Community service project slated in San Luis on MLK Day

SAN LUIS, Ariz. — A group of youths here plan to pick up litter along the side of a street on Jan. 21 in a community service project that will also pay tribute to the late civil rights leader, Martin Luther King Jr.

And they're looking for volunteers to help them.

About 20 youths enrolled in the YouthBuild program in San Luis and an as yet undetermined number of students from the PPEP-TEC charter high school in San Luis will clean up litter along Juan Sanchez Boulevard in San Luis on Martin Luther King Jr. Day.

“Our purpose is to remind people that all of us can contribute something to our community,” said Jesse Lopez, coordinator of the YouthBuild program in San Luis. “Doing small but significant things, we can help to better it.”

The San Luis YouthBuild program is one of more than 200 around the country that enable low-income young people to earn their high school diplomas or GED certificates as they learn construction skills by building affordable housing.

YouthBuild also stresses participating in community service projects, and participants in the San Luis program adopted Juan Sanchez Boulevard two years ago as a street they would clean up on a recurring basis.

Lopez said Martin Luther King Jr. Day is a fitting occasion for program participants to do the cleanup — and call for volunteers in the area to help them.

Anyone interested in taking part in the effort on the 21st can call Lopez at 920-3631.