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For
Immediate Release
Monday, January 16, 2017
Samantha Jo Warfield, CNCS
pressoffice@cns.gov; 202-491-8250
Hundreds of
thousands will mark the day of service with projects in all 50 states
WASHINGTON,
D.C. – On Monday, January 16, thousands of organizations across the country, along
with the federal agency responsible for AmeriCorps and the nation’s
volunteering efforts, will lead Americans in the nation's largest day of civic
engagement, the annual Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. National Day of Service.
With an
emphasis on creating opportunity for all, Americans of all ages and backgrounds
in all 50 states will re-commit themselves as citizens by volunteering in
service to one another. Projects include delivering meals, refurbishing schools
and community centers, collecting food and clothing, and building homes. Volunteers
will also recruit mentors, provide services for veterans and military families,
and help citizens improve their financial literacy skills.
“Dr.
King’s life is a shining example that one person can make a difference and
change the course of history,” said Wendy Spencer, CEO of the Corporation for
National and Community Service (CNCS). “By volunteering in communities across
the nation on the MLK Day of Service, we honor his legacy through the spirit of
service. I am honored to serve alongside the hundreds of thousands of Americans
who are turning their passion into action and giving back, and I am convinced
that the day will inspire many to make volunteering part of their lives all
year long.”
In 1994,
Congress designated MLK Day as the first and only federal holiday observed as a
national day of service, and charged CNCS with leading this effort.
Participants in the agency’s AmeriCorps and Senior Corps programs are leading
and joining in projects across the country. Americans may visit MLKDay.gov to
find a service project for MLK Day or a year-round volunteer opportunity in
their own community.
CNCS
provides grants to six national organizations that play a leadership role in
the MLK Day of Service: the Arc of the United States, Iowa Campus Compact, Points
of Light, Service for Peace, Tennessee State University, and Youth Service of
America. In addition to these grantees, more than 50 other organizations are
strategic partners, including AARP, Boys & Girls Clubs of America, City
Year, Lutheran Services in America, United Way of America, and YouthBuild USA.
Sample
projects are highlighted below. More information, including details about local
service opportunities, is available at MLKDay.gov.
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Baltimore, Md.: Civic Works AmeriCorps members
and volunteers will serve alongside residents of the Lillian Jones Apartment
Building to participate in a neighborhood-wide cleanup.
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Bloomfield, N.J.: Senior Corps RSVP volunteers will
make 400 disaster kits for local homebound seniors in case of emergencies
through a partnership between the RSVP Center of Essex and Hudson Counties, the
Department of Health and Human Services, and the Neighbor to Neighbor Network.
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Charleston, W. Va.: Through Playmates Communities
Helping Communities (CHC), AmeriCorps members, students, and community
volunteers will assemble and distribute healthy gift bags to retirement homes,
as well as socialize and interact with residents.
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Cleveland, Ohio: City Year AmeriCorps members
will join corporate partners, local leaders, and community volunteers at the
Cleveland Recreation Center to create welcome mats and garden stones for
Habitat for Humanity clients, assemble blankets for University Hospitals
Rainbow Babies and Children’s Hospital, write letters to troops, and craft dog
treats for local pet shelters.
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Columbia, S.C.: AmeriCorps members through the
Palmetto Conservation Corps will serve with Dutch Fork Elementary School to
engage their PTA and other volunteers that want to participate in developing
DFES’ outdoor learning spaces for student use.
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Dallas, Texas: Reading Partners AmeriCorps
members will partner with Promise of Peace to expand their community garden at
Bayles Elementary, as well as engage with patients at Good Life Senior Living.
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Detroit, Mich.: The Detroit Urban Safety Corps
will lead AmeriCorps members and volunteers in an effort to create safe routes
to schools for Detroit Public School students by boarding up and cleaning up
vacant homes and lots on student walking routes in two neighborhoods of
Detroit.
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Fort Lauderdale, Fla.: HandsOn Broward will engage 1,500
volunteers in a weekend-long celebration. Volunteers will participate in a
resource fair to help veterans and military families achieve financial security,
as well as a beautification project to benefit the Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
Montessori Academy.
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Kansas City, Mo.: Youth Volunteer Corps
AmeriCorps members and volunteers will participate in a service fair to provide
hygiene kits, blankets, and packaged food to the homeless and create handmade
notes for women and children in shelters and the senior community.
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Louisville, Ky.: The Louisville Metro RSVP program
will partner with Blanket Louisville to collect blankets, comforters and fleece
throws for homeless individuals in the community.
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Memphis, Tenn.: The Memphis Grizzlies
Foundation, American Red Cross, Street Ministries, and other local partners
will create and distribute 500 Totes of Hope bags that include personal care
items to Veteran’s hospitals and outreach programs.
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New Orleans, La.: Dillard University will engage
volunteers in building and providing maintenance to community vegetable gardens
located at the City of New Orleans Juvenile Detention Center, Pentecost Baptist
Church, and Bethany United Methodist Church. The New Orleans Council on Aging
Senior Corps program will partner with Teach For America to host a food drive
for the Edmundite Southern Missions’ Food Pantry.
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Oakland, Calif.: Service for Peace will engage
approximately 2,000 AmeriCorps members and volunteers in beautification projects
in more than a dozen Oakland communities. Volunteers will participate in
cleaning, greening, and beautification projects, including removing invasive
plants, installing garden boxes, and expanding community gardens.
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Philadelphia, Pa.: The Greater Philadelphia region
is expecting a record 140,000 volunteers in 1,800 community service projects on
MLK Day. Girard College will host
the region’s signature project with 5,000 volunteers serving in 150 projects to
support the Philadelphia Free Library’s Ready by 4th literacy initiative. Volunteers
will serve alongside Mayor Jim Kenney to build approximately 250 little
libraries to distribute across the city.
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Tucson, Ariz.: AmeriCorps members, Senior Corps volunteers, and community volunteers will participate in educational workshops and complete service projects across
eight sites. They will participate in beautification projects, including indoor
and outdoor painting at local schools, cleaning up classrooms, and refurbishing
a community garden.
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Washington, D.C.: Latin American Youth Center AmeriCorps
members and volunteers will assemble hygiene care packages that will be
distributed to students in LAYC’s Community Schools program and collect and
sort clothing donations for LAYC’s Safe Housing program. The Student
Conservation Association will engage AmeriCorps members and volunteers in a
massive river clean-up, removing trash and debris from the shoreline.
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The MLK Day of Service is led by the Corporation for
National and Community Service, a federal agency that engages millions of Americans
in service through its AmeriCorps, Senior Corps, and Social Innovation Fund and
leads the nation’s volunteering and service efforts. For more information,
visit NationalService.gov.
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