Day of Service: Nearly 500 volunteers participate in 22nd Annual MLK Day activities

Volunteers prepare food packages for Kids Against Hunger, a nonprofit organization that ships food throughout the U.S. and to developing countries in an effort to end child hunger.

The event is a partnership between UM-Dearborn and Henry Ford College, with students, staff and alumni from each school serving throughout southeast Michigan.

“This is one of our longest traditions on campus, 22 years and running. And it is an awesome tradition because it so deeply expresses the values of this campus,” said UM-Dearborn Chancellor Daniel E. Little as he welcomed volunteers to campus.

“The great thing about Dr. Martin Luther King is that his legacy is a living legacy. It’s not just a monument somewhere, but it’s a set of ideas and passionate commitments that we can all share and we can all take further.”

Participants volunteered at 17 organizations in southeast Michigan, including ACCESS, Detroit Rescue Mission, Franklin Wright Settlements, Gleaners and Southwest Solutions.

Junior Nicole Corso spent the morning at South Oakland Shelter. She was one of approximately 40 members of UM-Dearborn’s Phi Mu chapter, Rho Beta, to volunteer.

“One of the things we stand for is service and philanthropy, and we really like being able to open that up to our community. And to do that with the whole campus is pretty inspiring,” she said.

UM-Dearborn will host events throughout the week to commemorate King’s life:

Tuesday, January 20

• Film Screening: American Revolutionary: The Evolution of Grace Lee Boggs
  • Noon-2 p.m., Kochoff Hall A, University
  • 6-8 p.m., House of Maize & Blue, The Union at Dearborn
• Discussion: Is LGBTQ Rights the New Civil Rights?
  • 3-4 p.m., The InCLUDE, 2122 University Center

Wednesday, January 21

• Student Panel: What Does Assimilation Mean to You?
  • Noon-1 p.m., Kochoff Hall A, University Center
• March for Peace with the Black Student Union
  • 3-4:30 p.m., University Center Stage
• Unsilenced: A Broadside Press Poetry & Spoken Word Celebration in Memory of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.
  • 6-8 p.m., Kochoff Hall B&C, University Center

Thursday, January 22

• #ThrowbackThursday: "I Have a Dream" Balloon Release
  • Noon-1 p.m., University Center Stage
• Film Screening: Essential Arrival: Michigan's Indian Immigrants in the 21st Century
  • 2-4 p.m., House of Maize & Blue, The Union at Dearborn
• Film Screening: Brother Outsider: The Life of Bayard Rustin
  • 6-8 p.m., The InCLUDE, 2122 University Center

Friday, January 23

• UM-Dearborn's Inaugural Engagement Day
  • 8:30 a.m.-2 p.m., Kochoff Hall, University Center

All Week

• Film: Selma
  • $5 AMC movie tickets available in the Office for Student Engagement courtesy of the Student Activities Board