.”
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