By Tangerine Clarke
Dr. Martin Luther King’s
enduring legacy of unity, and
equal opportunity for all,
brought together scores of children
and their families at the
Brooklyn Children’s Museum on
Monday, Jan. 21, in partnership
with the Jewish non-profit
Repair the World, to package
‘care kits’ for homeless adults
at CAMBA Shelters and drop-in
centers.
The children expressed their
views of what was special about
Dr. Martin Luther King Day
during their volunteer session,
and afterwards eagerly packaged
hats, gloves, lotion and lip
balm, in bags to make their day
of volunteering special.
Project Coordinator, Joshua
Foss, appreciated the day of
service to benefit the homeless,
stating that CAMBA provides a
warm meal, and places to stay
in partnership with churches,
volunteers and families.
For almost 42 years, the
group has helped New Yorkers
transformed their lives by
Caribbean L 28 ife, Feb. 1–7, 2019
providing holistic programs to
individuals, families and communities,
and offer integrated
services and programs in economic
development, education
and youth development, family
support, health, housing and
legal services.
Program Director, Shoshana
Weiner, and Lauren Tassone,
associate, Office of the President
of Repair the World, welcomed
the children, many who had
signed up online to participate
in the day-long initiative, one of
more than 80 events that took
place across New York, as part
of the organization’s make community
service a meaningful
part of American life, said the
organizers.
“In addition to planning community
events, we have fellows
doing work in their communities,”
said Weiner, who added
that Repair the World runs a
fellowship program with eight
fellows, who are partnered with
service sites to engage community
members, including the
Brooklyn Children’s Museum.
“We work on relationship
efforts,” said Tasson of the Crown
Heights location, noting that the
group works all over the USA, in
Atlanta, Miami, Baltimore, and
Detroit. Pittsburg, Philadelphia,
making community service a
meaningful part of life.
“Today is a call to action,
because Dr. King felt that all
people should have access to
the same opportunities, and at
Repair the World, we contribute
to communities that treat each
other fairly. We would like to
uplift everyone on this day and
make it a valuable day of service
that reflect our values.”
Melanie S. Lewis, a non-
Jewish African-American, who
grew-up in Crown Heights, and
serves as an advisory board
member of Repair the World,
thanked the group for accepting
her into the organization,
through a national service
Shabbat, a few years ago, adding
that she was excited to be a
part of the great initiatives that
are taking place in her neighborhood
and Brooklyn.
Sylvia Lewis and Legacy Lewis assist children eagerly packaging
‘care kits’ to be distributed to CAMBA’s homeless
adults. Photo by Tangerine Clarke
“My daughters Sylvia and
Legacy accompanied me here
today to be a part of the day of
service. I appreciate Repair the
World, I feel they are a great
addition to our community, and
I thank Caribbean Life for the
great work it is doing. We appreciate
you,” said the board member,
whose office is located at
808 Nostrand Ave., in Brooklyn.
“As we honor the unending
work of Dr. Martin Luther
King, Jr. we act now in solidarity
with directly impacted communities
to address immediate
needs created by institutionalized
racism and other intersecting
injustices,” said the
Repair the World website.
To learn more, go to www.
werepair.org.
Repair the World honors MLK
Day by packaging care kits
/www.werepair.org
/www.werepair.org
/werepair.org