NCSSM’s Residential students celebrated the life and work of Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. on the federal MLK Day by engaging in thoughtful educational experiences exploring societal challenges, and/or giving of themselves in service to others by volunteering at organizations serving local communities. Across both campuses, nearly 30 short-form educational sessions and 18 volunteer opportunities were made available to students.
The focus this year was on community, said Jamie Butler, NCSSM’s Associate Vice Chancellor for Student and Employee Success. “NCSSM has a rich history of celebrating Martin Luther King Jr. as a community, so it was important for our school family to embrace this day as a day on together. I believe that was and is an essential value in Dr. King’s message and legacy. It takes all of us together to address anything that could impede on our sense of belonging.”
Matthew Dober, a Durham junior originally from Northwest Cabarrus High School in Concord, spent part of his day sorting through donated clothes at Note in the Pocket, a Triangle-based nonprofit that provides clothing to homeless or impoverished individuals and families. During the three-hour shift, Matthew and his classmates sorted through donated clothing items, inspecting each one for quality and separating out dress clothes and damaged items from the everyday clothes the nonprofit focuses on. Those items not retained by Note in the Pocket were sent either to another nonprofit for redistribution, or, as in the case of damaged or stained items, to a fabric recycler.
As an Eagle Scout, Matthew has spent plenty of time volunteering, and saw the opportunity at Note in the Pocket as another great way to live out the ideals that Martin Luther King Jr. espoused.
“I know how lucky I am to have the life that I do, and be in the position that I am in, and I know that others might not have the opportunities that I’ve had. Volunteering was a great way to both remember Dr. King, and also to carry on his legacy of helping make sure that we can all be a little bit more equal in life.”
In Morganton, students helped out with a number of community-based efforts. Among them was the repainting of the Tiger Gym lobby in nearby Valdese. Originally part of the former Valdese High School, the gym is now owned and operated for public recreation by the City of Valdese.
Jai Yalla spent his volunteer hours laying down coats of grey paint in the gym’s lobby. Giving of oneself, he said, is a contribution toward the vitality of a community, and he valued the opportunity to help out however he could.
“Dr. King really exemplified the importance of giving back to whichever community you are in and making every community better,” he says. “I really do enjoy volunteering and hope that the help we lent the town in some way exemplifies the ideals that Dr. King lived by.”
NCSSM is proud of the work its students do to make the world we all share a much better place, and hopes that King’s legacy will ignite in these students a life-long passion for service that complements, or even transcends, their own personal successes.
