It nearly goes without saying that PMSC AmeriCorps members serve their communities with creativity, perseverance, and humility each and every day of the year. But, for Martin Luther King, Jr. National Day of Service 2024, PMSC AmeriCorps members took their dedication to service to the next level and beyond. Members were challenged to create service outreach projects to engage their host site communities in unique ways to honor the civil rights leader’s life and legacy. Presented with this opportunity, PMSC AmeriCorps members stepped up: assembling teams to create and lead special service projects in Community Wellness, Environmental Stewardship, and Education–getting things done to, “bridge divides, heal wounds, and create lasting change that will benefit our communities for years to come” (AmeriCorps.gov).
Highlights from the weekend of service include the project of Community Wellness team of Anton Fatula and Vancie Peacock who serve with Penn State University’s Student Farm. Together, the team connected with a local coffeehouse, Abba Java, to create a “Free Soup Dinner” for students and community members utilizing produce from the Student Farm. Their goal was specifically reach out to students who experience food insecurity and other community members, but all were welcome at the table. Fatula and Peacock even took the opportunity to invite a fellow PMSC AmeriCorps member, Kolby Cowher who serves with a neighboring host site, Borough of State College, to join their outreach service team for the night. Over 75 students and community members came out on a cold, MLK Day, winter evening for a warm bowl of soup, fresh bread, and salad. The conversation around tables created an atmosphere of connection and community, and as Ms. Peacock described, “food brings people together,” and “feeding people is a form of love and care,” which embodies the spirit of a life of service that Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. lived out to the fullest.
Environmental Stewardship members Emily Rahalla and Emma Sprowls, who serve with the Western PA Conservancy, decided that one of the best ways they could benefit their local community was to hit the streets of Indiana, PA with gloves and trash bags. They spent the afternoon collecting trash and beautifying their community. Terry Stewart, Environmental Stewardship member with Westmoreland Land Trust, utilized the name recognition of his host site to leverage support from his community to collect warm winter coats to benefit the clients of the local Salvation Army of Greensburg, PA. The team at Indiana County Conservation District, Joece Ann Lynn, Blake Mauthe, and Allison Smith combined their passion for the environment with their love of animals to create a special supply drive for the Four-Footed Friends Animal Shelter based out of Indiana, PA. Mauthe described the event as uniquely fostering the spirit of community on MLK Day by, “caring for local animals that are in real need of emergency food and supplies.”
Not only did PMSC AmeriCorps teams engage themselves in service across the region, they set out to mobilize thousands of local student learners, school staff, and families in innovative opportunities to nurture community and unity. When presented with the challenge to create a set-apart service opportunity to engage her school community, Helena Bassler, PMSC AmeriCorps member serving with Altoona Area School District’s, Juniata Gap Elementary, had an idea right away. She was already familiar with the great work of the R.K. Agarwal M.D. & Family Teen Center & Shelter whose goal is to provide emergency shelter for local teens and offer teens the opportunity to get help with their homework, stay for dinner, and participate in nightly group discussion dealing with issues pertaining to their age group. Bassler reached out to the center to discover their needs for hygiene items and essentials. Then, she used her skills in outreach to encourage hundreds of learners at Juniata Gap and their families to bring in needed supplies. She wasn’t surprised by the outpouring of support for the center because, as she noted, it is “a safe space” for local teens, “a place that brings people together,” in unique ways and fosters lasting change in individual lives and the community at large.
PMSC AmeriCorps Education-based members, Sarah Hostetler and Britney Shaulis empowered the 331 North Star Elementary students to bring out the very best of their community in honor of MLK National Day of Service as well. Together, the pair created a special lesson based on the read-aloud picture book, “They’re Heroes, Too: A Celebration of Community,” by Pat Brisson. On a whirlwind tour of the school-building, Hostetler and Shaulis spent the entire school day visiting learners from kindergarten through fifth grade, sharing the read-aloud, and then engaging students in a literacy-based outreach by writing “Thank You” letters to community helpers like police officers, firefighters, local doctors and dentists, emergency responders, business owners who go above and beyond for their rural Boswell community, and volunteers and community servants of all sorts. The students proudly shared their heartfelt letters and pictures to express a little bit of gratitude to the community members who do so much.
50 PMSC AmeriCorps members worked together create over 30 unique MLK National Day of Service projects benefitting the 14-county PMSC service region for MLK Day 2024. Kate Peters and Laurie Rogers serve with Altoona Area School District’s Baker Elementary and Penn Lincoln Elementary. They each engaged in their learners in special community building activities and projects. Peters exclaimed, “I loved getting to do this with them!” Rogers echoed with how much she appreciated the opportunity to, “help the students see that they can help benefit one another and make a change in the their school, their home, and in their community.” Their sentiment encompasses that of the entire Corps who took the time, effort, creativity, and resources to honor Dr. King’s legacy and to reach new heights in community building, service, and getting things done. This is us: PMSC AmeriCorps.