The Southwest Community Center in Syracuse hosted a food and clothing drive on Monday in celebration of Martin Luther King’s life and legacy.
More than 150 people gathered at the Southwest Community Center to pack clothes, toiletries and food. The packages will go to 12 organizations working in Onondaga County. Nancy Kern Eaton is the president of United Way of Central New York which cosponsored the event.
"It may be easy to get overwhelmed with your own daily life and it is important on a day like today to step back and say, I need think about what I can do to make a difference in the community."
The gymnasium at the community center quickly filled with people sorting clothes and packing them into boxes. The boxes are stacked along the wall in organized piles. People from all over the region came to help out, from individuals, families, and local volunteer sororities and fraternities.
Ameer Ellis is a student at SUNY Cortland.
"I always take this time to do something community related on this day, usually. It’s all about uplifting other people."
Ellis says seeing people come out to help their neighbors reminds him of the challenges that some communities face in Syracuse.
"The fact that there’s actually things being donated and work to be done is positive, but the fact that there is work that has to be done is negative at the same time so, it’s bittersweet."
Eaton with United Way says Syracuse is the 13th poorest city in the country. A day of volunteering won’t change that. But, she says,
"What this day does is gives people an opportunity to come together, do something that will make a difference for folks and highlights once again why we need to come together, to really think carefully about how we really make change in this community."