Delaware Food Bank hosts MLK Day service project

Despite the day off from school and the excuse not to finish the weekend's math homework, the high school students volunteering at the Delaware Food Bank spent Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Day elbow deep in aluminum, cardboard, and bottles of shampoo.

The entire senior class of 60 students at Sanford School, a private K-12 school in Hockessin, turned out to volunteer at the food bank instead of taking the day off. 

Sue Dagenais, the senior class advisor for Sanford, said the school advocates four pillars for the betterment of society; respect, diversity, tolerance, and social justice. On Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Day, the school applies those sentiments to service projects performed all over the state, Dagenais said. 

Kyle Smith, a senior at Sanford, said he and his fellow classmates were excited to spend the day doing something meaningful.

"We'd rather have a day on than a day off if it means giving back," Smith said.

Neither the chaotic conditions nor the chill of the concrete floor could dampen the determination of the Sanford seniors who packaged about 25,000 pounds of food to send to distributing agencies around the state.  By the time the students were ushered back onto their school busses, they had helped to feed approximately 835 families of four. 

According to a 2006 hunger study conducted by the food bank, one in 10 Delawareans are hungry.  Katherine Caudle, a volunteer coordinator for the food bank, said that number is expected to have tripled in the past three years.

Jason Begany, an assistant volunteer coordinator at the food bank, said while the organization's current feeding system has helped ease many families' burdens, there is still a lot of work to be done.

"We haven't reached the root of the tree," Begany said.

He said he likes seeing young students getting involved in the hunger crisis.

"It helps them understand it doesn't matter whether you're a Haitian, a Darfurian, or a Delawarean, without the security of incoming food there is only chaos," Begany said
Wilmington Friends School and the Delaware Futures program also contributed to the food bank's efforts as part of their stress on community service.

Christopher Bradwell, of Delaware Futures, spoke of the students' growth as he scanned a can of green beans for an expiration date.  The service projects resonate for the students because they feel like they're playing an important role in society, Bradwell said. 

"We're in this to become something," he said.

By early afternoon, the students shuffled out of the warehouse and pooled on the asphalt as the teachers and food bank volunteers expressed their gratitude toward the students' diligence and efficiency.  Squinting against the sun, the students turned attentively to Caudle, who had one last story to share. 

The pocket of the jacket that Martin Luther King, Jr. was assassinated in contained a piece of paper with three names on it, she said. One of which was the name of Caudle's friend's father, who had spoken with King only days before his assassination. 

"Now you are all only separated from Martin Luther King, Jr. by four degrees," she said.