{"id":107812,"date":"2026-01-21T22:48:13","date_gmt":"2026-01-21T22:48:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/107812\/"},"modified":"2026-01-21T22:48:13","modified_gmt":"2026-01-21T22:48:13","slug":"honoring-a-legacy-staten-islanders-come-together-for-2026-day-of-service","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/107812\/","title":{"rendered":"Honoring a legacy: Staten Islanders come together for 2026 day of service"},"content":{"rendered":"

STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. \u2014 In honor of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., a half dozen Staten Island organizations showed the power of collaboration at a community giveback event, living into the civil rights activist\u2019s legacy of service, unity and uplifting the community, <\/p>\n

The MLK Day of Service event, held Monday, Jan. 20 at Faith United Methodist Church in Port Richmond, saw organizers and volunteers distributing Amazon supplies, meals, baby supplies, winter clothing, and other resources that community members needed. <\/p>\n

During the event, Martin Luther King Jr.\u2019s famous words were played over a live mic, as Faith United pastor Rev. John Wood called on the gathered volunteers to lean into his legacy. <\/p>\n

In addition to church workers, there were dozens of bustling volunteers from different organizations who brought donations, filled tables and distributed goods: Staten Island chapters of the National Council of Negro Women (NCNW), Jack & Jill of America, Muslim Sisters of Staten Island, Delta Sigma Theta Sorority Inc. and Lambda Kappa Mu Sorority Inc.<\/p>\n

\"MLKDelta Sigma Theta Sorority alumnae volunteers at the 2026 MLK Day of Service.Advance\/SILive.com Photo<\/p>\n

\u201cDr. Martin Luther King Jr. was, as you know, a community activist, so that\u2019s where the whole inspiration came from. We love to give back,\u201d said Marcia Allen, first vice president of the NCNW Staten Island Section, one of the organizations spearheading the event.<\/p>\n

Allen has been a member of the organization for six years and has helped host the MLK Day of Service for the past four years. In previous years, they have partnered with the Community Fridge located on Forest Avenue, but due to extremely cold temperatures, organizers relocated the event to be indoors. Faith United Methodist Church has then hosted the event for the past two years. <\/p>\n

\u201cIn the climate that we live in now, unfortunately a lot of benefits have been stopped. A lot of SNAP benefits have been stopped. So, we had to come out to the community to provide them staples, some vegetables, canned goods, and non-perishables,\u201d said Allen.<\/p>\n

\"LambdaLambda Kappa Mu Sorority Inc. gather for a photo at Faith United Methodist Church on Martin Luther King Jr. day.Faith Archibald<\/p>\n

Faith United Methodist Church, which has operated a food pantry for more than 50 years, emphasized the importance of service and civic engagement to continue Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.\u2019s vision.<\/p>\n

\u201cLetting the people know they have rights to food security is big in this area, which is why we provide food for the community,\u201d said Lorna Wilson, who both runs the church\u2019s pantry and is a member of the Lambda Kappa Mu Sorority. <\/p>\n

\"JackJack and Jill of Staten Island gather for a photoFaith Archibald<\/p>\n

\u201cOne big part in Dr. King\u2019s mission was to bring equality and togetherness. This event is exactly that. It\u2019s unified. People are coming in happy and there are people of all different races that we\u2019ve seen come in. To me that speaks volumes,\u201d said Nikki Rosado, president of Jack and Jill of Staten Island.<\/p>\n

Also present was the Indian Nurses Association of New York, providing medical services, health screenings and education. The organization participates in similar community service events about three times a year. <\/p>\n

\u201cIn order for us to learn and grow with each other, I think it is important for us to work and learn from one another,\u201d said Safiyyah Abdul-Qawiyy, founder and executive director of the Muslim Sisters of Staten Island. <\/p>\n

\"MLKMuslim Sisters of Staten Island volunteers at the 2026 MLK Day of Service.Advance\/SILive.com Photo<\/p>\n

Youth volunteers, including members of the NAACP, played an active role in making the event take place.<\/p>\n

\u201cMartin Luther King did so much for our community,\u201d said Xzayla Wilson, Youth Council President of NAACP. \u201cIt\u2019s only right that we as Black people, as people of color give back to our own communities as well in various ways.\u201d <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. \u2014 In honor of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., a half dozen Staten Island organizations…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":107813,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[39],"tags":[9,24,63,134,136,135],"class_list":{"0":"post-107812","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-staten-island","8":"tag-new-york","9":"tag-new-york-city","10":"tag-nyc","11":"tag-staten-island","12":"tag-staten-island-headlines","13":"tag-staten-island-news"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/107812","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=107812"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/107812\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/107813"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=107812"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=107812"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=107812"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}