In the Spirit of MLK, Hundreds on Peninsula Turn Out for Day of Service

[Editor's Note: The following information was received by Patch from the North Peninsula Multifaith Coalition, and is reprinted here.]

Four hundred volunteers from 16 Peninsula faith groups spread across the Peninsula Monday to work on service projects from South San Francisco to Redwood City as part of the second annual MLK Multifaith Day of Service.  The event was sponsored by the North Peninsula Multifaith Coalition.

Volunteers from the member congregations gathered for breakfast at 8:30 a.m. at the First Presbyterian Church, 1500 Easton Drive, Burlingame. After breakfast, they headed out to spend the day working on the following projects:

• Hoover Community School classroom clean-up — Severe budget cutbacks have affected the custodial staff’s ability to keep the classrooms clean at the school at 701 Charter St., Redwood City. About 30 classrooms will be cleaned, painted and organized.
• Hoover School lunch and literacy program — At Hoover, volunteers will distribute books, read stories and lead a craft project and then will set up and serve lunch.
  
• Books for public schools — Under the direction of the Jewish Coalition for Literacy, the group will gather at Congregation Beth Jacob, 1550 Alameda de las Pulgas, Redwood City, to sort books (collected in a drive that will end on MLK Day) and package them for delivery to under-served public schools.  
• CALL Primrose — Volunteers will install new carpet tile and assemble new shelving units at the food bank at 139 Primrose Road, Burlingame.
• Lomita Park Elementary School — This underserved school at 200 St. Helena Ave, San Bruno, has been converted from open-class to closed-classroom construction, leaving it with nowhere to hang coats and backpacks. Volunteers will construct shelving with coat hooks for six classrooms.
• First Step for Families at Shelter Network — Volunteers will lead art, music and games with preschoolers and older kids and then serve a barbecue lunch for all residents and volunteers at 325 Villa Terrace, San Mateo.     
• Lunch at Safe Harbor — The 40-50 homeless residents of Safe Harbor at 295 North Access Road, South San Francisco, will be served a meal which volunteers will prepare.
• Syrian Refugee Project — Each congregation will collect warm clothes and children’s toys and bring them to First Presbyterian of Burlingame where they will be sorted and crated in preparation for shipment to Turkey.
• Ukrainian Orphanage Arts Project — Also at First Presbyterian of Burlingame, volunteers (children through elders) will prepare individualized craft items for distribution to an orphanage in Ukraine.
• Youth choir — Low-income elders at the San Bruno Retirement Center, 890 El Camino Real, San Bruno, will be serenaded by a chorus of children ages 3 and up.

The participating congregations include the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, Congregation Beth Jacob, Congregational Church of Belmont, Congregational Church of San Mateo, First Presbyterian Church of Burlingame, Jewish Community Relations Council, Local Peace Initiative, Pacifica Institute, Peninsula Sinai Congregation, Peninsula Temple Beth El, Peninsula Temple Sholom, St. Bartholomew Catholic Church, St. Matthias Catholic Church, St. Paul's Episcopal Church, Shinnyo-en USA and Yaseen Foundation.

Further information is available at www.PeninsulaMultifaith,org.