UCI takes a day on

Under the yellow glint of warehouse lights, they worked like a well-oiled machine.

The noises from stretching packing tape, crates stacking and beeping forklifts drowned out volunteers’ chatter. As the saying goes, action speaks louder than words.

UCI students and hundreds of other volunteers around Orange County sent a resounding message Monday: The Martin Luther King Jr. holiday established by Congress as a Day of Service in 1994 would be just that — a day on, not a day off.

“I felt like I should be doing something productive. Some people take it for granted that it’s a day off, but some people can’t afford to do that or still need help,” said UCI sophomore Carlos Lopez. “I don’t know, I feel this is more important than my own personal reasons. Giving back to the community.”

In the Community Action Partnership food warehouse in Garden Grove, UCI students and staff joined the community, and packaged and shipped out thousands of cans of grape juice, sweet peas, sliced peaches and more to needy seniors, women and children.

Last year, there were 555 volunteers who shipped more than 10,000 boxes of food from the Garden Grove location alone, according to Orange County Food Bank officials.

“I feel definitely this is what [the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.] would have wanted,” said UCI music major Rebecca Mesch.

“If you can’t do service on MLK day, then when can you do it?”

UCI students worked throughout the county.

At the Incredible Edible Field in Irvine, about 20 students helped glean 2,000 pounds of broccoli and cauliflower for the needy.

Math and economics sophomore Elvin Ngo chose manual labor over sleeping in Monday. He was supposed to be ripping up cardboard for disposal at the Garden Grove location, but opted for handing off crates of grape juice instead.

“I wake up at 8 a.m. for class anyway, so I thought ‘I might as well do something,’” he said. “The holiday is to pay homage. To not do something is to treat the holiday as a free day.”

JOSEPH SERNA may be reached at (714) 966-4619 or at [email protected].