Volunteers boost the spirit of a Fort Worth neighborhood on Martin Luther King Jr. Day
Last year, Jamison Manning and members of his fraternity, Alpha Phi Alpha Inc., got involved with Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Day by helping with the parade in downtown Fort Worth.
Manning was back on Monday for another MLK Jr. Day.
“We’re here to serve the community,” Manning said Monday morning.
He wasn’t alone. More than 200 volunteers including TCU students and members of local service groups fanned out across Fort Worth’s Morningside community Monday as part of the Martin Luther King Jr. Food Bowl For Your Soul campaign organized by New Mount Rose Missionary Baptist Church.
The community is in Fort Worth’s 76104 ZIP code, which has the lowest life expectancy in Texas at 66.7 years, according to a UT Southwestern study. The study and a Star-Telegram investigation show clear evidence of the disparities in health care faced by people of color. About 38% of people who live in 76104 are Black (43% are Hispanic, representing a demographic shift in recent years). In Historic Southside, Morningside and Hillside, Black residents make up 54% of the population.
Teaming with community and faith leaders, the volunteers — armed with bags of fresh food that also included face masks and shields and hand sanitizers — targeted senior citizens in the Morningside neighborhood.
Groups of volunteers also completed household chores such as painting, gardening and cleaning up yards for the residents. The Day of Service was scheduled from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Monday.
“What the COVID pandemic did for us is it took us back more than you can imagine,” said Pastor Kyev P. Tatum Sr. of New Mount Rose Missionary Baptist Church. “This Day of Service is bringing a lot of joy, a lot of hope and a lot of encouragement to a very depressed community.”
Before the service day began, TCU Coach Gary Patterson and his wife, Kelsey, Timeka Gordon, director of Inclusiveness and Intercultural Services and the Community Scholars Program for TCU, Mitchell Ward with MW Logistics in Dallas and Chauncey Franks, life and character coach for the TCU Fellowship of Christian Athletes, were presented the 2021 MLK Stone of Hope Award at New Mount Rose Missionary Baptist Church.
The TCU Alphas (Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity) and the Office of Inclusiveness and Intercultural Services also participated in the Day of Service in the neighborhood.
“It’s all about being a community,” Gordon said on Monday. “Sometimes we lose sight of that, but today we’re coming together.”
Monday was a big boost for 85-year-old Lucille Williams, who got her back yard cleaned out by TCU students.
“I’m so grateful,” Williams said Monday afternoon. “They did a marvelous job.”
Williams has been at the same home for 61 years.
“My back yard looks so different,” she said. “When they finished my yard, I told them about my next-door neighbor and they went over there to help her.”
By the time the TCU students had finished her neighbor’s home, Williams had already recommended at least five other friends in the neighborhood.
“It’s a way to love our neighbors,” the pastor said, referring to volunteers serving a community. “We also get better when we serve someone else.”
This story was originally published January 18, 2021 at 1:46 PM with the headline "Volunteers boost the spirit of a Fort Worth neighborhood on Martin Luther King Jr. Day."
