Events honor King’s legacy

GARDEN GROVE — Sarah Bana had to fight a little temptation in order to leave her UC Irvine dorm room on Monday morning. As a member of the campus’ Circle K International club, she had committed to driving to the Orange County Food Bank to package goods for needy families — and she would be among dozens of UCI students devoting Martin Luther King Jr. Day to service.

It was a chilly morning, however, and Bana — who used to celebrate King Day by sleeping in — had to put in a little effort to rouse herself. Still, at 8:15 a.m., she was among the shivering crowd pooling into cars for the drive up north.

“An option could have been staying in bed,” said Bana, 18, an economics major. “My room is heated. But as my alarm went off, I thought, ‘Someone out there needs food more than I do.’ ”

Bana was among many UCI students who passed through the food bank in Garden Grove, packing cans into boxes on a makeshift assembly line. Members of the Cross Cultural Center, Volunteer Center and numerous other UCI groups followed throughout the day.

They were in good company, too, with Rep. Loretta Sanchez, members of AmeriCorps and news media filling the warehouse on a bleak stretch of road.

“It’s a good turnout for us,” said Darlene Esparza, the director of the Volunteer Center. “We have a diverse group of people to help celebrate Martin Luther King Day.”

UCI students honor King Week every year with a series of events. On Wednesday, the Cross Cultural Center plans to hold its annual march and rally on the campus’ Ring Road.

The week climaxes on Thursday with the 23rd annual Martin Luther King Jr. Symposium, with Harvard professor and political activist Charles Ogletree delivering the keynote address.

First, though, was the annual day of service, which the Cross Cultural Center’s website advertised as “a day on, not a day off.” Starting around 9 a.m., the volunteers folded cardboard boxes and packed them with beans, rice, canned vegetables and other food necessities. Sanchez, who often spends King Day at the food bank, said working for charity was the best way to honor the civil rights leader’s legacy.

“When we decided to make this a national holiday, we really wanted to make it a volunteering day,” she said. “This is how we do it here in Orange County.”