With the persistence of the COVID-19 pandemic, this year’s MLK Day of Service activities at Montgomery County Community College took on a different format.

Collaborating with the Movement for Black and Brown Lives in Montgomery County, MCCC hosted a virtual town hall discussion, “Reimagining Community Service,” with the goal to discuss ways to serve Montgomery County communities on an ongoing basis.

Nearly 80 participants joined the Zoom discussion on Monday evening, Jan. 18, including MCCC students and employees, area high school students, community members and state elected officials including Rep. Matt Bradford, Rep. Joe Webster, Rep. Ben Sanchez, Rep. Nancy Guenst, Rep. Mary Jo Daley, Rep. Steve Malagari, Sen. Art Haywood, Sen. Katie Muth, Sen. Maria Collett and Tyler Sciadone, Chief of Staff for Rep. Melissa Shusterman.

Also, numerous school district officials attended including Dr. Barbara Russell, Superintendent of  Perkiomen Valley; Chris Dormer, Superintendent of Norristown Area; Dr. Wagner Marseille, Superintendent of Cheltenham; Dr. Steve Yanni, Superintendent of Upper Dublin; Dr. Curtis Dietrich, Superintendent of North Penn; Michael Roth, Superintendent of Upper Moreland; Mary Jo Yannacone, Superintendent of Springfield Township; Dr. Detrick McGriff, Assistant Principal of Norristown Area; Kris Brown, Equity Officer, Abington; Cheryl Galdo, Director of Human Resources, Lower Moreland; and Jessica Brasch and Diana Schuman, Wissahickon Advisors of Celebrating All Student Achievement.

As part of the town hall, students and community members were invited to create 30-to-60-second public service announcement videos describing their ideas of community service that would help the Montgomery County community.

“This is not meant to be a one-day event but an on-going series of activities,” said Christopher Jaramillo, who is an MCCC alumnus and one of the co-founders of the Movement for Black and Brown Lives.

He said the Movement is focusing on three specific areas of educational inequity in schools, infant mortality rate disparities among Black women and systemic racial practices and juvenile detention center disparities.

During the opening, U.S. Representative Madeleine Dean quoted Martin Luther King Jr., “The ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in moments of convenience and comfort, but where he stands at times of challenge and controversy,” noting that now is the time to look at biases and reform. “It may not be easy but it’s the right thing to do.” 

Following a brief presentation of the history and purpose of MLK Day of Service, the public service announcement videos were shared. Many of the messages focused on meaningful ways to help others, including holding food drives, volunteering at nursing homes, picking up trash, tutoring students, and giving back to communities in whatever way we can.

After the PSAs were over, the discussion continued about community service and what can be done in the future.

“Community service involves time – giving a piece of yourself, your skills and time,” said Craig Metcalfe, Vice Principal at Cheltenham High School. “When you give your time, you can’t get it back, but the people who receive it, appreciate it because you are giving them a part of you.”

Suzan Gould, the Executive Director of Manna on Main Street in Lansdale, spoke about the tremendous outpouring of support from the community during the pandemic.

“We’ve had people volunteer every single week,” she said. “They provide much more than food; they showed they care and have created a community of caring.”

Showing you care can be as simple as saying thank you to the sales clerk in the grocery store or the postal workers who have been making numerous deliveries, said Alecia Fields, MCCC Assistant Director of Student Services.

MCCC Director of Equity, Diversity and Inclusion/Title IX Coordinator Rose Makofske spoke about how people have felt isolated and lonely during the pandemic, particularly the elderly.

“Take time to call people and have a conversation with them,” she said.

As part of this year’s event, students and community members have been invited to handwrite letters of encouragement and support to essential workers and nursing home residents. Anyone interested in participating can email GetInvolved@mc3.edu.

The program concluded with the performance of “Amendment” by Vizion, featuring local hip-hop artist Vincent Jaramillo.

Anyone interested in participating in future discussions and volunteering with community projects can send their names and contact information to GetInvolved@mc3.edu.

The Movement for Brown and Black Lives in Montgomery County will be holding their first community meeting on Jan. 24 at 7 p.m. via Zoom. Anyone interested in attending the meeting can email m4bblmontco@gmail.com for the Zoom link.