Martin Luther King Day Volunteers Give Time and Talents

Pennsylvania's Centre Daily News reports volunteers of all ages donated their time and talents this past Monday in honor of Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr.

Melissa Jalloh, a Penn State senior who was one of the volunteers at Centre Crest, the county’s nursing home is quoted in the piece by Anne Danahy as saying, "Every day should be Martin Luther King Day. Every day should be a day of service."

According to Anne, "Jalloh and other students, along with volunteers from the Centre County Retired Senior Volunteer Program — RSVP — were working with Centre Crest residents. That included stuffing teddy bears for the children’s wing at Mount Nittany Medical Center, cutting stamps off envelopes for the American Philatelic Society and giving Centre Crest residents manicures."

Gretchen Moody, director of education for the American Philatelic Society (APS), told the Round-Up that the Centre Crest's recreation director, Karen Soble, is a supporter of the American Philatelic Society and offers nursing home residents an ongoing stamp station where they can volunteer their time trimming stamps from envelopes that the APS supplies.

Gretchen said an additional 28 students donated more than five hours of "enthusiastic" service at the American Philatelic Center itself on Martin Luther King Day.

According to Gretchen, the students worked in the American Philatelic Research Library sorting stamp albums, trimmed stamps from envelopes for the Education Department, assembled Stamp Collecting Beginner Kits sold through the APS Marketplace, and prepared 250 children’s bags for giveaways at upcoming APS stamp shows.

"We tried to make stamp collectors of them," Gretchen said, "Several said their interest was piqued and will be back to visit the APC to learn more. Two students hope to host a beginning stamp collecting class once they learned that the APS Education Department will be happy to teach the class."

Shown above, Centre Crest residents Lyle Nearhood, left, and Virginia Miller, right, cut stamps from envelopes for the American Philatelic Society.

To read the entire Centre Daily News article, click here.

Click here for more on the APS student volunteers on the APS Facebook page