Building A Foundation

By Shruti Chakraborty

Martin Luther King Jr. left us a legacy, teaching us to be civil in times of darkness and violence, to never give up on our dreams and to choose to do the right thing even in times of adversity. Dr. King exemplified the effectiveness of a life lived out loud, one in which a person’s words and dreams are backed by considerable action. It was his courage that inspired volunteers of the Barbara Bush Literacy Foundation this Martin Luther King Day to take action and help the Blue Triangle Community Center to achieve their goal at providing children and youth a safe environment for learning.

More than 300 volunteers met early morning at the Blue Triangle Multicultural Association on Monday January 18, 2016 to reorganize and recreate their community center. Volunteers of the Barbara Bush Literacy Foundation actively participated and scraped, cleaned and painted the library, sorted and organized the books in order of age readiness and shelved them in the library so that children can reach out to them at any time. Old tattered books were put in boxes and trashed while space was given to new books donated by schools and the Barbara Bush Foundation.

It was an endearing vision to watch volunteers both young and old from different cultural backgrounds and races unite to make a difference and improve the quality of learning on the birth day of a great activist who died for his dream to help the oppressed live with dignity. However his dream still lives in our hearts as we continue to walk in his footsteps to bring equality.