Many businesses along the 1000-block of N. 3rd Street in Harrisburg will offer free and discounted food, items and services during MLK Day of Service on Monday.
For one day, a Harrisburg ice cream shop will be scooping hot food instead of cold.
Businesses on the 1000-block of N. 3rd Street are teaming up this MLK Day to provide food, blankets and clothing items to those in need in their community.
Along with Urban Churn, Gifted Hands Barber Studio, Pastorante and Keystone Diner are collecting donations in order to participate in a day of service.
“There are people that don’t have anything,” Gifted Hands owner Mike Payne said. “I don’t like that.”
The barbershop will be giving out blankets, hats and socks, as well as soup and $10 haircuts. They will have resources with information on housing and after school programs as well. Other involved businesses will be serving food. Community members can stop by any of the locations from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m.
The idea came through a conversation between Gifted Hands’ Manager Keisha Ordaz and Adam Brackbill, owner of Urban Churn.
“We want to collaborate our ideas so we can continue to make it a community barbershop,” Ordaz said.
Neighboring businesses such as Central Pennsylvania Buy and Sell, District Bar and Lounge and Mahatam Mini Mart are donating, as well.
“Businesses have a responsibility not just to make money, but to give back,” Brackbill said. “It shows you’re a part of the community.”
Gifted Hands and Urban Churn hope to continue this day of service in the coming years, including more businesses in the Midtown area.
“If all the businesses get together, there’s nothing that can stop us,” Ordaz said.
All of the businesses are located on the 1000-block of N. 3rd St., Harrisburg. For more information on the 2020 MLK Day of Service, read our recent feature story.
