Soaking up service in Sampson

Michael B. Hardison, The Sampson Independent, Clinton, N.C.
·3 min read

Mar. 21—The young Raiders of Middle Middle School got to once again meet with firefighter, police and first responders, thanks to the return of the Midway Middle Community Service Day.

The event was held Friday in the MMS parking lot, which was packed with fire trucks, police cars and other response vehicles. There was even a helicopter, along with the men and women who operate them every day.

The purpose of their visit was to give students at each grade level sixth to eighth first hand experience into their respective fields and careers. Students got to see and interact with varies tools of their trades, got to go inside the different vehicles, were taught about the inside and out of each of each jobs from professional and much more.

This was the 10th Annual Community Service Day which was extra special since the event had been on hiatus for awhile due to COVID. The event was started by Robin Marley who had a strong desire to show student the importance of community service from men and women in the county that are active. Students who could very well be the future of these professions.

"It is an amazing experience to be able to provide this opportunity for these kids," she said. "For them to see areas inside and outside the community where they serve and to see potential career paths is what this event is meant to be about."

"These are thing they don't typically get to see or experience so I'm glad that it's back," Marley said. "This is our 10th year holding it. We did go on a little hiatus due to COVID but last year was our first year back."

"Last year wasn't quite as big as this year's but regardless we're happy to have it back and to have our guest that came to talk about what they do and how they serve."

That list of guest was quite long and included Sampson County Mobile Command, Spivey's Corner Volunteer Fire Department, South River Electric, Salemburg Fire Department, Cumberland County Fire Department, Clement Fire Department, North Carolina Hazmat and Duke Life Light.

As the men and women that serve in these role a few of them shared their thought on how it felt to be part of this experience. Words that all shared similar sentiments.

"It's a great experience to be able to share this with the kids and show them how we serve the community and also what their futures could hold in our fields," Patrick Kerfoot, Pilot for Metro Aviation, said.

"It's an honor to be out here and educating our future leaders," Deputy Kevin Moore of Wake County Sheriff Office said. "Hopefully this can inspire them enough to want to be in law enforcement one day. We need good officers and it starts with this age on up."

"Personally I feel it's very educational for the kids and I enjoy sharing what I've learned through the years," Lt. Chase Grantham of the Salemburg Fire Department, said. "It's the simple things like this that we don't think about everyday that needs to be instilled in the kids. That's my favorite part about it, sharing the knowledge that I have with the kids."

Reach Michael B. Hardison at 910-249-4231. Follow us on Twitter at @SamsponInd, like us on Facebook, and check out our Instagram at @thesampsonindependent.