Martin Luther King Jr. Day 2024: Volunteers make positive impact on community in Chester
CHESTER, Pa. (CBS) -- Delaware County honored Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. with its annual day of service on Monday.
From picking up trash to marching for peace, hundreds of volunteers were dedicated to making a positive impact on the community.
"I think it's great that all these people came out today on this cold, cold day just to honor Martin Luther King and everything he's done for our nation," Aisha Dennis, of Claymont, Delaware, said.
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Among the crowd were Dennis, her husband and their 11-year-old son.
"I wanted to come here because I didn't want to sit in my house on Martin Luther King Day because of all the stuff he's done for us. We just don't want to take it for granted," Joe Dennis Jr. said.
They marched from Widener University to Chester City Hall on what would have been Dr. King's 95th birthday.
"Martin Luther King was a freedom fighter," Joe Dennis Sr. said. "He was not just fighting for one group of people. He was fighting for all of America."
After the march, volunteers cleaned up a local park in honor of Dr. King's commitment to improving the lives of others.
"His hard work and dedication, which part of that started here in Chester, it really created equity," Amy Bannister, a student at Widener University, said.
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People who took part in the day's activities said it's important to take care of Chester because Dr. King cared about the city. In fact, he graduated in 1951 as valedictorian from Crozer Theological Seminary in Upland.
The building where he took classes is now an office at Crozer Chester Medical Center.
A sign out front said the three years Dr. King spent studying at the building were key in forming his philosophy of nonviolence.
"There's so much violence in the world today," Aisha Dennis said. "We have to remember that there's ways to solve things without fighting."
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The Dennis family is keeping Dr. King's dream alive – taking action to make the community a better place.
