Martin Luther King, Jr. Morning of Service
​January 19, 2026

In honor of the legacy of the late Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., Trinity Swarthmore hosted its 12th annual Morning of Service in support of Caring for Friends and other local food pantries.  Volunteers gathered in the Parish Hall at 10am to prepare breakfast bags, make individually signed notes, and prepare hot meals, which we froze so that they can be reheated as needed.    The larger community was  also asked to prepare breakfast bags at home and drop them off during the event drop-off hours.   This family-friendly inter-generational annual morning of service event was a big success thanks to the generous support of the community, to include Springfield Cub Scout Pack 240 and the Quaker Retirement Group.  This year we collected a record 1,964 breakfast bags for Caring for Friends, 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 appreciate our surrounding community members who volunteered with us.  Thank you supporting our 12th annual inter-generational community event, we are grateful to be in community with you! 

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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 19th 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 12th Annual
​MLK Morning of Service!