As part of a national day of service to honor Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s mission of justice and community improvement, students and their families can sign up to participate in community service projects around the city on Jan. 19. These hours are counted as “flex hours” for the sophomore community service requirement. 

The opportunities include packing lunches and sorting canned food at Lab; supporting lunch service at Pacific Garden Mission in the South Loop; building and sorting household furnishings at Chicago Furniture Bank in Brighton Park; and socializing with residents at Sunrise Assisted Living in Lincoln Park. 

Students and families can sign up for the opportunities via this link. 

Martin Luther King Jr. Day is widely recognized as a national day of service to honor Dr. King’s mission of justice and community improvement. Katie Clendenning, U-High’s service learning coordinator, set up the opportunities and hopes students will take the day to engage in service to honor Dr. King’s legacy. She says opportunities like these are the heart of collective action.

“It’s bringing together people from our community to say that we want to make sure that everyone has what they need,” Ms. Clendenning said, “and I think the more that we have a worldview that engages with people that are different from us, the more we can do justice, because the more we understand what justice might mean.”