“Over 200 Met Council Volunteers Set for MLK Day!”

On January 16th, 2012, over 200 volunteers will join together to honor the legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. with a day of service. This year, Met Council has partnered with the Hunger Free Communities Consortium to distribute materials that encourage struggling New Yorkers to apply for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) and other entitlement benefits.

"Last year, we coordinated a similar outreach campaign and it was a huge success. according to SSUSA's analysis from July 2010 to Jan 2011, there was a 55% increase in the number of clients coming to Single Stop sites because of outreach flyers."

This service learning project will be targeting underserved neighborhoods throughout NYC – Brooklyn, Queens and Manhattan. Our dedicated volunteers will be engaging in conversations and distributing information at local libraries, grocery stores, community centers and churches. A half-hour training session about public benefits and food access will be provided to the volunteers before the event.

Together, we will learn how increased access to public benefits such as Food Stamps can be a powerful tool to combating hunger and poverty in New York City. This is a hands-on learning service project that will have volunteers go out directly into the community and make an immediate impact. They have committed to making it a day on- not a day off!

In the afternoon, we are looking forward to reflecting with volunteers and celebrating the success of our day of service at 80 Maiden Lane!

As the late Dr. King once said-

“Life’s most persistent and urgent question is: What are you doing for others?”

As a tribute to his legacy, we will try to make sure that less people experience hunger in New York City this year.

We want to acknowledge all of our volunteers who chose to give back on this day!

The Jewish Week

Check out Stefanie Greenber's (Volunteer Department Manger at Met Council) and Susan Kohn's (Executive Director of UJA-Federation of New York’ Volunteer & Leadership Development Division) opinion piece in the the Jewish Week.

http://www.thejewishweek.com/editorial_opinion/opinion/making_mlk_day_day_service

If this inspires you and you would like to volunteer on MLK Day please e-mail volunteer@metcouncil.org. We would love to have you.

MLK Day

To mark the 25th anniversary of MLK Day, Met Council’s volunteer department led 4 different projects that mobilized 180 volunteers across Manhattan, Brooklyn, Queens, and the Bronx. From delivering self-help devices for homebound seniors to sorting thousands of donated clothing, our wonderful and energetic volunteers accomplished many amazing things in just one day. Here are some of the highlights:

• 80 volunteers sorted and organized thousands of donated clothes for clients in need
  

• 25 volunteers packaged and delivered self-help devices to homebound seniors across the five boroughs. Volunteers assembled 200 packages and delivered them to 30 seniors.
  

• 40 volunteers from UJA-Federation Long Island assembled 1400 food packages at our food warehouse

• 35 volunteers distributed over 3700 informational pamphlets about local benefits enrollment in the Bronx

These MLK Day activities will touch the lives of hundreds of our clients – individuals in need receiving food packages, clients being able to choose clothes with dignity, and seniors living more safely and independently in their own home.

None of this could have happened without our volunteers. Lorraine, a homebound senior that was a recipient of our assisted-living package, spoke highly of the MLK Day volunteers. “They were so lovely, helpful, and bright,” she said. “They really made my day.”

Check out more photos of the event.