Martin Luther King Jr. is best remembered for his work as a minister of social justice and non-violent civil protest. But another important part of his dream was to create a society in which all people worked together toward the common good.

“Life’s most persistent question,” he asked, “is ‘what are you doing for others?’”

On Monday, Temple faculty, staff, students and alumni honored that legacy by taking a leading role in service events on and near Temple campuses and throughout Greater Philadelphia.

The university was a sponsor and leading participant in the city-wide celebration of MLK Day at nearby Girard College. Following opening remarks by Vice President Joe Biden, Temple students, staff and alumni joined 8,500 volunteers from the Greater Philadelphia area to work on service projects and collect food, clothes, blankets and toys that will be distributed by community organizations to those in need.

A few blocks from Temple’s Main Campus, Temple's Community Learning Network and Project EDU organized projects at Joseph C. Ferguson Elementary School. Students painted and cleaned nearly every corner of the building, while others seeded vegetable plants that school children will grow outside in spring.

These activities were in addition to an array of service activities organized and led by Temple’s Office of Community Relations in North Central Philadelphia. Temple volunteers worked on projects at Treehouse Books, Berean Presbyterian Church, the YMCA at Broad and Master Streets, Norris Homes Community Center and Mt. Zion Methodist Church. In addition, a team from Campus Safety and Pi Lambda Phi Fraternity undertook clean up projects at St. Malachy’s Church, and representatives from Campus Safety and Student Affairs took on a cleanup project at nearby Woodstock Family Center.

Martin Luther King Jr. Day was created in 1986 and is held on the third Monday in January. In 1994, the King Holiday and Service Act, co-authored by former Pennsylvania U.S. Senator Harris Wofford, established the holiday as day for people to give back to their communities and volunteer their time to help the less fortunate. For more than a decade, the Greater Philadelphia area has hosted the nation’s largest MLK service event.

View photos and read more about these and other Temple MLK service events in the Jan. 27 edition of the Temple Times.