While many students got the day off from school for the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday, some students chose to work. As the only federal holiday observed as a national day of service, MLK Day was an opportunity to make a difference within the community, and students from UC Davis decided not take a break from their busy schedule to instead volunteer in the community.
Last year, UC Davis students, alumni, faculty and staff volunteered more than 860,000 hours of service to support both local and extended communities. The holiday provides a perfect opportunity for students to get involved through the associated programs that UC Davis teamed up with to enlist volunteers over the holiday.
One of these programs was Davis Community Meals at The Episcopal Church of St. Martin. The parish hall space was transformed from a common dance hall into a room with aisles of tables lined with silverware at each seat. Vases of assorted flowers were scattered throughout the tables. A queue of people formed against the furthest wall while tables filled of donated bread lined the back wall. The scent of pot roast and roasted potatoes permeated the air as an older gentleman on the piano was playing a lively jazz tune in the back corner of the hall. It was 11:15 a.m. Saturday morning, fifteen minutes before serving time.
St. Martin’s members joined with both groups and individuals from the Davis community to serve as volunteers at the meals, assisting with tasks such as set-up, cooking, serving, and cleanup. And this past holiday was no exception for continuing the volunteer commitment in the community.
Among the volunteer crowd were a few students from UC Davis. Katie Marcus, a third year Food Science and Techonology major said, “I like to volunteer because it makes me feel good to give back.”
Andrew Jeong, a fourth year Nutrition Science major, said, “I love to cook, so what better way to give back than doing what I love?”
Students Marcus and Jeong initially started their community service at St. Martin’s last fall quarter to complete an internship required for their majors. “I kind of dreaded it at first,” said Jeong. He wore a UC Davis sweatshirt, jeans, and a San Jose Sharks ballcap that functioned as a hairnet while working in the kitchen. “But after my first time here I was hooked.”
Marcus was in charge of making the roasted potatoes. After carefully washing, peeling, slicing, and seasoning the potatoes, Marcus put them in the oven. She quickly moved on to another station, helping another volunteer make the fruit salad. “I think it’s great to volunteer as a student. It forces you to get out of your comfort zone and do something new.” She brushed her blonde bangs and a few beads of sweat off her face with her forearm before returning back to chopping up the apples. “All I know is if I hadn’t volunteered here for my internship I wouldn’t have known how much I enjoyed doing this.”
When asked to compare their volunteer efforts to MLK’s community involvement, both students humbly replied with disagreement. “No, I’m nowhere near as good as him [King], but I’d like to think he would be proud of what I’m doing,” said Jeong as he placed silverware on the dining tables.
Marcus giggled at the comparison and said, “I know that my volunteering is small but during this holiday I know I’m honoring him [King] through my good work.”
Three hours passed from when Marcus and Jeong initially arrived and put on their gloves and hairnets. They stood behind the serving table, greeting the first few people in line as they began to serve the pot-roast meal at 11:30 am, exactly on the dot. Seeing these hard working students give back to the Davis community brings to mind the words and actions of the great Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. as he once asked life’s most persistent and urgent question: “What are you doing for others?”