A special food drive to honor the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.
Andy Fillmore Peace and unity, Reccy Crews of Ocala said about the meaning of the tribute to King.
Members of the community gathered first at Second Bethlehem Baptist Association s Ocala Theological Seminary Christian Education Center, 1205 NW Fourth St., and then drove the short distance to the IES warehouse at 450 NW Second St.
Martin Luther King Jr. Day ceremonies in Ocala have usually included a march over the Silver Springs Boulevard bridge west from downtown. But because of the pandemic, this year the organizers from Second Bethlehem Baptist Association, the Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Commemorative Commission and the Marion County Alumni National Pan Hellenic Council decided to do the food drive instead.
The COVID-19 pandemic may have blocked Marion County residents from conducting the annual Martin Luther King Jr. March, but it will not stop many from helping the community in honor of the civil rights icon.
Each year, rain or cold, at least 1,000 people (and more on many years, depending on the weather) walk from the Ocala downtown square to at Webb Field at the Martin Luther King Jr. Recreation Complex in West Ocala.
The march, which is about a mile, crosses a railroad bridge from downtown Ocala to the other side of the tracks in historic West Ocala, serving a reminder of the 1960s racial divide that led many c