Jack and Jill of South Jersey marks MLK Day with community service at Lewis Middle School
Jack and Jill of America Inc. South Jersey chapter volunteering at Lewis Middle School as part of an official King Day of Service. Photo courtesy of Jack and Jill
GLOUCESTER TOWNSHIP — The Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. once said “everybody can be great because everybody can serve,” and families with the Jack and Jill of America Inc. South Jersey chapter put that message into action by volunteering Monday at Lewis Middle School as part of an official King Day of Service.
Children and teens ages 2 to 19 gathered to honor King through a hands-on Day of Service focused on meeting community needs across South Jersey. The event was held in partnership with Gloucester Township’s annual King Day of Service and featured age-appropriate projects designed to promote compassion, civic responsibility and leadership. All participating children had media clearances.
More than 100 chapter members — most of them children — participated in service activities throughout the day. Projects included making blankets for the Camden County Women’s Shelter, preparing peanut butter-and-jelly sandwiches for Cathedral Kitchen in Camden and sorting donated shoes for Soles4Souls, an organization that supports job creation and provides shoes and clothing to people in need.
Younger children colored “Giggle Books” — small booklets with jokes, nursery rhymes and drawings — while other participants baked cookies and attached handwritten notes that were later distributed at a local nursing home.
Ryann Lafrance, the chapter’s community service chair, emphasized the importance of engaging young people in service.
“Seeing my children serve brings joy to my heart. It makes me hopeful in our future. Today we had over 100 people serve with the township. Our goal was to put service into action and get participation across the South Jersey chapter. I believe we have achieved that goal,” Lafrance said.
The event also gave children the opportunity to volunteer alongside people of different races and cultural backgrounds. Zori Hicks, 11, said she enjoyed being in a room filled with people of all races who were happy to spend the day serving together and doing what King envisioned — working side-by-side with people from other cultures to support the community.
For Gabriella Fennell, 12, the day carried personal meaning. She said that “serving on MLK Day made me feel a part of the struggle for equality and justice.” Although she has volunteered before, she added that serving on a day honoring King “brings me pride as an African-American and reminds me that MLK’s work is still relevant today; people are still struggling from not having enough food to eat, not having good wages to take care of their families, and people being judged by their gender and their heritage.”
Through service and reflection, the chapter said it hopes to help ensure King’s legacy of unity, justice and service continues to inspire young people across the region.
Note from AC JosepH Media: If you like this story and others posted on Front Runner New Jersey.com, lend us a hand so we can keep producing articles like these for New Jersey and the world to see. Click on SUPPORT FRNJ and make a contribution that will go directly in making more stories like this available. Thank you for reading!
About Author
