<p>In honor of Martin Luther King Jr. and the annual &ldquo;Semester of Service&rdquo; project, the Office of Student Affairs named Tabatha Castro the 2017 MLK Service Award winner.</p>
<p>Castro, who resides in Bear, Delaware, is the President and Managing Attorney of The Castro Firm, Inc., a minority and woman-owned law firm that has been in existence since 2006. She is the first and only Latina to own a law practice in the state of Delaware. She mentors and serves on a number of nonprofit boards that work with poor communities across Delaware.</p>
<p>The theme for the MLK program this year is &ldquo;The Power of One.&rdquo;</p>
<p>&ldquo;Tabatha was chosen because she is an example of what each of us, individually is able to accomplish for ourselves and for our community,&rdquo; said Nicole Barkley, Assistant Dean and Multicultural Affairs Officer at Widener University Delaware Law School.</p>
<p>Students are asked to perform at least 12 hours of community service in designated &ldquo;Semester of Service&rdquo; projects before the end of the spring semester. Successful participants become designated &ldquo;MLK Service Fellows&rdquo; and are recognized at the Student Awards Ceremony and at Graduation. Students also receive credit towards pro bono distinction.</p>
<p>&ldquo;When I received the call that I was going to be honored as this year&rsquo;s awards recipient I was humbled,&rdquo; said Castro. &ldquo; Sometimes you have to look back at your accomplishments and say &lsquo;Wow, I&rsquo;ve done that&hellip;&rsquo; I do things that are good for my community on a daily basis because it is the right thing to do, because it feels good and because I can go to bed knowing I made a difference in peoples&rsquo; lives.&rdquo;</p>
<p>Castro continues to serve her community every day by offering Delaware Law student&rsquo;s internship and employment opportunities and by providing legal services in dependency and neglect matters to individuals who cannot afford an attorney.</p>