Hillside School Sets Volunteer Activities for MLK Day Celebration

During the 1950s and ’60s, civil rights leader Martin Luther King, Jr. recognized the power of service to strengthen communities and achieve common goals.

Initiated by Congress in 1994, the Martin Luther King Day of Service is designed to transform the federal holiday into a national day of community service where people of all ages and backgrounds come together to improve their communities. 

This Martin Luther King Day, Hillside Intermediate School students will have a unique opportunity to honor Dr. King’s memory by participating in a Roots & Shoots Day of Service. More than 150 fifth- and sixth-grade students will represent Hillside School, providing service at eight different locations. 

The day begins and ends at Hillside School, where the students are divided into service groups.  Some students will stay at Hillside to organize and box donations, work in Hillside’s Habitats, make gifts for homeless children, and enhance the school with their artwork.  

Other students will be transported off-site by bus to perform the Roots & Shoots Variety Show at Chelsea Assisted Living in Bridgewater.  

The remaining groups will volunteer at Avalon Assisted Living of Bridgewater, the Pregnancy Aid Center in Raritan, the VA Medical Center in Lyons, St Hubert’s Animal Shelter in Madison, Mt. Pleasant Animal Shelter in East Hanover, and the Somerset County Regional Animal Shelter.  

At noon all students will come together again for lunch and wrap-up activities.

The activities continue Hillside's annual participation in Day of Service, visiting area seniors and nonprofits.