MLK project builds bridges of hope

Over 200 stu­dents gave up part of their Martin Luther King hol­i­day Monday, January 21 to hon­or his lega­cy by par­tic­i­pat­ing in a unique Day of Service project. Students from Maple Point Middle School in Langhorne and some from Neshaminy High School spent the morn­ing com­pil­ing 1,600 ‘bless­ing bags’ from thou­sands of items donat­ed by the MP and Neshaminy com­mu­ni­ty for Angels in Motion, a char­i­ty that reach­es out to addicts liv­ing on the street with the ulti­mate goal of steer­ing them into treat­ment. The bags con­tain food and oth­er items that build a bridge between the addicts and Angels in Motion vol­un­teers to help them reach that goal.

MLK Day of Service at Maple Point

Here is anoth­er video of a MLK Day of Service Project, this one at Maple Point Middle School. Students from MP and some from Neshaminy HS spent time today com­pil­ing 1,600 ‘bless­ing bags’ from thou­sands of items donat­ed by the MP and Neshaminy com­mu­ni­ty for Angels in Motion, a char­i­ty that reach­es out to addicts liv­ing on the street with the ulti­mate goal of steer­ing them into treat­ment. The bags con­tain food and oth­er items that build a bridge between the addicts and Angels in Motion vol­un­teers to help them reach that goal.

Posted by Neshaminy School District on Monday, January 21, 2019

This marks the sec­ond year for this project at Maple Point. Students have been col­lect­ing the dona­tions for the past month, and they filled a dozen cafe­te­ria tables when unloaded. While some stu­dents picked items to fill the bags, 5th-grade stu­dents cre­at­ed inspi­ra­tional notes which were also added to the bags. Older stu­dents cut up recy­cled plas­tic gro­cery bags and spun them into “plarn,” which can be woven into durable mats that give home­less peo­ple a lit­tle bit of com­fort even if they are liv­ing on city sidewalks.

At the oth­er end of the cafe­te­ria, groups of stu­dents assem­bled peanut and jel­ly sand­wich­es, enough to sup­ply Angels in Motion with enough to hand out for a week.

This project is one of many com­mu­ni­ty out­reach pro­grams at Maple Point, which range from a pop­u­lar Veterans Day cer­e­mo­ny (which attract­ed over 100 local vet­er­ans this year) to fundrais­ers to help fight can­cer. This MLK Day project is also in line with the District’s new sub­stance abuse pre­ven­tion and out­reach pro­gram, #StandUp Neshaminy