Nearly two hundred volunteers showed up at Central Academy of Excellence in Kansas City this MLK Day, for a day of service.
Briana Williams and Shaam Shakue are freshman at the school and among the dozens volunteering on their day off. The students teamed up with City Year KC and city leaders to help paint murals at the school.
“This is why MLK Day is one of my favorite holidays,” Jeff Shafer with City Year tells 41 Action News. “To have a day dedicated to honoring Dr. King’s legacy and doing service to others, that’s what we want to promote.”
.@CityYearKC art/mural project underway at #CentralAcademy @kcpublicschools @kholmesKSHB reports @MLKDay pic.twitter.com/XjHrOObKXk
— TJH (@THellhake) January 16, 2017
Kansas City Councilman Jermaine Reed also showed up to help and encourage the young volunteers.
“It reminds me that life and the work we do at the very core of the very being is about service to others, and not just ourselves," said Reed.
For Williams and Shakue the Martin Luther King Jr. Holiday means a day of love, tolerance and hope.
“He means everything to me,” Williams explains. “He gave us everything. He made us have a dream. I never used to have a dream before I learned about him.”
The two young ladies have also learned how to appreciate people and things that are different.
“This day is special to me because I’m a Muslim, and people come down to me and try to talk me down” Shakue explains. “So it means I’m stronger than I really am. It builds me up every day.”
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Kevin Holmes can be reached at Kevin.Holmes@KSHB.com
