School districts to honor MLK through annual day of service

OAKLAND COUNTY — Berkley, Clawson and Royal Oak schools once again are partnering to celebrate Martin Luther King Jr. with a Day of Service.

The school districts’ annual “A Day On, Not a Day Off” event will take place from 9 to 11:30 a.m. Monday, Jan. 20, at Berkley High School, 2325 Catalpa Drive.

The event will begin with breakfast followed by speakers and choir performances. After the yearly Freedom Walk, attendees can participate in making blankets and cards and sort through donations.

“It’s a small way we can honor Dr. King’s lifetime of work with our community,” Berkley School District Superintendent Scott Francis said in a prepared statement. “All three districts are committed to keeping diversity, equity and inclusion at the forefront of our schools to create an environment where all staff, students and community members feel a sense of belonging. The greater community can all honor Dr. King by joining us, and doing the same.”

Royal Oak Schools Superintendent Mary Beth Fitzpatrick said the day is about connecting with the community and helping support local charities.

“Each charity that benefits from this event relies upon donations like ours, and we’re just very happy to be able to help and help educate the community on this day of celebration and honoring service that Dr. King personified,” she said.

Clawson Public Schools Social Media Director Megan Homanick stated the event is a wonderful opportunity for the staff to come together and give back to the community.

“We’re just really glad to be part of it and we love partnering with Berkley and Royal Oak,” she said. “We’re three school districts that are all very close together, we share a lot of the same community members. It’s such a wonderful partnership, and this is just a great opportunity.”

Donations of items will go to the Redford Brightmoor Initiative; Cass Community Social Services; the Judson Center; and Royal Oak First, A United Methodist Church.

Acceptable donations at the event include nonperishable foods such as canned goods, pasta, peanut butter, jelly, granola bars and boxed food items. Other items that will be accepted include new children’s books for infants to middle schoolers, toilet paper, dish soap, paper towels, laundry detergent, shampoo, conditioner, deodorant, shaving cream and feminine products. Unopened diapers of all sizes, socks of all sizes, underwear for men and children, and adult winter hats will be acceptable as well.

“Just year after year, it’s a strong event in our community,” Fitzpatrick said. “Different people come out — depending on their availability — with generous donations from folks of their time and also of their talent, in terms of awesome student productions on that day, our videos that we produce, all of that makes the day more special and I’m just really proud that this has remained a strong event for Royal Oak Schools.”

Fitzpatrick stated that one of the goals the district always has had for “A Day On, Not a Day Off” is to get the students involved with helping and doing community work more than one day a year.

“I believe that’s what our students have now embraced,” she said. “They’re active on this day, and then I see our students — elementary through the high school — really working on service projects all year long to help the community.”

Francis hopes everyone who attends the event learns the power of service to others.

“During the event, we create blankets for those in the hospital, sort donations for organizations who support people in need in Metro Detroit, make lunches for the homeless population and create greeting cards for educators and first responders to lift them up for the service they provide to the public,” he stated. “As Dr. King said in 1968, ‘Everybody can be great, because everybody can serve. … You only need a heart full of grace, a soul generated by love.’”

Homanick said that the event helps bridge a gap and connect the three communities together.

“People bring their families. There’s a march this year. Last year, it was canceled because it was too cold. So there’s opportunities for our students, our staff, our community members, to come out to the march as well,” she said. “Martin Luther King Day for us used to be a professional development day that didn’t necessarily reflect on serving others. And so this partnership, this change for us allows our staff to to really experience just the selflessness of giving to others.”

For more information on the event and other avenues of donating, visit romi.gov/998/MLK-Service-Day.