Martin Luther King, Jr. Morning of Service
​January 20, 2025
1/19 update:  despite the snow, our event is still ON, see you on MLK Day!

In honor of the legacy of the late Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., Trinity Swarthmore will host its 11th annual Morning of Service in support of Caring for Friends and other local food pantries. Caring for Friends is a non-profit organization which provides meals to 1,700 home-bound individuals, throughout the 5-county Philadelphia region, who have little to no means of support. We look forward to partnering with our surrounding community in assembling breakfast bags at home, each with a hand-made note card. The breakfast bags should be dropped off on Monday, January 20th at Trinity Church (301 N. Chester Rd., Swarthmore) between 11:30AM and 12:30PM.  There will be outdoor drop-off stations in the circle drive along College Ave. Trinity volunteers will deliver the breakfast bags to Caring for Friends to distribute to those they serve. We hope to match last year’s performance and collect 1,000 bags. This inter-generational morning of service event is family friendly.

How to make breakfast bags:

Step 1:  Gather breakfast bag items

Each breakfast bag contains one of each of the items below:

• Single serving cold cereal OR single serving instant oatmeal
• Apple sauce cup OR fruit cup (no grapefruit)
• Juice box (no grapefruit)
• Breakfast Bar
• Single serving hot cocoa OR tea bag
• ​One gallon-size Ziplock bag per breakfast bag​
• Please do not include perishable items in the breakfast bag

Step 2:  Make a hand-made note

• Use color paper, markers, colored pencils, water colors, stamps, crayons - anything to make a cheery note
• Think about the person that will be receiving your hand-made note, maybe say a prayer for that person, too
• Everyone in the family can participate, let your creativity soar!
• Don't forget to include an uplifting greeting on the inside​, perhaps start out your message with "Dear Friend"
• For your convenience, click here and here for a selection of pre-printed insert messages to cut out and paste onto your homemade card

Step 3:  Put the food and note in a ziplock bag

• To assemble the breakfast bag, please place one of each breakfast bag item listed in Step 1 plus your hand-made note into a ziplock bag
• Don't forget to seal the bag, please! 
• ​Each filled  ziplock bag is considered one breakfast bag
• We aim to collect 1,000 breakfast bags, we really appreciate your making several breakfast bags!

Step 4: Drop off the assembled breakfast bags at Trinity on January 20th between 11:30am and 12:30pm

• Drop-Off Hours are 11:30am to 12:30pm, Trinity Circle Drive on College Avenue
• Contactless Drop-Off:  please have your breakfast bags in the trunk of your vehicle when you drop them off at Trinity
• Please remain in your vehicle, our volunteers will retrieve the breakfast bags from your car
• ​No early drop-offs please
• Inclement weather:  please check the website for update if drop-off plans need to change due to weather

Thank you for participating in our 11th Annual
​MLK Morning of Service!