Join the Cause: Volunteers Prepare Thousands of Meals for Food Banks in Celebration of Martin Luther King Jr.

GENESEE CO., Mich. – To honor Martin Luther King Jr., local volunteers and food banks joined forces to distribute thousands of meals across Genesee County.

With 800 volunteers on hand, they packed 200,000 meals to send to 25 pantries in the area. It was a big job, but volunteers felt ready to tackle it together.

Families and students gathered at the Dort Event Center, choosing to spend their day off helping others. Jamie Venable from United Way of Genesee County shared, “It’s wonderful to see everyone here. We have kids as young as 5 and volunteers up to 90. It’s great for people to work side by side.”

Young volunteer Presley Dombrowski, who has been coming to this event for four years with her grandmother, emphasized how fulfilling it is to help the community.

Loraine Travis, part of the AmeriCorps senior group, voiced her concerns about food scarcity. “Many people struggle to find enough food. It’s heartbreaking, but every meal counts. Those 200,000 meals will really make a difference here,” she said.

The number of volunteers has increased significantly over the years. Venable noted that the event started with just 300 volunteers. Now, they need to add more space to accommodate the growing number of helpers.

“We added six more packing lines this year, and we’ll add even more next year to include everyone who wants to help,” she explained.

Venable described MLK Day as one of her favorite times of the year, a true celebration of community spirit. “Dr. King believed in service and giving back. He said, ‘Everybody can be great because everybody can serve.’ That’s exactly what we’re doing here,” she added.