A group of kids crowded around a table at the Crestmont location of the Boys and Girls Club of Bloomington on Monday morning to watch Martin Luther King Jr's. “I Have A Dream” speech play on a computer screen.
The MLK National Day of Service with Bloomington Community Orchard entertained kids at the Boys and Girls Club with games, various educational booths and crafts during their day off school.
About 30 kids were lead through the activities by volunteers.
Organizer Stacey Decker and group of homeschooled students she helps with organized the event and came up with the ideas for the booths. She said the group volunteers often and saw this as an opportunity to serve the community.
“I have five teens that really took this and organized it and I was just kind of helping to guide them,” she said. “They really wanted to focus on working with kids.”
The homeschooled students partnered with the Jr. Stewards program at the Bloomington Community Orchard for volunteers. The program is a student volunteer group through the orchard, and it participate in a Martin Luther King Jr. Day event every year, Bloomington Community Orchard operations team member Dani Ansaldo said.
Olivia McDermott-Sipe, a Bloomington High School North senior, said she was looking for an opportunity to volunteer during her day off school. She found out about the event by a posting on the Bloomington Volunteer Network website. She said she likes to volunteer and does so often.
After watching King’s famous speech, McDermott-Sipe asked kids what their dreams were. One said she dreamed to be a dancer, another wanted to be a rapper and another dreamed for $1000.
In another room, children worked on various art pieces.
Amy Countryman sat painting with her three children. Signs drying on the table featured sayings like “Trust Yourself” and “Dream, Build, and Share,” the mission statement of the orchard.
Countryman said she wanted to come to the event because she has been teaching her children about King.
The booths at the event taught about African instruments, African geography, King’s history, anti-bullying and one had a guessing game with herbs from the orchard.
Even though it was a day off and the weather outside was cold, many young volunteers and kids showed up.
“I think people in communities are kind of leaning towards having it be a day out where they interact with their community and do things,” Decker said.
