Martin Luther King, Jr. Day of Service Celebrates Community

Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi helped prepare care packages for troops in Iraq during last year's Day of Service.

Too often, we have failed to heed the call of the Martin Luther King, Jr. Day of Service. While celebrating the courageous civil rights leader’s works, we put off following his example. So rather than say, What could I possibly do? we’ll replace that negativity with responding to King’s famous query, “Life’s most persistent and urgent question is: What are you doing for others?” The real purpose of the day is to strengthen communities, empower individuals by teaching skills and to bridge barriers.

For service opportunities in your area, go to Serve.gov, managed by the Corporation for National and Community Service, to find volunteer opportunities based on ZIP code and keyword, powered by All for Good. Plenty of MLK service events are listed to fit your preferences, whether you’d like to help with park cleanup, volunteer at events for kids and teens or work with senior citizens. If you don’t have the day off or the time to fit one of the suggested events into your schedule, many local opportunities are available throughout the year — Jan. 18 just might be the time to commit to one. This year, there is an effort to link schools in need to professionals with web expertise for the 2010 MLK Day Technology Challenge.

Though it may be a bit late for this year, the MLKDay.gov site also offers advice on organizing your own one-day-service project. One of the tips is to start early, so getting a head start on next year isn’t a bad idea! Last year was the largest turnout ever for the MLK Day of Service, with more than 13,000 projects, compared to 2008’s 5,000. For more inspiration, check out Fighting for Justice: New York Voices of the Civil Rights Movement (available to view Jan. 20 at nyc.gov), which profiles civil rights leaders Esther Cooper Jackson, former managing editor and co-founder of Freedomways, and Clifford L. Alexander, Jr., counsel to President Lyndon B. Johnson during passage of civil rights legislation.

We realize the answer to King’s question is that there is always more we can do for others. And every now and then we’re shocked by the slow evolution of civil rights — we recently noted that Martin Luther King, Jr. Day wasn’t celebrated by all 50 states until 2000.

Do you plan to volunteer — or to take the initiative to volunteer — in honor of Martin Luther King, Jr. Day?

Photo credit: M. T. Harmon/Corporation for National and Community Service, Office of Public Affairs

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