GPC Trung Quach helps with tasks at the United Methodist Children’s Home in Decatur during the annual MLK Day of Service. (Photo by Leita Cowart)

Georgia Perimeter College regularly invites its faculty, staff and students to “Stand Up and Serve” in ways that improve communities.

During the past eight months, GPC has held three service days, and a fourth—Global Youth Service Day—is planned for April 26.

The college’s Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Day of Service in January drew more than 300 volunteers, who took action across metro Atlanta to give back to the community.

From preparing hot meals for shut-ins to pulling invasive plants at a state park, GPC students, faculty and staff took time to give back to the community on the MLK holiday in January.

Wearing bright red T-shirts, with the theme of “Stand Up and Serve,” the hundreds of participants met at sites across metro Atlanta to volunteer. The college partnered with Harland Clarke and Stone Mountain Park for the event. 

New venues of service this year included the Special Equestrians in Alpharetta, where students helped groom horses and clean stalls. At the Decatur United Methodist Children’s Home, another new service venue, a group of students cleaned closets and moved and organized sports equipment. And at Senior Connections in Chamblee, another new volunteer site, students helped prepare hot meals, sorted packaged foods and painted walls.

“I had some free time and wanted to spend the day on something meaningful,” said Trung Quach, who came to the United Methodist Children’s Home in Decatur to help clear out a utility shed and paint. The Clarkston biology major said he has wanted to volunteer more but often has been stymied because he doesn’t have his own transportation. Then a friend showed him how easy public transportation was, so he decided to try it. On Monday, he took a public bus to the volunteer site.  “I used to be shy about this, but now I’m not,” he said.

In Chamblee, the Senior Connections building was bustling with activity as GPC students sorted food boxes, helped prepare to-go meals for clients and painted walls. Breeahna Gresham, a Dual Enrollment student on the Decatur Campus, had come with her high school friend, Breanna Brown. The two students sorted food boxes for distribution at the facility.  In another area of the building, GPC students Shauna Cooper and Kimberley Allonce painted the walls of a bathroom hall. “I really felt the need to volunteer on MLK Day, and they had a lot of things to do, so I signed up,” Cooper said. 

Miguel Whyte, a pre-med student from Dunwoody, was one in a line of students who packed up hot meals to go for clients served by Senior Connections.  “My conscience told me to do this,” Whyte said. “I didn’t want to sit at home.” 

Since 2009, Georgia Perimeter College has organized a service day in honor of King, drawing volunteers from across the college and the community.

Find out about future opportunities to Stand Up and Serve!

View a 2013 “Stand Up and Serve!” video.