Friendly banter and belly laughs filled the basement of the Caldwell Temple A.M.E. Zion Church in Morrisania as about 30 do-gooders of every age and race slathered mayonnaise on ham-and-cheese sandwiches and worked to clean up, paint and renovate the modest space.
“I come here to help out every week because I know what it feels like to be hungry,” said church member Dennis Kirby, 59, wielding a broom. “Dr. King wanted to see people come together for a good cause - and here we are. It feels like a blessing to me.”
The Caldwell Temple soup kitchen - open every Saturday and every other Wednesday - caters to one of the poorest neighborhoods in the country.
In his 1964 Nobel Lecture, King challenged the world to end hunger. But today more than one in five Bronx households has trouble putting food on the table, according to a recent survey.
“Martin Luther King stood for helping everybody,” said Crystelle Slappy, 14, a volunteer who trekked to the church from Queens Village, Queens. “Some people don’t have money to eat.”
King - who would have turned 83 on Sunday - with a day of service. At left, Christy Wong (left) of San Jose and Louise Johnson of San Francisco attend a celebration of the civil rights leader's life at the YerbaBuena Center for the Arts.
Around the nation: In South Carolina and Atlanta, voters' rights messages take center stage at holiday events. A5
Bay Area: Several hundred people commemorate 1965 civil rights marches with a trek through San Francisco. C1
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