Chestnut Hill College - "SSJ-Sponsored Works Team Up for MLK Day of Service"
Students from Chestnut Hill College, Mount Saint Joseph Academy, and Norwood Fontbonne Academy, came together for a special MLK Day of Service.
Photo credit: Marilee Gallagher - Chestnut Hill College Alum '14
On Friday, January 12, students, staff, and faculty from three sponsored educational ministries of the Sisters of Saint Joseph (SSJ) – Chestnut Hill College (CHC), Mount Saint Joseph Academy (MSJA), and Norwood-Fontbonne Academy (NFA) – participated in a service day to honor the legacy of Martin Luther King, Jr. The day started with a prayer service to ground all participants in the SSJ spirituality as well as King’s enduring legacy to fight injustice. The presidents of all three institutions attended the prayer service, along with students, faculty, and staff.
“It was a pleasure to be part of this special day for the Sponsored Ministries of the Sisters of Saint Joseph,” says Charlene Diorka, SSJ, president of MSJA. “Much like the mission of the Sisters of Saint Joseph to bring all into unity with God, with one another, and with all creation, Dr. King believed in the power of coming together to create profound change and justice. At the Mount, we foster the belief that our students can live lives as agents of transformation, and we saw that in action today as they served the dear neighbor and deepened the bonds between our institutions in the name of caring for our dear neighbors in need.”
Following the prayer service, the volunteers participated in shifts, coming together to pack 13,824 meals for Kids Against Hunger, a “non-profit humanitarian organization with a mission to provide fully nutritious food to impoverished children and families around the world...and around the corner.”