MLK Day event to raise awareness of childhood hunger

January 10, 2012 at 8:40 a.m. | Updated January 10, 2012 at 8:40 a.m.

In celebration of Martin Luther King Jr. Day, Westminster College is holding a special service project.

The college is inviting community members and even elementary students to participate in food packing for the Buddy Pack program. Organizers hope to fill 1,000 backpacks between 2-4 p.m. on Monday, Jan. 16, in the Mueller Student Center at Westminster.

All the backpacks will be distributed to the four elementary schools in Callaway that receive aid from the food bank's Buddy Pack program - South Callaway Elementary, McIntire Elementary, Bush Elementary and Bartley Elementary.

Jill Olson, director of community engagement at Westminster, said each year the college chooses a different "service commitment" to focus on. This year the focus is on hunger and poverty, Olson continued, which is why the food-packing project was chosen.

To help the tornado-stricken people of Dumas and surroundings, donations can be made to the Delta Area Disaster Relief Fund, care of the Delta Area Community Foundation, P.O. Box 894, Dumas, AR, 71639, or through the Arkansas Community Foundation, 700 S. Rock St., Little Rock, AR, 72202.