"Everybody can be great . . .because anybody can serve." - Martin Luther King, Jr.

MLK Day 2005 in Review
Martin Luther King Day of Service - A day ON, Not a day Off!
By Gwen Haynes

Computer Lab Set-up for Prosperity Ministries and Young Women of Promise in Kannapolis, NC MLK Day Birthday Celebration in Frederick, MD Playtime with puppets during MLK Celebration in Arlington, VA

For the past two years, the Faith Initiative of the Points of Light Foundation has led Martin Luther King Day of Service efforts on behalf of the Foundation. On Monday, January 17, 2005, i n partnership with Service For Peace and the Corporation for National and Community Service, this coordinated effort of support and resource sharing garnered one of the largest community mobilizations of volunteers on MLK day that the Foundation has ever seen.

The Points of Light Foundation and Service For Peace created and/or added support to over 200 national service projects in nearly 50 cities with an estimated 11,000 volunteers working to change the world -- one community at a time. In addition, these national projects assembled networks of local support through more than 500 partnerships in their communities with schools, businesses, community organizations and places of worship.

The foundation offered technical assistance and a number of resources to the eight Washington Metropolitan Area MLK projects as well as those service projects across the country. A few examples of the various resources included: weekly conference calls, project leader e-mail updates, an MLK Service Day toolkit, research assistance, document templates, media tips and in some cases grant monies.

Through the generous support of the Corporation for National and Community Service, the Points of Light Foundation received a grant for more than $160,000 to sub-grant out to mobilize more Americans to observe the MLK holiday through service and implement high quality, high visibility service projects that engaged volunteers in meaningful activities and strengthened communities. The Foundation received more than 250 applications from a diverse group of constituents all over the country making the competition extremely tight. After an extensive internal review process, the Foundation granted over 50 awards to a variety of MLK service projects.

Through partnerships and collaborations, MLK Day 2005 was truly "a day ON, not a day off." Below are a few highlights from our National projects.

• Kannapolis, NC - Young Women of Promise, "Keepers of the Dream in Service"
  Volunteers helped set up a community computer lab, coordinated a food drive to benefit two local churches, and developed greeting cards for local children's hospitals, senior centers and military personnel.

• Arlington, VA - Refugee Children's Gathering, "We Have a Dream"
  The day's events included: international games for children/youth, educational speakers for parents, making Happy Hats for children in hospitals and a Quilt project with all participants designing a square on the theme, "I have a dream"

• Frederick, MD - Volunteer Frederick "MLK Day Birthday Celebration"
  AmeriCorps VISTA and other volunteers worked with local high school students to throw a "birthday party" for Dr. King for the younger children in a low-income housing community. The children participated in educational arts and crafts related to Dr. King and celebrated by decorating the volunteer center and singing and dancing.

The Faith Initiative is compiling photos and summaries of all the national projects. Check the web site in mid-February for a full summary of MLK Day 2005.

For more information on the Faith Initiative, contact: Reverend Mark Farr, Senior Director, Faith Initiatives, 202-729-8144. If you have personal MLK photos and stories you want to add to the National MLK scrapbook, please send them to Gwen Haynes, GHaynes@PointsofLight.org.