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Stamford Volunteers in Honor of MLK [Update with Video]

Residents marked the Martin Luther King Jr. National Day of Service with a ceremony and service projects all around town.

[Editor's Note: This article has been updated with a video (see below) from the MLK Day of Service's Opening Ceremony featuring a performance by the Westhill High School Step Team.]

Icy temperatures and lingering snow piles didn’t stop the Stamford residents gathered for the on Saturday morning. At 8:30 am, the gym at was already buzzing with activity. Crowds of middle school students, high school students, and a few adults signed up for their projects, picked up their blue t-shirts, and chatting while enjoying the complimentary breakfast.

Brightly colored construction paper signs marked the different service projects and participants could choose from activities including serving lunch at , sorting donations at Berkeley House, and spending time with seniors at Courtland Gardens.

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“We asked them to come with a smile and an open heart and that’s what we’ve got here today,” Patricia Williams, program coordinator at Service for Peace told Patch. “We’ve been saying that it’s a day on, not a day off. We want to educate them about community involvement and about Martin Luther King Jr.’s teachings.”

Patricia Williams and Zachary Wrentz, also a program coordinator at Service for Peace, have been working on the event for the past year. While the day was just beginning, the organizers were already optimistic about the group of volunteers that had assembled.

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“We got running a little behind this morning and everyone jumped in to help, that’s what this is about,” Wrentz said.

Anne Ostberg, state program director for the Corporation for National & Community Service, the organization that funds Service for Peace, has been following the program for about six months. Service for Peace has held a similar event in Bridgeport in the past, but this is the first year that an event has been held in Stamford.

“It's great to see so many young people here on such a cold Saturday morning, it must be nine degrees out,” Ostberg said.

“[Martin Luther King Jr.’s] message of peace is timeless and it’s the perfect day to spread that message,” State Representative Carlo Leone told Patch. “It always feels great to come out to these kinds of events in my district.”

For the young people gathered, giving back to their community was the perfect way to spend a Saturday.

“I'm here because I like doing community service,” Isabell Gourbet, a student at Brien McMahon High School, told Patch. Gourbet was part of a large group of students involved in buildOn that volunteered for the day. Students representing Brien McMahon, , , , , and other area schools were all in attendance.

“I came to do some community service and thank Martin Luther King Jr. for what he did,” Maria Barragan, a student at Trailblazers Academy said.

“I’m going to be serving lunch at Pacific House today,” Analiette Rodriguez, also a student at Trailblazers Academy, told Patch. “I’m very proud because I’ve never helped the homeless before and I’m excited to help.”

After the volunteers filed into the auditorium, Representative Leone gave a welcome.

“Martin Luther King’s message is about unity and peace,” he said. “Always remember that you can get a lot more done in a peaceful manner.”

Dave Wooley and Joe Celcis, both teachers at Westhill High School, helped to get the crowd motivated and asked the volunteers questions about Martin Luther King Jr. They then introduced the various speakers, skits, musical performances, and the Lady Vikes step team from Westhill High School.

“Stepping started at black colleges as a way for students to connect with the tradition of group dance,” Celcis said. 

Celcis also took some time to explain to the young people in the room what it means to be non-violent.

“Dr. King got angry like everyone else, he fought like everyone else, he didn’t lay down and get a beating—he fought. The difference is that he didn’t sink down to the level of violence,” Celcis said. "It was all about getting up and doing something for your community, like you're doing today...we need more of that in Stamford."

After lunch, buses departed from Trailblazers Academy to take the volunteers to their various project sites around town. The group would come back together to end the day with a birthday celebration for Martin Luther King Jr.

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