As part of Longwood University’s week of activities honoring Martin Luther King Jr. (MLK), the MLK Service Challenge on Saturday drew 120 student participants who served others in a variety of ways at several sites in the area.

“I was really excited about the event,” said Jonathan Page, director of Citizen Leadership and Social Justice Education at Longwood. “We had a really large number of students who had registered to be a part of the MLK service day and was just really pleased with how it turned out. What really excites me the most is I’m working with a brand new team in our office of Citizen Leadership and Social Justice Education, and we decided to do some new things this year with our MLK Week.”

He estimated that the school has organized the MLK Service Challenge for well more than a decade.

“And we decided to tweak a few things as well with that just to continue to keep it fresh to try to get even more people involved, because in the past, it had been the entire day,” he said.

The event would begin around 9 a.m., and participants served until around 4 p.m.

“And it’s great, we used to get a lot done, but the downside is folks were really giving up an entire Saturday, which, for college students and even for a lot of our faculty and staff who participated, sometimes could be a little challenging, even though we were doing really good work,” Page said. “And so to really try to increase participation, we shifted it such that it was basically a (9 a.m.-1 p.m.) service experience. And a lot more students actually did sign up for that…”

“And so while we may eventually work back to another whole day, again, the key for us is sort of meeting students where they are,” Page said. “We kind of heard what some of their feedback was in past years, and we wanted to make it as positive an experience as possible. And so we were really, really pleased with the turnout.”

Though a recent snowfall prevented service at some planned sites and changed the nature of service at others, there were still several locations that benefited from good work put in by Longwood students.

Page noted that at the Lankford Student Union on Longwood’s campus, students and staff worked on creating bedding for the homeless.

At the Andy Taylor Center for Early Childhood Development, students were assembling scooters, tricycles and more.

Though the snow made it challenging, a conservation effort proceeded at High Bridge Trail State Park, where students picked up trash.

Hallie Robinson, park interpreter for High Bridge, said, “They filled up seven bags and dug out four tires, so they were very productive today.”

She added that they worked in a snowball fight as well.

The work at High Bridge may have actually been the start of a larger effort there.

Page said, “In talking with the park ranger who was there, we really have made plans to go back in the spring, potentially as part of Longwood’s Big Event that we do in April and also doing some other cleanup efforts at High Bridge associated with some of our other community engagement activities for the spring semester as well. So, definitely, this was the beginning of a true, burgeoning relationship between our office and High Bridge Trail.”

At the Farmville Area Habitat for Humanity ReStore on Saturday, students helped in different ways, like taking inventory, stocking items and cleaning up, Page said.

He noted that among other service sites, students helped in a variety of ways at the Southside Virginia Family YMCA and at the Wayland Nursing & Rehabilitation Center in Keysville.

Page said a key part of the students’ service at the Wayland Center was simply providing companionship to residents who may not get many or any visitors.

“I think that’s the really most worthwhile experience that our students have with that, because they really get a chance to take time and really talk to other people and hear their stories,” Page said.

He made a point to highlight Quincy Goodine, assistant director of Community Learning & Engagement at Longwood, for being the principal organizer of the MLK Service Challenge.