On January 10, Savannah Country Day School honored the Martin Luther King Jr. Day of Service with an all-school service initiative, partnering over 1,000 students and teachers with 30 local non-profit organizations. Following in-class discussions with non-profit representatives regarding the organization's mission, students spent the morning participating in a range of community service activities.

Martin Luther King Jr. Day is the only federal holiday designated as a National Day of Service to encourage all Americans to volunteer to improve their communities. 

Several student groups traveled off-campus for hands-on work with several organizations, including Union Mission, Repurpose, Over the Moon Diaper Bank, Habitat for Humanity, and Tybee Beach Clean. Local non-profit organizations working on-campus on January 10 included Step Up Savannah, CURE, Inspiritus, Renegade Paws Rescue, Elevate Savannah, Horizons Savannah, Safe Shelter, Loop It Up Savannah, Ronald McDonald House, Tharros Place, One Love Animal Rescue, Emmaus House Soup Kitchen, Savannah Supports Ukraine, Savannah Wildlife Rescue, Brightside Advocacy, One Hundred Miles, Caretta Research Project, Red Cross, and Second Harvest Food Bank.

Activities ranged from creating care packages for refugee families involved with Inspiritus to baking homemade dog treats for One Love Animal Rescue and planting seedlings for Savannah Tree Foundation. 

Eleventh grader Mary Margaret Carroll commented, “It was heartwarming to see every Country Day student come together to learn about issues in our Savannah community and then work on service projects for these local organizations. This day would not have been possible without the hard work of our Service Council for this “day on” of day service to honor Martin Luther King Jr.”

Karen Brown, Director of Cultural Competency and Inclusion, adds, “We all know that Dr. King's dream was that all people, no matter their background, would work side by side with each other to make the world a better place. Country Day’s MLK Day of Service proved that we can come together, collaborate with others, and give back to our community.”