GIRARD - With no classes scheduled on Monday, Jocelyn Palmer could have slept in like some of her fellow classmates.
Instead, the 17-year-old junior at Niles McKinley High School decided that the observance of Martin Luther King Jr. National Day of Service meant it was time to get up and get going.
''We saw a presentation at one of our meetings for Youth Leadership Mahoning Valley and it looks like a good cause,'' said Palmer, who recruited her brother Jordan Palmer, 14, and boyfriend Santino Bianco, 18, to take part in a special school supply drive staged on Monday by HandsOn Volunteer Network.
Article Photos
Eli Lopuchousky, 9, of Poland, gets a close-up view of white glue that was donated and collected by HandsOn Volunteer Network for students needing school supplies.
HandsOn got involved for the second year in a row since the Martin Luther King Jr. Day of Service developed out of one of Dr. King's notable quotes: ''Life's most persistent and urgent question is: What are you doing for others?''
The teens volunteered their time at the Girard Multi-Generational Center, where donated school supplies in the form of crayons, pencils, markers, glue, notebooks, paper and other materials were collected and prepared for re-distribution to schools in Trumbull and Mahoning counties.
As the students sorted the supplies, representatives like Heather Sahli, assistant general manager of marketing for the Mahoning Valley Scrappers, brought in more donations from the ballpark.
''We're hoping to get an earlier start next year,'' said Sahli, pointing out that the team offered a special deal on its Facebook page to secure vouchers for free game tickets for school supply donations.
Employees from SenSource in Ausintown and the Walmart on Belmont Avenue donated even more supplies.
''It kept everybody busy around here,'' said Kristen Gallagher, a coordinator for HandsOn Volunteer Network of the Valley.
Gallagher, of Girard, brought her son Jacob, 11, to help out on Monday.
The HandsOn organization also participates in other days of service, including Make a Difference Day, when the group teams up with the Warren Fire Department to install smoke alarms in homes in need of the safety device.
The MLK Day of Service is a part of United We Serve, President Barack Obama's national call to service. It calls for Americans to work together to provide solutions the nation's problems, according to its website.