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Teens Join Mayor Biskupski In Service On MLK Day

Nicole Nixon / KUER

People all over Utah celebrated Martin Luther King Jr. Day with volunteer work. On Monday, Salt Lake City Mayor Jackie Biskupski teamed up with teenage volunteers at the Utah Food Bank.

“Last year we filled over 800 boxes of food for seniors in our city,” Biskupski told the crowd of volunteers before kicking off the project. “I’m excited to see what we can accomplish this year together.”

It’s the 16th year the city has partnered with the Food Bank for a day of service.

State Representative Angela Romero manages community programs for the city and started the first MLK service day in 2002, under then-mayor Rocky Anderson.

Volunteering for community organizations and nonprofits like the Food Bank is a fitting way to remember the civil rights activist, said Romero.

“Martin Luther King wasn’t just about race and ethnicity,” she said.  “He was about all people. He was about [fighting] hunger, he was about housing, he was about making sure everybody had a place at the table.”

Utah was the last state in the nation formally commemorate the civil rights icon with a state holiday, when it adopted Martin Luther King Jr. Day in 2000.  

Service projects and rallies honoring the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. also took place at the University of Utah and Westminster College. 

Nicole Nixon holds a Communication degree from the University of Utah. She has worked on and off in the KUER Newsroom since 2013, when she first joined KUER as an intern. Nicole is a Utah native. Besides public radio, she is also passionate about beautiful landscapes and breakfast burritos.
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