Close to 300 Ohio State students made use of their day off by doing community service yesterday.
The sixth annual Martin Luther King Jr. Day of Service, “A Day On, Not a Day Off,” provided students with volunteer opportunities at more than 10 local charities.
After an opening program at the Ohio Union, students departed to service sites such as Children’s Hospital, Habitat for Humanity, March of Dimes and the Ronald McDonald House.
“It makes everybody feel good knowing that we’re out here instead of sleeping,” said Jarrod Weiss, a junior in communication and site leader at the Ronald McDonald House.
“Dr. Martin Luther King was about service, so we’re here doing that too,” Weiss said.
The Ronald McDonald House gives parents of hospitalized children a place to stay.
The 14 student volunteers stayed busy cleaning the kitchen, bathrooms and living room.
Diane Byrd, resident manager and operational director, said the house has room for up to 28 families.
“We don’t have paid housekeeping staff so it’s up to the families who are staying here to do the minimal housekeeping chores,” Byrd said.
“The students do some of the heavy-duty cleaning that we need done periodically,” she said.
Robert Pulliam, a freshman in biology, diligently completed one of those heavy-duty tasks.
“I helped scrub out the refrigerators,” Pulliam said. “It had crud and stuff at the bottom of it — it wasn’t pretty.”
For Pulliam, the hard work is worth it.
“I feel good helping out people who are unfortunate to have their kids in the hospital and doing things to make it easier for them to stay here,” he said.
The MLK Day of Service was sponsored by Project Community, the Ohio Union and Lazarus.
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