(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.
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.
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