SE students volunteer on MLK Day of Service
Dylan Candelora, Tay Pruitt and Jay Carr help remove trash from the J127 building on Jan. 21, 2019. Though volunteer activities may be different this year, their impact is not lessened.
January 28, 2019
On January 21, 2019, several student organizations gathered to be a part of the Martin Luther King Jr. Day of Service hosted by Student Life. MLK Day was first signed to be a national holiday by President Ronald Reagan in 1983. This day is set aside to celebrate the life of Martin Luther King Jr. and follow in his shadow of service to our country.
Southeastern student organizations used this day as one of service to help local Durant organizations and causes.
Southeastern students volunteered their day off from classes to help out Adrean Stinnett, owner and founder of J127 Ministry rennovations.
In 2018, Southeastern volunteered at Durant Main Street, St. Catherine’s food pantry, the Boys & Girls Club and Southeastern Physical plant. This year, they added two new organizations to help: J127 Ministry and the Southeastern Rodeo Facility.
J127 Ministry is a nonprofit organization founded by a Durant local, Adrean Stinnett. Stinnett , a Durant Local and is also a full-time youth minister at Community Christian Church. J127 Ministry’s goals and purpose is to act as a transition home find and help for those young women who that age out of the foster system. J127 Ministry provides shelter and food in an effort to get these women on their feet.
Freshman Emily Dahl lends a hand to J127 Ministry by removing stray nails from wood that is being reused for the remodeling projects to come.
In Oklahoma, if you have not found a home by the age of 18, you “age out” of the foster system. According to okfosters.org, Oklahoma has, “nearly 9,600 children in state custody.” In 2018 the state of Oklahoma needed at least 910 families according to okfosters.org. Due to this size of number many children will struggle to find a home.