KernCorps helps communities celebrate MLK

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Mountain View Middle School’s Anna Chavez and Alicante Avenue School’s Jesse Chavez were intensely focused as they went at the task of creating their best art for the Martin Luther King Jr. Drawing Contest.

Jan. 19 was a busy one for members of the KernCorps AmeriCorps Program, who planned and participated in a wide variety of activities to celebrate Martin Luther King Junior's birthday in the local communities they serve.

Bakersfield KernCorps members started things off with a free-to-the-public "MLK: A Celebration of Unity" multicultural festival at the Boys & Girls Club from 10 a.m.-2 p.m. It featured Folklorico, Hawaiian and Middle Eastern dance exhibitions, displays and children's activities. Many attendees brought new or gently-used coats to contribute to the Boys & Girls Club coat drive for needy families.

Delano KernCorps members were also out early from 9 a.m.-12 p.m., joining forces with the Aztecas Football team and Karen Baptist Fellowship, distributing jackets to previously identified, needy families as part of its Keeping It Warm Coat Drive at the Delano Community Connections Center.

Lamont KernCorps offered a free-to-the-public Martin Luther King Jr. Birthday Celebration at the David Head Center from 11 a.m.-2 p.m. which included various children's activities and featured an appearance by the Kern County Sheriff and Fire departments to talk about children's safety.

Volunteers in the Lamont activities included students from Arvin High's Health Careers Academy and the International Leadership Training Program (ILTP), a global leadership effort in which college graduates live in the U.S. for two years learning about community problem solving. ILTP volunteers included Chi Chin Lin of Taiwan, Marisa Regina Thiesen from Brazil and Japan's Masahiko Tsukamoto and Tatsuo Oshima. Three of them had never heard of Martin Luther King Jr., and it turned out to be quite a learning experience for them.

"I had an idea about him fighting for freedom and equal rights, but now I have learned even more," Thiesen said. "This event helps improve the knowledge of the volunteers, as well as the people who live here."

Alicante Avenue School fifth-grader Brenda Marquez thought the event was "great because I like celebrating the birthday of Martin Luther King." Marquez said her favorite activity was the Kern County Fire Department's exhibit trailer where, "I learned how to drop and roll," Marquez said.

Activities continued even after the weekend celebration of King's birthday ended on Jan. 21. The Shafter/Wasco KernCorps members planned their third annual Reach for the Stars Talent Show at Buttonwillow School, 42600 Highway 58 for Jan. 25 from 6-8 p.m. Talent show participants are students at Buttonwillow Elementary School.

The KernCorps AmeriCorps Program, administered by the California Service Corps and sponsored by the Corporation for National and Community Service, operates through the Kern County Superintendent of Schools Office. AmeriCorps engages citizens in a year of hands-on student tutoring and community service in exchange for a monthly stipend and an education award of $4,725 upon completion of one year of service.

Please call Jeff Coomber, program manager, at (661) 636-4523, for more information.


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