Honoring Dr. King's legacy in the Five Towns

Volunteers got in touch with their Jewish roots honoring the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. on Jan. 15, the late civil rights leader’s birthday.

The Marion & Aaron Gural JCC and the National Council for Jewish Woman- Peninsula Section collaborated on a service event, benefitting people living in Far Rockaway.

“I think it gives Jews an opportunity to reconnect to the special role that the Jewish community had in the early civil rights movement, by volunteering, it reconnects us to our roots,” Rabbi Marc Disick, a volunteer from Temple Israel of Lawrence said.

Martin Luther King Jr. Day has been celebrated since 1986. The Gural JCC has hosted the MLK Day of Service since 2017.

“Volunteers come in they learn a little bit about Martin Luther King Day, they get hyped up to volunteer and then they do a project,” Laurie Brofsky, the Gural JCC’s volunteer services manager said.

This year, volunteers were packing up care sacks including hats, scarves, gloves, snacks and hygiene products from 9 to 11:45 a.m. at the Gural JCC in Cedarhurst. In the afternoon, volunteers distributed the care packages to Far Rockaway shelters to benefit migrant communities.

The JCC and the Far Rockaway shelters were connected previously.

“They reached out to us because during Covid we had done significant work with the Spanish speaking population, so when Spanish speakers were coming into the community, they reached out to our food pantry for resources,” Stacey Feldman, The Gural JCC’s executive director said.

The JCC and NCJW were connected through Brofsky’s previous position as president of the Peninsula Section, where she served as co-president with to Bonnie Sperry, now NCJW Peninsula Section executive director.

“I know that they do a lot of stuff for social justice to help men and women and children and I felt that they were a really good partner for us,” Brofsky said.

Sperry was thrilled about the partnership, she said.

“This is something we’ve been really hoping for a while and on MLK day is even more special,” she said. “We are trying to help those that we can.”

Sperry said she was excited to be bringing the Peninsula Section’s Period Project to the care packages, providing women with feminine hygiene products.

The Period Project has already found its way into various schools and woman’s centers where they’ve provided over a thousand kits with necessary products.

The partnering organizations also provided resources to community members, informing them on healthy practices.

“I can’t think of anything better to do on Martin Luther King Day, than volunteer to help,” Disick said.