The Temple Law community came together today to celebrate Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.’s birthday with service opportunities both on and off campus.
On campus, approximately 60 students, staff, and faculty members attended a VITA training session led by Professor Alice Abreu. VITA, or Volunteer Income Tax Assistance, is an IRS program through which individuals can be trained to assist low income taxpayers in filing their income tax returns, helping the taxpayers to recover an often substantial refund and to avoid predatory and unlawful tax preparation services.
In addition, more than 25 members of the Temple Law community participated in a cleanup project at the John F. Street Community Center, part of the Philadelphia Housing Authority’s Richard Allen Homes development, that was organized by the Office of Public Interest Programs, Black Law Students Association (BLSA), and Student Public Interest Network (SPIN).
Day classes were cancelled at the law school in order to allow
community members to participate in service projects, and many
pursued individually chosen activities in addition to the school
sponsored events. Upon arriving at a service event hosted by
the Barristers Association of Philadelphia, Dean JoAnne Epps was
excited to discover that Danielle Newsome ’16 and Ashley Myers ’17
were serving as volunteer Instructors for students learning about
the importance of public speaking.