The Martin Luther King Jr. holiday is an official day of service and celebrates the civil rights leader’s life and legacy. Observed each year on the third Monday in January, MLK Day is the only federal holiday designated as a National Day of Service to encourage all Americans to volunteer to improve their communities. AmeriCorps has been charged with leading this effort for the past quarter century.

To celebrate the National Day of Service this year, our NESS SEA AmeriCorps team volunteered on Saturday, January 15th with Whalers Helping Whalers; a food pantry in New London, to prepare and distribute meals to those in need.

Whalers Helping Whalers was created by Chef Tomm Johnson early in the COVID-19 pandemic to help feed the masses. Their mission is to help those in need in New London by providing a variety of food for families in need to choose from, rather than a prepackaged box which may not contain the food needed or desired. Every family that visits can choose from a variety of meat, pasta, spices, canned items, cereal, produce, and more. Along with these take-home options, hot, prepared meals are also available to the families.

While our NESS SEA AmeriCorps members volunteered, they organized the food shelves and helped families choose their food items. Items were taken from storage and organized according to use; drinks, meat, produce, canned items, cereal, and bread. Each member was assigned to a station, handing out food items and bringing the full boxes to patrons’ cars.

Whalers Helping Whalers typically serves an average of 75 families every Saturday and a varying number on Thursdays. While our NESS SEA AmeriCorps members were volunteering, we helped serve closer to 100 families.

“It was an extremely rewarding experience knowing that we were helping so many people in need who were all so grateful for the food provided,” said Emily Gray “Sharky”, NESS SEA AmeriCorps Member. “Not only were the patrons grateful for our help, but the team members from Whalers Helping Whalers were very appreciative as well. We’re looking forward to volunteering with Whalers Helping Whalers and the City of New London again in the future!”

To learn more about AmeriCorps and the National Day of Service, visit americorps.gov/newsroom/events/mlk-day/.

The Whalers Helping Whalers food pantry is open Saturdays from 11am to 1pm at the New London Elks Lodge. To learn more about the organization, visit whalershelpingwhalers.org/.