Aurorans, Metea students honor King with Day of Service

Students from Metea Valley High School in Aurora honored the memory of Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. Monday by participating in an annual Day of Service to help others.

Wrestlers moved couches at the Hope Chest resale shop for Wayside Cross Ministries. Track team members helped out at SciTech Hands On Museum. Girls basketball players packed meals for those in developing countries at Feed My Starving Children. And dozens of others pitched in at food pantries, homeless shelters and libraries to celebrate the late civil rights leader.

Led by Dean of Students Jennifer Rowe, Metea called the event "Mustangs Move Out and Serve Our Community." It encouraged students not to revel in a day without classes, but to see Monday as a "day on, not a day off."

Projects were designed to help solve social issues and address both physical and spiritual needs.

While Metea students were finding ways to do good deeds, so were other volunteers in Aurora.

The city designated Monday a Day of Service and conducted projects at 10 locations with slots for more than 200 helpers.

Participants assisted at a church, a nursing home, three senior living facilities, the Marie Wilkinson Food Pantry, SciTech and all three branches of the Aurora Public Library.

Aurora's celebration of King's achievements concluded with an evening keynote speech by King's sister-in-law, Naomi Ruth Barber King, who married his brother, A.D. King. She also plans to meet with leaders convened by Unity Partnership on Tuesday during a lunch to discuss police-community relations.

Elsewhere in the area, there were celebrations of King's legacy at Wheaton Christian Church in Carol Stream, Gary United Methodist Church in Wheaton, North Central College in Naperville and Benedictine University in Lisle.