On January 15th, 2020, The Lawrenceville School celebrated the annual MLK (Martin Luther King) Day, a day entirely dedicated towards community service in hopes of following the footsteps of Dr. King, a man who never took 'no' as an answer and marched on until he achieved his goals. Every Lawrentian had a service project that they worked on to support the community, bring entertainment for youths, and promote the significance behind engaging with our fellow citizens. Activities range from basketball lessons with elementary students to visiting pre-schools near New Jersey and Philadelphia. This year, I decided to join the track & field team and visited the Community Food Bank of New Jersey!
According to the Community Food Bank of New Jersey (CFBNJ), approximately 40 million people in the United States are food insecure. 900,000 people living in New Jersey are suffering from hunger issues, and more than 260,000 of the 900,000 are children.
Alongside these shocking statistics, in New Jersey:
- 38% of households can't afford basic modern necessities
- 35% of families with children are struggling
- 46% of seniors (65 or older) cannot make ends meet
- 51% of jobs pay less than $20 an hour
To minimize the struggle individuals face in New Jersey regarding a lack of food resources, CFBNJ frequently provides hygiene packets, nutrition boxes, and food packages to aim towards their ultimate target of ending hunger obstacles in New Jersey. Food packages consist of cereal, oatmeal, milk, canned peas, fruits, orange juice, water, and more. To advocate their mission statement of "assisting those in need and seeking long-term solutions," we helped out with preparing these food packages, cooking and hand-making sandwiches for a local store, creating paper handouts for social awareness, and most importantly doing our jobs as citizens and serving the people in need of urgent aid.
The whole track team split into different sections when we got to the food bank, and I volunteered in helping out with making the actual boxes for the food and unfolding all the used resource boxes where the food was coming from. Although the work I was doing was very simple and straightforward, there was a sentiment of satisfaction and joy (partly because huge speakers were playing some of my favorite songs) behind the repetitive actions of folding and unfolding pieces of cardboard. Knowing that my efforts were going to be able to feed feeble children, suffering teenagers, and hopeless seniors, allowed me to push aside my busy life at Lawrenceville and motivated me to appreciate a moment of service and gratitude for the people around us. After a two-hour session of collaboration, we were able to package 326 boxes of food successfully, meaning that we had contributed and helped feed 326 families who had limited access to nutritious food!
In the end, that is what service is all about - helping and displaying genuine kindness regardless of whether you know the person. It's about taking a step outside your comfort zone and sacrificing yourself for the benefit of others. It's about sharing a strong sense of love with each other. It's about seeing every individual as a member of our community, our friends, and our family. Big thanks to CFBNJ for having us today and planting a valuable seed of service in our souls!
I would like to end with an inspirational quote from Muhammed Ali, a former American Boxer and activist:
"Service to others is the rent you pay for your room on earth."
Click here for more information on CFBNJ and their mission to end hunger!
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