On January 17, 2022, AmeriCorps members across the nation participated in the MLK National Day of Service to honor the legacy of Martin Luther King Jr. Our 40 members serving with Campus Compact’s VISTA Project participated in service projects to give back to their communities and make a difference in the lives of those in need.

Campus Compact AmeriCorps members had the opportunity to volunteer with over 28 diverse organizations throughout the Northeast and Midwest. They served at organizations such as The Charity Guild, Community Compassion Network Food Pantry, Greater Lansing Food Bank, Midwest Food Bank, A Safe Haven Foundation, National Louis University, Women’s Justice Institute, Crisis Text Line, Be the Solution Pollution, and many more!

In the Northeast, our AmeriCorps members made a positive impact through their service projects. Victoria Cirillo, Campus Compact AmeriCorps member at UMass Dartmouth, hosted a zine-making workshop for students at Alma del Mar School on MLK Day. Zines are DIY (do it yourself), self-published and non-commercial publications made by individuals in limited batches. They include stories, drawings, poems, and assorted images. In reflecting on her personal experience from the service day, Victoria stated, “It was great to see students express their creativity to demonstrate what they had learned about MLK throughout the day.” Victoria’s service day is a perfect example of how we can use creativity to honor the legacy of Dr. King.

In the Midwest, Rebecca Forsythe, Campus Compact AmeriCorps member at Heartland Community College, helped package perfectly good food for infants into family-sized bags that would have otherwise been thrown away if not for being donated to Midwest Food Bank. Community volunteers packed enough food to feed over 500 families in need. In reflecting on her personal experience from the service day, Rebecca stated, “By doing this small task, it felt good knowing that some quality, perfectly good food for infants was diverted from landfills and will feed those in need.”

“One of Dr. King’s most famous quotes, and something that I come back to all the time is ‘everybody can be great because everybody can serve.’ The message he conveyed was about equality, about equity, about justice, about coming together, about reducing barriers. That is what MLK Day of Service is all about. Service can take us on a path from charity to justice; and whether people are donating to a food bank or advocating to change policies that address food insecurity, their service matters.”

– Acting CEO of AmeriCorps, Michael D. Smith