PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. once said, “Everybody can be great because everybody can serve.”
A Cherry Hill woman has taken that message to heart, launching her own King holiday food drive that has collected hundreds of pounds of food for people in need.
As the temperatures dropped and snow flurries fell Monday afternoon, Kerry Murphy placed donations of applesauce, fruit cocktail, and paper towels for the local food pantry into the back of her minivan.
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It’s the second year she’s spearheaded a King Day collection at her home on Jade Lane.
“Last year I was just looking for something to do on Martin Luther King Day to honor him,” Murphy told KYW Newsradio.
"Last minute, I kind of put together a food drive for the neighborhood on Facebook and it went really well, so I tried it again this year.”
“We try to be of service to the community,” Murphy added. “I’m a social worker so it’s part of my profession. But also today just to honor Dr. King and do something to kind of bring the community together and the neighborhood together.”
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On this Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Day, Murphy was hoping her collections would surpass last year’s 537 pounds of food for the Cherry Hill Food Pantry.
She was also accepting children’s clothing for the “Little Hands, Little Feet” charity run by St. Andrews United Methodist Church.
Murphy said her food drive also helped to build a sense of community.
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“I got to meet neighbors that we hadn’t met before,” she said.
“Sometimes we’re all running in a million directions. It’s nice to kind of come together and feel like we did something together.”
“My son was like, ‘Why are you doing this?’ and I said, ‘You know, it feels good to do good. Like, when you do something for others you do get something out of it. It just warms your heart and you do feel good about it.”
