More than 700 people braved snow and freezing temperatures Monday to volunteer in a local high school cafeteria, cutting, painting, and hammering in projects to help local immigrants. For some, the day had an extra layer of meaning.

The volunteer event is held annually on Martin Luther King Jr. Day, but this year it came amid President Trump’s relentless onslaughts of anti-immigrant rhetoric that have divided the country since he took office a year ago.

Many who gathered in the cafeteria of Boston Latin School were immigrants themselves, or children of immigrants. “If I’m doing this, it feels like I’m benefiting my parents, too,’’ said Bryan Jimenez, 22, as he cut out flashcards that will help people study for the US citizenship test.

His parents came to Chelsea from Honduras when they were his age, he said. They have not taken the citizenship test yet. Jimenez marveled at how young his parents were, and how little they had when they arrived. He said his comparatively easy life made him feel blessed.

“They didn’t know anything about the language, and I can feel for other people as well,’’ he said.

Volunteers packed the round cafeteria tables to work on a variety of projects, all to help immigrants. Some made workbooks for students in English classes, while others made a conversation block game. Others painted flags to hang in school classrooms to represent the nationalities of the students.

The Martin Luther King Jr. service day is organized annually by Boston Cares, an agency that pairs volunteers with myriad causes year-round.

Another volunteer event took place in Cambridge on Monday. In Central Square, volunteers gathered to make baby blankets for homeless shelters and valentines for elderly people and veterans. Eight-year-old Gareth Flandro pinned a yellow tortoise to a blanket.

Flandro came to the event with his father, Douglas, who said he brings his children every year. This year seemed more important, he said, because of the contentious political climate.

Monday was the first time Karolyn Maws, 51, volunteered for Cambridge’s service day. She’s been active as a community volunteer for years, but she said she felt a strong urgency to help on King’s birthday while Trump is president.

“MLK’s mission of peaceful protest, and of unity, and of justice, and social justice . . . I think those are things that are, yes, completely opposite of the current administration,’’ she said.

Boston Cares has worked with an English-language learning organization for years, said Patrice Keegan, the group’s executive director. This year they started a new initiative to reduce the backlog of immigrants waiting for English language classes, she said.

In a strange way, she said, Trump has inspired more volunteers than ever to want to help immigrants.

“We are an immigrant city. We always have been, we always will be,’’ Keegan said.

Back in the cafeteria, Jackson Cruz, 24, was also cutting out flashcards. One said, “What is the name of the President of the United States now?’’

Cruz sighed. He and his mother immigrated to Boston from the Dominican Republic when he was 8.

“The fact that I’m an immigrant motivates me,’’ he said. “It doesn’t make me want to do bad things,’’ he said. “It’s frustrating to hear [Trump] say that.’’

Cruz remembers when his mother studied with friends for the citizenship test, but his father has not taken it yet. Trump’s remarks make Cruz worry for his father. As he cut out the flashcards, he considered taking a set to his dad.

Some of the flashcards had questions many Americans would struggle to answer: What is the economic system of the United States? (answer: capitalist economy, market economy) What are two rights in the Declaration of Independence? (answers: life, liberty, pursuit of happiness) How many amendments does the US Constitution have? (answer: 27).

But the questions were familiar to Dumerzier Beauplan, who moved to Boston about five years ago from Haiti. That’s because he lives with his brother, who took the test several years ago.

Beauplan said he usually would stay home on Martin Luther King Jr. Day, especially on a cold, snowy day like Monday. But he was glad he came.

“I never thought that there would be so many people gathered around to help others,’’ he said.

In another corner of the cafeteria, a family painted flags to hang in Boston public school classrooms to represent students’ nationalities.

In his excitement, Noel Hill, 13, accidentally added a yellow dot to a green, white and orange Irish flag his mother, Celia, was painting. She carefully wiped it off.

Noel’s father, Easton, said his family has volunteered on Martin Luther King Jr. Day for eight years. But he said this year feels more important because of the country’s fraught politics.

“We wanted to make sure we get to meet people and bridge the divide,’’ he said. His wife finished his thought.

“And influence our children,’’ she said. “We’ve got to practice what we preach.’’

Globe correspondents Sarah Betancourt and John Hilliard contributed to this report. Laura Krantz can be reached at laura.krantz@globe.com. Follow her on Twitter @laurakrantz.