MLK Day of Service: Ways to help others, learn about King's legacy in Northeast and Central Pa.

Those looking for ways to give back and learn more on MLK Day this year again have a range of options across Northeast and Central Pennsylvania.

Service projects in the region need volunteers to make blankets and collect clothes to support those who have fallen on hard times. Others are seeking food items.

The federal holiday, which is observed on the third Monday of January, commemorates the life of civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr., who was born on Jan. 15, 1929. Many groups mark the holiday as a "Day of Service," organizing charitable collections and related events.

Below are some local opportunities.

Hand-stitch blankets with the Wilkes-Barre NAACP and Friedman JCC 

The NAACP Luzerne County Branch #2306 and Friedman Jewish Community Center will host its third annual Blankets & Broth program.

Participants will make fringe blankets and donate canned goods at the JCC in Kingston on Monday morning, Jan. 19.

Friedman JCC President Jane Messinger says the community’s needs for food and housing assistance grow deeper with each passing year.

“Things are getting desperate … [people are struggling to] keep warm, to put food on the table,” Messinger said.

Courtesy of the Friedman JCC

The blankets will be donated to the Salvation Army’s Kirby Family House in Wilkes-Barre, Project Warm with the Wilkes-Barre Department of Veterans Affairs and Ruth’s Place, the county’s only 24/7 emergency shelter for women experiencing homelessness, according to the Pennsylvania Volunteers of America.

Canned food collected as part of the program will support Sara’s Table at the JCC, which feeds over 270 families twice a month.

Messinger said the community’s needs have doubled. In past years, if Sara’s Table received 150 families looking for food, that was a “big week” for the program.

Now, the pantry sometimes has to turn people away.

“[People are forced] to be making really difficult choices about what you can purchase because … you're so limited by the increased cost of food. I mean … it's really heartbreaking to see,” Messinger said.

David Yonki, an educator with the Wilkes-Barre Health Department, said programs like Blankets & Broth and the greater MLK Day of Service model help communities tackle food insecurity after the ‘giving holidays’ like Thanksgiving and Christmas pass.

“People tend to do a lot of stuff around Christmas time … but then in January people forget that people are still in need, you know. And, I think January is probably the toughest month for people to get through [because of the weather,]” Yonki said.

Monday’s weather is expected to be in the 20s in the Wyoming Valley.

Participants can enjoy coffee and live music from Don Shappelle and The Pick-Ups, who will return to Blankets & Broth for a second year. The "Don Duo" of Shappelle and Don Sennett will play some of the “greatest hits of the 1960s and Martin Luther King-era,” Yonki said.

Donate baby and children’s clothes to Dunmore’s Saint Joseph’s Center

The Baby and Children’s Pantry at the Saint Joseph’s Center in Lackawanna County is asking for new or gently used clothes for newborns through 12-year-olds as part of its Winter Children’s Clothing Drive.

Saint Joseph’s CEO and President Sister Maryalice Jacquinot said January is often the hardest time for families to purchase new clothes for their children because of the holiday splurge.

“Thanksgiving and Christmas are expensive seasons for families and then the winter kind of drags on for a little while … You could even have children who start winter one size and outgrow the clothing, so they may find themselves needing two winter coats,” Jacquinot said.

Jacquinot said children also need to be bundled up during the winter, whereas they may be able to get away with a light jacket at other times of the year.

“We don't want to see any children outside without having the proper clothes to wear so that they [will] be warm and safe,” Jacquinot said.

Courtesy of Saint Joseph's Center

Jacquinot suggested that the need for warm clothing throughout Northeast Pennsylvania is growing. Saint Joseph’s has about 45 volunteers who organize the pantry each week and serves Lackawanna, Luzerne and Wayne counties, but that more families from farther away are seeking the center’s services.

“We’re seeing the high cost of clothing and the high cost of food. So there's a lot of decision making that goes on … at home. So, if you have a family that has limited income, they need to decide how to spend it … The priorities certainly will be rent, utilities and food, and then maybe what's left could be used to save for clothing or boots or something like that,” she said.

She said the center hosts its winter clothing drive on MLK Day in part because children will be at home for a long weekend, which can make it easier for families to get organized and pull out clothes from closets that do not fit their kids anymore.

The community’s generosity warms her heart. Many families use their Christmas gift cards to buy something for themselves, and something for others.

“I really have to say, I'm grateful every day to live in such a generous community like Northeastern Pennsylvania,” Jacquinot said.

While the center does not need volunteers for Monday’s drive, Jacquinot said that anyone who wants to help out can offer to collect new and gently used clothes from their friends, neighbors and co-workers.

“A lot of people want to give, but may not have the ability to get to the pantry on Monday,” Jacquinot said. “So, we've had some people who said, ‘I had everyone in my neighborhood drop [clothes] off on my front porch. I put it in my car and brought it here.’”

Volunteers will be at the center on Monday to help people bring in their donations to the pantry.

Saint Joseph’s also needs diapers sizes five and six and pull-ups in sizes 2T-3T, 3T-4T and 4T-5T. Unopened food is also accepted.

Honor Martin Luther King Jr.’s legacy with the Greater Scranton MLK Commission

Besides donating your time to helping others, the Scranton Area Community Foundation is hosting its annual MLK Celebration and Awards Dinner this Sunday.

This year’s ceremony is centered around King’s 1967 book, “Where Do We Go from Here: Chaos or Community?” The foundation says it grapples with “progress, the future, community, and the commitment to defend and thrive in the face of chaos.”

Sunday’s keynote speakers include U. Melissa Anyiwo, an associate professor of history and director of Black Studies at the University of Scranton and Yerodin Lucas, an assistant professor in the School of Social Work at Marywood University.

For more information and to register for the awards ceremony and dinner, visit the Scranton Area Community Foundation’s website.

Bucknell University kicks off its MLK Week on Monday in Lewisburg

Bucknell University’s 2026 MLK Week theme is “The Time Is Always Right to Do Right,” which the university says underscores the urgency of King’s call for ethical action.

The motif comes from King’s 1965 Commencement Address at Oberlin College, titled “Remaining Awake Through a Great Revolution,” in which he argued “against passively waiting for justice and emphasized the immediate imperative to stand for what is right.”

The university will host events ranging from a workshop on the role of communal singing and music during the civil rights movement to a student-curated exhibit on the history of Black students at Bucknell.

Anthony Ray Hinton, a criminal justice activist and author will give the keynote address. According to Bucknell, Hinton spent nearly three decades on Alabama’s death row after being wrongfully convicted for the murder of two fast-food restaurant managers.

Visit Bucknell University’s MLK Week webpage for a complete list of events and locations.