(Francisco Kjolseth | The Salt Lake Tribune) Director of the Salt Lake City Department of Public Utilities Laura Briefer, left, and Salt Lake City Mayor Erin Mendenhall work the line assembling food boxes as they volunteer at the Utah Food Bank for the Martin Luther King Jr. Day of Service on Monday, Jan. 20, 2020.
(Francisco Kjolseth | The Salt Lake Tribune) Owen Rogers, 10, helps unload the bottom of a large box of donated food to help celebrate the 2020 Martin Luther King Jr. Day of Service by volunteering at Utah Food Bank on Monday, Jan. 20, 2020.
(Francisco Kjolseth | The Salt Lake Tribune) Police Chief Mike Brown and Director of the Salt Lake City Department of Public Utilities Laura Briefer help work the line assembling boxes of food as they join other officials and YouthCity Government students by volunteering at the Utah Food Bank to celebrate the 2020 Martin Luther King Jr. Day of Service on Monday, Jan. 20, 2020.
(Francisco Kjolseth | The Salt Lake Tribune) Aisyah Jammeh, left, and Halima Hassan, both members of YouthCity Government volunteer filling bags with pasta at the Utah Food Bank on Monday, Jan. 20, 2020, to celebrate the 2020 Martin Luther King Jr. Day of Service.
(Francisco Kjolseth | The Salt Lake Tribune) Mila LaMalfa, 4, does her part as she helps push a box being filled with food while volunteering at the Utah Food Bank to celebrate the 2020 Martin Luther King Jr. Day of Service on Monday, Jan. 20, 2020.
(Francisco Kjolseth | The Salt Lake Tribune) Members of YouthCity Government that involves teens in state-organized, model-government programs, volunteer their time assembling pallets of food at the Utah Food Bank on Monday, Jan. 20, 2020, to celebrate the 2020 Martin Luther King Jr. Day of Service.
(Francisco Kjolseth | The Salt Lake Tribune) Siblings Alex Briefer, 12, center left, and his sister Amelia, 14, help assemble the proper proportions of food into a box while volunteering at the Utah Food Bank on Monday, Jan. 20, 2020, to celebrate the 2020 Martin Luther King Jr. Day of Service.
(Francisco Kjolseth | The Salt Lake Tribune) Fardosa Ali, 14, a member of YouthCity Government volunteers sorting food at the Utah Food Bank on Monday, Jan. 20, 2020, to celebrate the 2020 Martin Luther King Jr. Day of Service.
(Francisco Kjolseth | The Salt Lake Tribune) Police Chief Mike Brown closes up a box as Salt Lake City Mayor Erin Mendenhall works the line with daughter Mila LaMalfa, 4, in tow as they volunteer at the Utah Food Bank for the Martin Luther King Jr. Day of Service on Monday, Jan. 20, 2020.
(Francisco Kjolseth | The Salt Lake Tribune) Members of YouthCity Government that involves teens in state-organized, model-government programs, volunteer their time assembling pallets of food at the Utah Food Bank on Monday, Jan. 20, 2020, to celebrate the 2020 Martin Luther King Jr. Day of Service.
(Francisco Kjolseth | The Salt Lake Tribune) Sophia Cannella, 8, helps reach the bottom of the box as she passes food to members of YouthCity Government that involves teens in state-organized, model-government programs, as they volunteer at the Utah Food Bank on Monday, Jan. 20, 2020, to celebrate the 2020 Martin Luther King Jr. Day of Service.
(Francisco Kjolseth | The Salt Lake Tribune) Salt Lake City Mayor Erin Mendenhall and the YouthCity Government celebrate the 2020 Martin Luther King Jr. Day of Service by volunteering at Utah Food Bank on Monday, Jan. 20, 2020.
(Francisco Kjolseth | The Salt Lake Tribune) Ahmed Babakir, 13, a member of YouthCity Government volunteers unloading donated food at the Utah Food Bank on Monday, Jan. 20, 2020, to celebrate the 2020 Martin Luther King Jr. Day of Service.
(Francisco Kjolseth | The Salt Lake Tribune) Salt Lake City Mayor Erin Mendenhall works the line with daughter Mila LaMalfa, 4, in tow as they volunteer at the Utah Food Bank for the Martin Luther King Jr. Day of Service on Monday, Jan. 20, 2020.
Salt Lake City Mayor Erin Mendenhall and the YouthCity Government celebrated the 2020 Martin Luther King Jr. Day of Service by volunteering at Utah Food Bank. This was the 18th year the city and the Utah Food Bank partnered in observance of the holiday that honors the legacy of Martin Luther King Jr.
Mendenhall and more than 75 volunteers, including city government employees, parents and their children, spent the morning sorting donations, building boxes for delivery to homebound seniors, and arranging bulk items. YouthCity is a local program that provides youth between the ages of 9 and 18 opportunities to develop skills and confidence while serving their communities.
Twelve percent — or 374,000 people — in Utah are struggling with issues of hunger. Quoting MLK, Mendenhall said, in part, “everybody can be great because anybody can serve,” as she joined numerous others before being dispatched into teams to help the hungry.