BENNER TOWNSHIP — Deciding to participate in Penn State’s Martin Luther King Jr. Day of Service on Monday was easy for Melissa Creely.
Creely, a junior from Philadelphia, has volunteered for community work in honor of King since the sixth grade. Her mother, a missionary, first instilled an interest in helping others.
“It’s become who I am, part of me,” Creely said.
Starting midmorning Monday, she spent hours at the CentrePeace outlet store, preparing donated items stashed in an atticlike storage room so that they could be offered for sale. Early on, she stuck price tags on cassette tapes before moving on to cleaning wine glasses.
Creely was among about 350 students who devoted their holiday to assisting local agencies, libraries, organizations, retirement communities and their own university. While many of their peers were sleeping late or cocooning in apartments or dormitories, about 30 students were bearing the cold at the Penn State Arboretum.
Away from the main garden, the volunteers cleared brush that had been removed from a hillside. Crews had already cut the invasive species, but the students were needed to pull the branches off a slope and hand them off to one another, leaving them on a flat area for collection.
Arthur Smith, a senior in marketing and team leader, said the day was about having a good time while helping the community.
“I feel like a service day is a way to bring everyone together for a good cause,” he said.
At CentrePeace, junior Mehari Ghebremicael wore a team leader’s green T-shirt as he wiped off dusty knickknacks and ashtrays in the second-floor storage room. Downstairs, other students cleaned furniture and other items.
Ghebremicael, a business major from New Jersey, said a class on King inspired him to take part in the day. The diversity of the students involved fit with King’s message of shared humanity, he said.
“We all came together to help, all different types of majors, all different backgrounds,” he said.
Eight students visited the Foxdale Village retirement community and, joining about 20 residents on teams, conducted two spelling bees. Stephanie Radziminski, a sophomore from Pittsburgh, said the conversations were as fun as the competition.
“It was nice to hear about their backgrounds, and where they were from,” she said.
Mary Ann Curren, Fox-dale’s director of therapeutic recreation, said residents enjoyed the morning. Some who taught or worked at Penn State liked talking to current students, she said.
“It’s just the interaction,” Curren said. “It brings out the best in each side.”
During the spelling bees, Porschetta Cody, a senior from Philadelphia, and Shawnta Albro, a junior from State College, represented the Alpha Kappa Alpha sorority. All of its members volunteered for the day at different sites.
“It was a good opportunity for us to reach out to the community more,” Albro said.
Jeff Brooks, landscape coordinator at Centre County PAWS, had a list of tasks ready for the 13 Penn State student volunteers: washing windows, cleaning cage tops and vacuuming.
“They’re young. They’re enthusiastic. They always do a fantastic job,” Brooks said.
The theme of this year’s Martin Luther King activities at Penn State is “Stand Up!” Teresa McGowan, coordinator of the university’s Fast Start mentoring program, said the day of service is a way to stand up and be part of the dream.
“It’s about honoring Dr. Martin Luther King, but also about making sure we can give back to our communities,” she said.
For student volunteers Laseana Jones, Jini Ryou and Erica Pilgram, giving back meant helping clean the cat-side at PAWS.
Jones said community service gives its own rewards.
“It’s close to my heart,” she said. “What better way to do service than on Martin Luther King Day.”
Ryou said most of her friends were staying in their dorm rooms, but she wanted to help out.
“I think it’s so much better to do something productive and help other people,” she said.
Anne Danahy can be reached at 231-4648 and adanahy@centredaily.com. Chris Rosenblum can be reached at 231-4620 and crosenbl@centredaily.com.
