New Bedford Guide Your Guide to New Bedford and South Coast, MA
The third Monday of every January we pause to celebrate and reflect upon the life of Martin Luther King, Jr. and the profound impact his non-violent activism had upon the Civil Rights
Movement. Martin Luther King Day is called the National Day of Service, and at GiftsToGive, we have long held Rev. King as a true American hero, mentor, fighter for equality and justice and giver of self. In the past, GiftsToGive has opened its doors to commemorate this day of service to students and adult volunteers from throughout the South Coast region. This year, the mill at GiftsToGive will only be open to the public for the morning shift of 9am – Noon. You must have a ticket to volunteer at the morning session. Tickets are free and available online at giftstogive.org.
Creating measurable change begins with the empowerment of our youth. This year we are focusing on SouthCoast Middle School students. Older students from Youth Build-New Bedford, New Bedford High School National Honor Society, Old Colony Regional Vocational Technical High School and UMD students will be our “Team Leaders”. Team Leaders will lead/mentor upwards of three hundred 6th, 7th and 8th grade students from local middle schools.
Through a grant from the Mass Service Alliance to UMD-SouthCoast Serves, bus transportation was arranged and will bring middle school students from seven local middle schools to Roosevelt Middle School in New Bedford to participate in a “Teach-In”. At Roosevelt, students will spend the morning hours engaged in educational exercises led by their Team Youth Leaders. Hip-Hop artist ‘Caliph’ will deliver the keynote address, spoken word artist, Leanne Neves will deliver her inspirational rendition of Dr. King’s “I Have a Dream” address. Eric Andrade, a multifaceted poet and spoken word artist will lead the program and also address the youth.
The students will view the documentary film, ‘Mighty Times: The Children’s March’. The film is a project of the Southern Poverty Law Center and tells the story of how the young people of Birmingham, Alabama, braved fire hoses and police dogs in 1963 and brought segregation to its knees. Their heroism truly complements discussions about the ability of today’s young people to be catalysts for positive social change. After the viewing of ‘Mighty Times’, the students will enjoy lunch courtesy of Domino’s Pizza then work with their Team Leaders to create posters which they will carry as they “March” eight blocks from Roosevelt Middle School to GiftsToGive. Upon arrival, the students will spend the afternoon processing, organizing, and repackaging “gently-used” clothes, toys, and books; transforming them into thousands of individual gift packages for distribution to local children in-need. At the conclusion of the program, SouthCoast Serves will ask students to pledge 60 hours of continued community service, to SouthCoast non-profits, through the balance of the year!
Jim Stevens, CEO and Founder of GiftsToGive had this to say – “Our MLK Day of Service is a powerful expression of Big Citizenship and Tangible Philanthropy by the youth of SouthCoast. We see no better way to honor the legacy of Dr. King than to spend the day learning about the very principles he embodied, then practicing those same principles in very tangible ways. We are thankful for our partnerships with UMD-SouthCoast Serves, Youth-Build, Our Youth Team Leaders, Nelson Hockert-Lotz (Domino’s Pizza), Caliph, Leanne Neves, Erik Andrade, The GiftsToGive Volunteer Management Team and the countless other volunteers who make this day so memorable.”
About GiftsToGive
GiftsToGive™ is a magical place. Thousands of local children come here to engage in giving and service. We call it Tangible Philanthropy and Big Citizenship.
Kids donate their “gently-used” clothes, toys, books and things they no longer need or use and volunteer at our huge re-purposing center to process, organize and package tons of donations, transforming them into thousands of individual gift packages.
Hundreds of local agencies and care givers go on-line and order customized gift-packages for homeless and at-risk children in their care. All this is made possible through the commitment of our volunteer management team and adult volunteer workforce.
Volunteers from age three are welcome. We’re open Monday through Saturday.
