Martin Luther King Jr. said, “Life’s most persistent and urgent question is: What are you doing for others?”

Students at IU Southeast had the opportunity to answer that question this Monday by participating in a day of service in his honor.

This service project is the work of John Kummer, an AmeriCorps member who serves on the behalf of the Indiana Commission for Higher Education. He is on campus full time to support the Twenty-First Century Scholar population.

“AmeriCorps is a national service network and we are tasked with promoting volunteerism in our service. This is why I ended up coordinating the Martin Luther King Jr. day of service on campus,” Kummer said.

Students who were interested in participating met on campus at 11a.m. in the campus life office. From there volunteers were transported to service sites.

There were several options for the volunteers to choose from including: The Boys and Girls Club and Green Valley Elementary School.

Kummer started reaching out to the community in August in order to organize this event.

“Since I began my service term, I have been reaching out to local nonprofit organizations concerning volunteering,” he said. “Since I have these contacts in the community, it was easy to reach out and see who was interested in hosting our students on Martin Luther King Jr. Day.”

Upon returning to campus, at 2 p.m., volunteers were provided with free food and T-shirts, which were been funded by Kummer’s program.  

“The food, shirts and transportation are funded by my program, Indiana ScholarCorps. It’s the program I manage at IU Southeast where I mentor and provide services to Twenty-First Century Scholars,” said Kummer.

Julie Schubert, a secondary education senior, highlighted the importance of this event.

“I think it’s a great idea. It’s awesome to see people honoring Martin Luther King Jr. by helping those that need it,” she said.

Channell Barbour, associate director of campus life, assisted in creating this event. She explained the value and opportunity it presents to the students and staff at IU Southeast.

“It Shows our dedication to remembering Dr. King’s vision. Having our campus participate demonstrates how we care about our community and the impact we are making within our community,” Barbour said. “The project brings unity within the IU Southeast campus as many students, student leaders, staff and faculty served side by side in giving back to the New Albany area. It shows that IU southeast cares about the community in which we live, work and play.”

Kummer hopes to honor Martin Luther King Jr.’s work while giving back to the community through this event.

“My goal for this event is to foster and develop a love of volunteering among the students, assist organizations in the community and strengthen bonds, all while honoring the legacy of Martin Luther King Jr.,” he said.

Kummer plans to continue offering days of service throughout the semester including: Cesar Chavez day of service on March 23; Earth day on April 22; and Join Hands Day on May 2.