OMAHA, Neb. (KMTV) — The Omaha community came together Monday to celebrate the life of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.
In honor of Dr. King's legacy, people around the country went out and volunteered during a day of service.
"We are a smaller non-profit organization and volunteers are vital to our organization here," said Ty Nared, Community Engagement Specialist with DoSpace in Omaha. "We wouldn't be able to do the things we do without the help of volunteers. What they're doing today is helping a lot of the non-profit organizations so continue to be awesome and selfless."
Students from the University of Nebraska-Omaha spent their DoSpace and cleaned laptops and iPads along with chairs on the main floor.
"There's always that good karma feeling you get when you give back to the community," said Will Heller, a sophomore computer science major at UNO. "By volunteering we spread that idea that we should helping out everyone no matter what their household income is, no matter what neighborhood they grew up in everybody should have the opportunity and get the help they need."
Across town at Food Bank of the Heartland, 110 volunteers packed up 35,000 meals in 8,800 backpacks for students in need to take home over the weekend.
"This means a lot to me in particular because I used to receive the backpacks the food bank gives out so when I hear we were coming here I got really excited," said Tiauna Lewis, a volunteer at the food bank with College Possible.
Lewis said volunteering on the holiday is a great way to honor the legacy of Dr. King.
"It's showing that not only do you acknowledge but you also respect the legacy that Dr. King left," Lewis said.
The non-profits 3 News Now talked to said after the holidays the amount of volunteers severely drops off. They said they're always in need of volunteers and to reach out if you want to help.
