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BOWLING GREEN -- In memory of Martin Luther King Jr., BGSU students, faculty, staff and alumni were challenged to spend the day in service to the community, on January 21, to give about 4,000 combined hours helping a number of Bowling Green and Toledo to volunteer at non-profit organizations and metro parks.

This is the fifth year BGSU has honored Martin Luther King Jr. with volunteer work and at around 500 participants this year, it was a record number of volunteers. They were split into 50 groups, and then transported around Bowling Green and Toledo.

Civic Action Leader Maddi Georgoff, in charge of marketing and outreach, commented about what the volunteer work represents.

Georgoff said, "It is a day on, instead of a day off, and we really want to make sure that the community is served through this day, instead of just sleeping in…we want to make sure that Bowling Green has a sense of the importance of volunteer work to really share Martin Luther King Jr.’s legacy."

For Tom Bigley, a junior at BGSU, this is his second year-in-a-row volunteering on Martin Luther King Jr. Day. This year, he helped make bags and blankets for the less fortunate. Bigley said, "It shows that even a simple thing, you can still give back to an entire community."

Bigley said that the year before he helped re-paint a food pantry. "But listening and to hear what the people did on a daily basis, it was just amazing, so once I heard it was this time of year again, I did not hesitate to sign up."

"We defiantly want this to continue through the future," Georgoff said. “It is the biggest service event at BGSU. We are really proud of the work that goes into it."

The event is coordinated by the Civic Action Leaders in the Office of Service-Learn