The Utah Food Bank celebrated the Martin Luther King Jr. Day of Service by organizing volunteers to fill food boxes for delivery.
The Utah Food Bank serves the entire state of Utah. Last year, it provided 37 million pounds of food to people in all of the state’s 29 counties. Chief Development Officer Ginette Bott says 86,000 hours of volunteer time were donated last year to help make that happen.
“On this day every year we come and join groups of volunteers because this is an important day,” Bott says. “It’s a day of service. It’s a tradition that Dr. King taught us and one that we are responsible to carry on.”
Salt Lake City Mayor Jackie Biskupski brought her fiancé Betty Iverson and their two sons Archie and Jack to work alongside teen volunteers from the Salt Lake City program Youth City.
“They are learning what it means to be a community advocate and take on some leadership roles,” Biskupski says. “I want to encourage that and make sure that this kind of mentality continues to grow in our city and amongst our youth.”
Biskupski’s schedule for the holiday includes attending the NAACP’s annual Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial Luncheon and the University of Utah’s Office for Equity and Diversity rally and march.