MLK Day sets many to tasks in Triangle

Build a cafeteria? Done. Litter? It's gone. Cold is no impediment to volunteering

RALEIGH -- On a bitingly cold morning, hundreds of volunteers across the Triangle answered the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.'s call to action.

They picked up litter in a city park. They gave medical exams to people with AIDS and HIV. They built a cafeteria for a school that didn't have one.

Congress passed the King Holiday and Service Act in 1994, designating the holiday a national day of volunteer service. Instead of simply taking the day off, neighbors are encouraged to meet neighbors and cooperate to make their communities stronger.

Here are some scenes from across the Triangle Monday.

BILTMORE HILLS PARK, SOUTHEAST RALEIGH

With temperatures in the mid-20s, the volunteers picking up trash in Biltmore Hills Park on Monday had to wear mittens over their rubber gloves.

Still, two dozen children and their parents roamed the Southeast Raleigh park, collecting bags full of McDonald's cups and bottle caps.

"We wanted to help them learn it's not just about what they get," said Carolyn Garrett-Piggott, who brought three children to the park. "And once they saw all the other kids, they were happy to be here."

Happy, yes. But her children discovered an unpleasant truth.

"People litter a lot," said her son David, 8.

Inside, more volunteers spread a coat of paint on the Biltmore Hills gymnasium -- which dates to 1972 -- turning a brown-stained shade of yellow to a fresh light brown. Triangle Impact, the group that organized that and other volunteer events, steered people to Biltmore Hills Park because of its gym's dire need for paint.

"I've always wanted to volunteer, but I'd get lazy and wouldn't do it," said Emily Blust, who works at the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society in Cary. "I just Googled 'volunteer opportunities,' and here I am."

CAARE HEADQUARTERS, DOWNTOWN DURHAM

At the CAARE headquarters in downtown Durham there were so many parked cars outside that Broadway Street looked as though a tobacco market was back in town. Organizers said up to 300 people turned out to help the social services agency.

"Isn't this wild?" said the Rev. Michael Page, a Durham County commissioner and chairman of the Durham's Martin Luther King Celebration Committee. "People just really came out today."

CAARE (Case Management for Addiction and AIDS through Resources and Education) is a 13-year-old nonprofit serving Durham residents who do not otherwise have access to health care.

Some volunteers built a stage for large-group presentations, graduation ceremonies and community events. Others gave physical exams, dental checkups and nutrition advice, tested for sexually transmitted diseases, played music, served lunch or passed out bags of shampoo, deodorant, hairbrushes and toothpaste.

"[King] always cared about the underserved and the poor," internist Elaine Hart-Brothers said. "For Durham to eliminate disparities, they have to go bottom up ... helping the underserved makes a healthier Durham."

Awaiting his turn for a checkup, Joseph Rogers said he just happened to hear about the event as he was walking uptown Monday morning.

"It's a good thing they are doing," he said. "A lot of folks in this community need it."

PARTNERSHIP ACADEMY, HILLSBOROUGH

By mid-morning more than 60 people had come to help turn the Partnership Academy Alternative School's backyard into a makeshift cafeteria, a 50-seat amphitheater and a nature trail.

The Orange High School carpentry class pre-cut and prefabricated picnic tables, which Blue Cross and Blue Shield of North Carolina donated.

The current building, at 1006 E. Storey Lane, doesn't have a cafeteria or rooms large enough for team-building activities. Students have to eat inside the multi-purpose room.

The academy serves students who have not succeeded in a traditional environment because of social, emotional and behavioral difficulties. Many would have been suspended, are near to dropping out or are returning to school from a rehabilitation center, hospital or juvenile detention facility.

"Our kids are victims of prejudice," Principal Paige Kimball said. "We are celebrating [King's] life by contributing to the school. Here is a wonderful opportunity."

Even though he no longer attends Partnership Academy, Joe Murphy, 15, biked two miles to pitch in Monday. He had spent nearly a year at the alternative school before returning to A.L. Stanback Middle School.

"When I came here, I turned things around," said Murphy, now a ninth-grader at Cedar Ridge High School.

"It was pretty much my second chance. I did something stupid and got kicked out," he said. "I feel I owe them. If that means getting dirty, then I'll do that."