While Sunday’s snow changed plans for the Eastside 3rd District MLK Day Cleanup in Wilmington, it didn’t completely cancel the community day of giving.
The cleanup hosted by 3rd District Councilwoman Zanthia Oliver was postponed because of safety reasons of not wanting the young people involved to deal with icy areas and get hurt.
Instead it was a day to educate the youth about Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and his impact on society, and the impact of community service not just on MLK Day but every day.
Oliver says she hosted over 2 dozen youth from the area.
"And this is about giving back to the community because he gave back to the community, and that's what it was about. But also we have Teen Warehouse here along with the church, Ken Livingston's church and also some youth from the YMCA. So we have about 25, that's going to be like 30 youth today, and just for them to know about giving back to your community."
The Day of Service was held at the Walnut Street YMCA involving youth from there, the Teen Warehouse and Through the Word Youth Group.
Oliver notes in addition to relating stories about Dr. King, she wanted to explain to the young people his relevance today and the importance of registering to vote to be part of the process as they near voting age.
Oliver says she really emphasized registering to vote - how to do it as well as the importance of it.
"And we just want them to know it's okay to have a debate, it's okay to be on the opposite side, but after the debate is over, don't be angry. Don't be mad trying to fight, and one of the things we're talking about today is keeping the temperature down. You can agree to disagree."
Oliver notes the other message she delivered is you don’t have to resort to violence if you don’t get your way.
She hopes to reschedule a community cleanup in the next couple of weeks, weather permitting of course.
