Volunteer event at Molloy College honors Martin Luther King Jr.

Molloy College students, faculty and staff joined visitors from around Long Island on Jan. 21 to serve others in honor of Martin Luther King Jr.

In January 2018, Dr. Melissa Gebbia, chairwoman of Molloy’s psychology department approached Dr. Lisa Newland, chairwoman of the social work department about the lack of Martin Luther King Day service opportunities on Long Island.

The two professors started a committee, which grew to 20 people, and spent the year planning out a way for people of all ages to volunteer together. “It was envisioned as a day for families and the surrounding community members to join the Molloy community and serve with us,” Gebbia said.

About 200 people flocked for Molloy’s first Martin Luther King Jr. Day of Service, including 30 students from Hempstead Middle School, who received a CPR awareness workshop and packaged care kits for Molloy’s Midnight Run.

Molloy students traveled to various volunteer activities, including health screenings at Queen of the Most Holy Rosary and fun and games with the children of Bethany House in Roosevelt.

On Molloy’s campus, participants assembled pre-made squares into large blankets to be donated to Project ChemoCrochet, which helps cancer patients through their treatments; made play kits filled with crayons, puzzles and toys for children being treated at NYU Winthrop Hospital in Mineola; packaged flatware bundles for the Mary Brennan INN in Hempstead, the largest soup kitchen on Long Island, which serves daily lunch to more than 300 needy and homeless people; and created motivational wall art to be installed at Grand Avenue Elementary School in Uniondale.

“It was big, it had a lot of moving parts, and seeing it actually happen was just wonderful,” Gebbia said. “It was an amazing day.”