Students volunteer time to brighten lives on MLK day

On Martin Luther King, Jr. Day, 78 students spent three hours volunteering on campus for a variety of charity organizations.

Organized by 22 PTSO members led by parents Sujatha Mudupalli and Nirmala Nookala, the day had students gardening and landscaping, assembling care packages for troops deployed overseas, making Valentine’s Day cards for a senior center and cooking full meals for a local church and family shelter.

Using the PTSO budget that came from donations made by the school community, Mudupalli and Nookala purchased supplies from Costco and Smart & Final for volunteers to package and prepare, such as food, toiletries, books and DVDs.

The inspiration to create a school-wide volunteer day first took root two years ago, after President Obama urged everyone to take part in the national day of service.

In comparison to the previous MLK community service day at SHS, a large number of students signed up this year. Nookala believes the sign-ups reached maximum capacity due to “students coming back from a good holiday after finals” and wide support from the school in spreading the word. The PTSO also sent out emails to parents, made announcements on the intercom and created a Facebook event to further inform students.

Parent volunteers were able to communicate easily with one another with the help of walkie talkies, provided by custodial supervisor Ever Guzman. This made for prompt problem solving and easier management, according to Nookala.

Sophomore Gloria Liou, who helped assemble care packages, said it was a good experience to participate in a school-wide community service event.

“It was nice to be able to help others just by doing simple activities, while also spending time with friends,” sophomore Nina Jayashankar added.

Junior Joanne Sturge was surprised at how quickly the process went while making peanut butter and jelly sandwiches to give to the homeless. By working in an assembly line, the volunteers were able to complete all their tasks well within the allotted time, according to Sturge.

“And like any other kind of volunteer work, it always makes you feel a little better about yourself when you’re done,” Sturge said.