BC Students Volunteer for MLK Day of Service
On Martin Luther King, Jr. Day, January 18, students from Bluefield College’s football, golf, women’s basketball and men’s volleyball teams went out to serve at Bluefield Union Mission and Princeton Salvation Army.
“It was a great opportunity for our team to spend time together off the floor as well as spending time serving the community,” said Corey Mullins, head coach of the women’s basketball team. “Bluefield shows so much support for us in athletics, so it is great to give back.”
Members of the women’s basketball and football teams went to the Bluefield Union Mission where they put together 400 sandwiches and packaged more than 150 bags of food.
“It means a lot to me, being a person of color, being able to give back to our community, especially on a very special day like this; it means a lot,” said women’s basketball player Ayanna Strother in an article on the Bluefield College Rams website. “We are really happy to be out here doing this for the community.”
Members of the golf, football, and men’s volleyball teams sorted donations at the Salvation Army in Princeton, according to the bcrams.com article.
“Today is a special day, Martin Luther King, Jr. Day, so just like he would do, we, too, wanted to come out and serve,” said volleyball player Caleb Word in the article. “This is also a really good way for us to represent the Bluefield community and Bluefield College, our athletic department and men’s volleyball as we come out here today and make an impact on our community.”
Sponsored by the Corporation for National and Community Service and the King Center in Atlanta, Georgia, the annual MLK National Day of Service is designed to mobilize thousands of non-profit groups, faith-based organizations, schools and businesses in a nationwide day of service to others. Additionally, the event helps keep Dr. King’s legacy of service alive and challenges individuals to make service a part of their everyday lives.
“I thought our players did a great job representing the Mission and the college,” Mullins said, “and most importantly, this experience offered us the opportunity to live out Dr. Martin Luther King’s vision of loving your neighbor and putting others above yourself.”