Club Members Honor Dr. King Holiday with Service Projects
At the Boys & Girls Clubs of Greater Milwaukee, we teach our members how to become engaged citizens of their community and world. Through our Character & Leadership Development programs such as Torch Club or Keystone Club, our youths and teens learn how to make a positive impact on others through community service projects.
In honor of the Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. holiday, here are some highlights from recent service projects that empowered our members and inspired optimism.
To kickoff its yearlong focus on youth literacy, the Ladies Making a Difference Keystone Club at St. Joan Antida High School Boys & Girls Club, 1341 N. Cass St. held two events. On Friday, Jan. 15, Club members and volunteers from the financial services firm of KPMG read to youngsters at the Cass Street School Boys & Girls Club. Then later that afternoon, the St. Joan Antida High School Boys & Girls Club hosted Roc the Mic, a free event open to the public. It featured poets, musicians, dancers and special invited guests. Milwaukee Public Library representatives were on hand to help guests sign up for a library card.
At the Clarke Street School Boys & Girls Club,
2816 W. Clarke St., members celebrated the Dr. King holiday with a Club-wide clothes drive for the Bottomless Closet. In addition to members and their families, Club and school staff donated casual and business attire for disadvantaged adults.
At the Augusta M. LaVarnway Boys & Girls Club, members played sleuths for its MLK Day Civil Rights Photo Hunt. In small teams, youths searched the building for 10 photos of civil rights leaders and connect the correct fact to the historical figure to win a prize.
Other examples of community service projects conducted in honor of Dr. King include food and clothing drives, e-mails messages to
United States troops through amillionthanks.org, and making and sending “Hope” candles for patients at Children’s
Hospital of
Wisconsin.
As a community service project, Clarke Street School Boys & Girls Club members sorted clothes to donate to the Bottomless Closet. The organization helps adults build work wardrobes.