By Mary-Anne Saxl, Community Outreach & Community HealthCorps Coordinator at Penobscot Community Health Care
The Penobscot Community Health Care (PCHC) Community HealthCorps joined the Bodwell Center for Service and Volunteerism at the University of Maine in creating memorial activities/events in commemoration of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
The University of Maine – Bodwell Center for Service and Volunteerism, the Office of Multicultural Programs, PCHC Community HealthCorps and UMaine Athletics hosted the 
annual Martin Luther King Jr. Day at the Old Town YMCA. Children, grades 3 to 5, participated in a variety of activities about diversity and the life and ideas of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Community HealthCorps and other volunteers led children through activities, which include a craft project, henna tattoo activity, interactive Native American storytelling led by UMaine professor John Bear Mitchell, group discussions and team building activities.
Later that week, the PCHC Community HealthCorps served lunch to over 100 members of the community at the Dorothy Day Soup Kitchen at the Salvation Army. We donned aprons and hair nets to make sure the food was carefully prepared and hair free.
In the 1980s, the Salvation Army started offering hot meals at their “Dorothy Day Soup Kitchen”. Noon time meals were served 6 days a week and a breakfast was served on Sundays. Food continues to be prepared and served by dedicated volunteers from various religious and service groups.
Today Dorothy Day Soup Kitchen feeds on average 100 hot meals each day Monday through Friday; and an average of 50 meals on Sunday mornings. Many times this is the only hot meal the patrons of the Soup Kitchen will have each day.
The PCHC Community HealthCorps will be serving lunch again on Wednesday, February 8th.
