Notre Dame students work in the community on MLK Jr. ‘Day of Service’ (w/video)

On Saturday, Jan. 16, 22 students from Notre Dame Prep joined fellow students from around the Archdiocese of Detroit in celebrating Martin Luther King Jr. Day, which honors the life and legacy of one of the great figures in modern American history. The federal holiday, which this year is on January 18, is observed on the third Monday of January each year. King Jr.'s actual birthday is January 15.
 
King Jr. believed that acts of service were the great equalizer. “Everybody can be great,” he said, “because everybody can serve."
 
Service to the community always has been an important component to the education of Notre Dame students. Simply measure the many community and Christian hours of service spent annually by NDP seniors alone, and you come up with well more than 10,000, according to the school’s campus ministry department.

"We gathered together first thing in the morning with more than 400 youth from other parishes and schools to commemorate the work of Dr. King," said Della Lawrence, a member of Notre Dame's campus ministry department. "Each group then spread throughout the city to serve at various places of need. Our students served at the Boulevard Manor nursing home, where we visited residents, and led them in bingo and singing. After serving at the various sites around Detroit, most of the student groups re-gathered to share a meal and closed with a prayer service at Sacred Heart Parish on Rivard St. in Detroit."

Lawrence said that Notre Dame senior Katie Kauffman, who is a peer minister for the school’s Social Justice Committee, coordinated the Notre Dame contingent for the day. She also led the singing in the video below.

 

More about Notre Dame’s campus ministry department is here.

Comments or questions? mkelly@ndpma.org.

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About Notre Dame Preparatory School and Marist Academy

Notre Dame Preparatory School and Marist Academy is a private, Catholic, independent, coeducational day school located in Oakland County. The school's upper division enrolls students in grades nine through twelve and has been named one of the nation's best 50 Catholic high schools (Acton Institute) four times since 2005. Notre Dame's middle and lower divisions enroll students in jr. kindergarten through grade eight. All three divisions are International Baccalaureate "World Schools." The Marist Fathers and Brothers sponsor NDPMA's Catholic identity and manages its educational program. Notre Dame is accredited by the Independent Schools Association of the Central States and the North Central Association Commission on Accreditation and School Improvement. For more on Notre Dame Preparatory School and Marist Academy, visit the school's home page at www.ndpma.org.