250 Volunteers Beautify Milwaukee School in -10° Cold

When the temperature hit negative 10 degrees in Milwaukee, 250 people showed up anyway to paint, build, and create beauty for kids they've never met.

City Year and Milwaukee Public Schools organized their annual MLK Day of Service at Humboldt Park School, a kindergarten through 8th grade building. Volunteers painted 28 murals throughout the hallways, created colorful tile mosaics, built benches for students, and made 30 blankets for homeless youth.

"Two hundred and fifty volunteers on a negative 10-degree day coming in to do work, on behalf of kids," said Stephanie Maney-Hartlaub, City Year's executive director. "That is Doctor King's dream lived out."

The crowd included MPS students, parents, teachers, and community members who picked up paintbrushes and hammers to serve others. Adelaide Rosolino, a 4th grader from Lincoln Elementary, helped build a locker and beamed about the reaction kids would have when they returned to school the next day.

250 Volunteers Beautify Milwaukee School in -10° Cold

MPS Superintendent Brenda Cassellius joined the effort, too. She said it's important that students today see how King's legacy of service continues seven decades later.

The Ripple Effect

The overwhelming response created a wonderful problem. For the second year in a row, City Year had to turn away volunteers because they ran out of projects for people to work on.

Maney-Hartlaub said they're already planning to expand next year, possibly transforming two schools instead of one on MLK Day. The demand shows that people are hungry for opportunities to serve their community alongside neighbors they might never otherwise meet.

Each January, City Year picks a different MPS school to receive this community love. The tradition brings together people across all backgrounds to make Milwaukee better, one mural and one handmade blanket at a time.

The kids at Humboldt Park School will walk through those newly painted hallways long after the volunteers went home, reminded daily that hundreds of strangers cared enough to brave the bitter cold for them.