2019 Crouse Health MLK Day of Service

Darkness cannot drive out darkness;
only light can do that.
Hate cannot drive out hate;
only love can do that.
— Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

Each year, the third Monday in January is observed as a “day on, not a day off.” Known as the MLK Day of Service, this annual event is intended to empower individuals, strengthen communities, bridge barriers, create solutions to social problems, and move us closer to Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.’s vision of a “Beloved Community.”

This year, the Crouse Health family is honored to work with Al-amin Muhammad, founder of Syracuse-based We Rise Above the Streets, which provides free meals to homeless men and women every Saturday.

During the month of January, we’ve been collecting non-perishable food items and other supplies to donate to the organization. Items needed are granola bars; individual bags of chips and other snack foods; brown lunch bags; sandwich bags; socks and deodorant for men and women; and women’s hygiene products.

Donations may still be brought to the following locations: Crouse Hospital’s main lobby; Crouse Chemical Dependency Treatment Service at 410 S. Crouse Ave.; and Commonwealth Place at 6010 E. Molloy Rd. Employees can also deliver donations to the shuttle drop-off area in the rear of the hospital.

“I was in a gang and homeless for some time and my life was filled with criminal activity, violence and even prison time,” said Al-amin. “When I decided to walk away from that lifestyle, I found myself facing many hardships. One of the most challenging was homelessness. I spent many nights sleeping under bridges, eating from garbage dumps and looking for help from any reliable source I could find.”

He will visit the hospital on Monday, Jan. 21, at noon, to collect the donations for those served each week.

Legislation signed in 1983 marked the birthday of the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. as a federal holiday. In 1994, Congress designated the Martin Luther King Jr. federal holiday as a national day of service and charged the Corporation for National and Community Service with leading this effort.

For more information — or to volunteer for the organization on any Saturday —
visit the We Rise Above the Streets website.  

Crouse’s 2019 MLK Day of Service was coordinated by the members of our Diversity & Inclusion Committee
John Bergemann; Chelsea Castor; Veronica Clanton; Rev. Katherine Day; Dr. Allison Duggan; Walter Eiland; Twiggy Eure (D&I Committee Chair); Janelle Harris; Carrie Kangah; Laurie Leonard; Manuel McCoy; Kathleen Miller-Murphy; Tawyna Montgomery; Desiree Odom; Karen Sigona; Susan Stout; Tonya Swift-Freeman; Thomas Tarbox; Nykea Williams; Jeffery Youngs; and Terry Zahler.