On January 15, 2018, millions of Americans came together to volunteer and honor the legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. who never stopped asking the question, “What are you doing for others?” The MLK Day of Service is a moment to work together to fulfill King’s vision for a better America – it’s a day “on” instead of a day off.
Little Helpers of Atlanta is one of the many local groups that got involved this MLK Day. Members of Little Helpers of Atlanta joined Jewish Atlanta to complete various service projects throughout the area. From Midtown to Sandy Springs, East Cobb, Dunwoody, John’s Creek and Morningside, volunteers packed and sorted food, cooked meals for the hungry, spent time with residents of a women’s shelter, delivered treats to firefighters, played games with seniors at a nursing home, repaired and cleaned books, assembled toiletry bags for the homeless and made toys for pets at an animal shelter. Other Little Helpers volunteers took part in projects in their communities like trash pick up at the Chattahoochee Nature Center.
“A big thanks to Jewish Atlanta, In the City Camp, Camp Ramah Darom, Congregation B’nai Torah, The Weber School, Jewish Federation of Greater Atlanta, and JF&CS Atlanta for organizing the day-long event,” shares Tran Bui Smith, founder of the local chapter of Little Helpers.
Little Helpers has been helping children help others since December 2010. The family volunteer group holds monthly service projects for children of all ages. The program is designed to help young people understand the value of volunteering, recognize the blessings in their lives, broaden their community perspective and feel the sense of accomplishment received from lending a helping hand. The ultimate goal of the program is to raise confident children who see giving back to the community as a normal aspect of their lives. Little Helpers was created in Memphis, but today has chapters across the country including the Atlanta area. For more information, you can find the group on Facebook here.
This article originally appeared in the February issue of the EAST COBBER magazine, on pages 8. Click here to view the digital edition.
