School was out Monday at Sierra Vista Junior High School for Martin Luther King Jr. Day, but there were plenty of lessons available next door at the Santa Clarita Valley Boys & Girls Club.
The winners of an essay contest for local high school students shared about the importance of nonviolent solutions, a prompt meant to honor the holiday’s namesake at the Day of Service. The event in Canyon Country, which had many participants stop by after the city’s Unity Walk that had just finished, was a chance to get together, help out those in need and enjoy the benefits of community with several local groups.
The community event was organized by Assemblywoman Pilar Schiavo, D-Chatsworth, in partnership with the SCV chapter of the NAACP, the SCV Food Pantry and the Santa Clarita/Antelope Valley chapter of Jack and Jill of America.
Kennedi Woods, a West Ranch sophomore, was one of the winners of a William S. Hart Union High School District essay contest, who was recognized at the event after she read her winning entry. The prompt asked students, “How can nonviolent action strengthen communities and heal a divided nation?”
Woods said she enjoyed the opportunity to learn about leaders like Mahatma Gandhi and King, who both advocated for nonviolent means of change.
“‘Dr. King understood that violence can only grant short-term victory,’” she read to the audience from her essay. “‘It would eventually lead to a repeat cycle of hate that will set back progress, while nonviolence is able to lead us into a society with permanent change.’”
The SCV Food Pantry was at the event to collect food donations that would be used to make food baskets for its clients, said pantry board President Andrew Taban, who stood next to a table full of donated food.
“Any of our clientele that we distribute to is able to just come up (to the pantry), anybody can who resides in the Santa Clarita Valley, and they get a whole box of food,” he said. “So, this just helps support a lot of that with our dried goods.”
There were also tables of children and adults sitting side-by-side and writing messages for members of the armed forces who are in service.
Schiavo said she appreciated the turnout of approximately 150 to 200 people, and the crowd seems to be growing every year, which was part of the idea behind the event in the first place. The service is important, and so is bringing people together at the community clubhouse, she said.
“This is an opportunity for our community to give back, to really build unity in our community, and I think through service — and through connecting with neighbors,” she said. “It’s a really important part of community building that we need to be doing as well.”
