The Merrimack College community spent the second Friday of the spring 2026 semester celebrating the legacy of Martin Luther King Jr. through the Augustinian value of service.
The Collegiate Church of Christ the Teacher transformed into a space for 110 students, faculty and staff to build 20 children’s beds in the College’s third annual Martin Luther King Jr. Day of Service. The event again benefitted A Bed for Every Child (ABEC), a Lynn-based non-profit that works with families in need living in Middlesex and Essex counties.
This year’s event, co-sponsored by the offices of Campus Ministry and Intercultural Initiatives, marked the event’s largest participation of community members since its launch in 2024.
“Everyone on the committee has their own different things that they bring…we all had a hand in making it special,” said Tess DeJesus ’28, one of the student committee members responsible for the event’s success. “It is nice to see a bunch of people come together.”
For Office of Intercultural Initiatives Director Greg Jain, and his graduate fellow Lauren Farrell ’27, witnessing the fruition of this event from planning to execution surpassed their expectations.
“It’s everything,” said Jain. “Merrimack is a community of everyone and that includes faculty, staff and students. That makes Merrimack so unique, being able to build those relationships.”
Farrell emphasized the importance of reflection, particularly at the start of the spring semester, as a graduate student.
”I think this is a really great time to pause and think through what the day actually means, and what [Dr. King’s] legacy is,” Farrell said. “And how we can bring that forward into what we are doing here on campus.”
Katherine LaFlamme, access services librarian at McQuade Library, was working with three other students to construct a bed frame.
“I’ve done MLK Day of Service every time since it started,” LaFlamme said. “I love all the Mack Gives Back events. What I like most is that we’re given the opportunity to volunteer for things during work time. I don’t think that a lot of other places have that opportunity.”
Chase Carney ’29, a member of the Merrimack football team, was excited to be participating in another campus-wide service event with his teammates.
“It feels like a race almost,” he said. “That made it even more exciting. And it’s cool because we’re doing this for a good cause too.”
