How are you getting involved on MLK Day? Tell us on Facebook or Twitter by using #MLKDay2015, or send us an email at [email protected]. If you’re musically inclined, see below how you can get involved with MusicianCorps.
Music-making activities at 16 children’s hospitals are scheduled for #musicMLK. (MusicianCorps file photo)
As part of a national day of service honoring the life of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., musicians in 50 cities will volunteer their talents by leading music-making events at children’s and veterans’ hospitals, shelters for women and the homeless, and other community settings during the MLK holiday weekend, Jan. 17 – 19.
The effort, dubbed #musicMLK, is an program of MusicianCorps, a social enterprise headquartered in San Francisco that promotes music for public benefit.
“It’s incredible knowing that through our efforts, people across the country will be connecting and making music together,” says Shela Jeong, MusicianCorps program manager. “We’re inspired that so many musicians have volunteered their time to be part of this.”
From Louisville to Los Angeles, Boston to Baton Rouge, here are a few #musicMLK plans across the country:
In Minneapolis, musician, cancer survivor and local radio personality Chantel Sings will visit Ascension Place, a transitional shelter for single women, to share her story and lift spirits through song.
In St. Petersburg, Fla., musician Jay Wilson and his band The Real Clash will lead a sing-along with children and families at All Children’s Hospital. Having never volunteered before, Wilson is excited to give back to the hospital where his own son was once treated.
In Nashville, Tenn., husband-and-wife country duo Westwend will share harmonies for veterans at the Tennessee Valley VA Medical Center. “These men and women are near and dear to our heart,” says Westwend’s Wendy Maness. “Being able to give a little of our time back to these veterans will never add up to what they have done for us, but hopefully we’ll be able to bring a smile to their faces.”
“Music is a universal experience – whether we make it, hear it, or dance to it,” says John Guzzi, a student at Boston College and president of the school’s Music Guild, one of many groups participating in #musicMLK by leading music service events in their communities. “#musicMLK represents this power of music and its ability to connect musician-volunteers to somebody in need of an emotional connection.”
To learn more about #musicMLK, visit www.createservice.org.
Here’s How You Can Get Involved on MLK Day
Millions of Americans will come together on Martin Luther King, Jr., Day – January 19 – in national service and dialogue to honor Dr. King.
Young volunteers share a happy moment during a 2013 MLK Day service project in Washington, D.C.
The civil rights leader had a dream that one day all people would be guaranteed the inalienable rights of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.
We have a unique opportunity to unite in volunteer service and issue a call to action to do what we, as Americans, do best – lend a hand, help our neighbors – and build better communities. Since Dr. King was assassinated, tremendous social progress has been made, but much remains unfinished.
With many communities struggling to access financial and human services, volunteer service can be a powerful force: Neighbors helping neighbors, young helping old, employees offering skills and companies investing in communities where they do business.
Guests become acquainted at an America’s Sunday Supper in Atlanta in June 2014.
How will you get involved?
Points of Light has tools and resources for a meaningful MLK Day of Service. Here are some ideas.
Host an America’s Sunday Supper
. Inspired by Dr. King’s legacy, America’s Sunday Suppers invite people from diverse backgrounds to come together to share a meal, discuss issues that affect their community and highlight the power each one of us has to make a difference.
These family and community suppers unite individuals year-round for dinner and dialogue at restaurants, coffee shops, community centers, faith-based organizations and homes across the country. (If you register your America’s Sunday Supper by January 13, you will be entered in a drawing for a $25 Target GiftCard.) Check out Sunday Supper recipes from celebrity chefs, conversation topics, film resources and step-by-step directions in our cooking and conversations guide.
Join conversations online:
Join Points of Light and the Family Dinner Project for a Twitter chat (search and use #familydinnerforward) Tuesday, January 13, noon – 1 p.m. Eastern to learn easy ways to spark civic dialogue and engage in acts of service – at the dinner table and beyond.
Tune in to HuffPost Live on Thursday, January 15, from 12:30 -12:50 p.m. Eastern for an America’s Sunday Supper conversation with Tracy Hoover, president of Points of Light, and a celebrity guest.
Refer to our toolkit for sample social media posts and easy ways you can participate online.
This post is by Tracy Hoover, Points of Light’s president.
I’ve been thinking a lot about tables lately. The holiday tables we gather around at this time of year, and the friends and family seated around them. The oak table at my grandmother’s farm growing up in Tennessee. The cafeteria table at a homeless shelter here in Atlanta, where volunteers will share a holiday meal with neighbors who live on the streets.
Guests become acquainted at an America’s Sunday Supper in Atlanta in June 2014.
And in the past couple of weeks, as events unfolded in Ferguson, New York City and Cleveland, I’ve thought about Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.’s “table of brotherhood.” It’s one of his most enduring and powerful images: “I have a dream that one day on the red hills of Georgia, the sons of former slaves and the sons of former slave owners will be able to sit together at the table of brotherhood.”
As we look ahead to a new year, I invite you to reach across the table – and the fence, the neighborhood, the city – to come together as volunteers in bridging differences and seeking new ways to create needed change in our communities.
A great way to start is by honoring the legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. on Jan. 19, 2015. You could take part in a service project in your community; host or join one of the thousands of community dialogues – “America’s Sunday Suppers” – happening around the country; or begin a community conversation in a way that fits your lifestyle and interests.
It doesn’t matter where you meet – your home, coffee shop, dorm or community center. Gather old friends, invite new ones, find a table and start talking. Points of Light has tools and resources for you to host a Supper or dialogue in your community, including conversation starters, celebrity chef recipes, and downloadable films.
As you gather with friends and family in the coming weeks, I hope you’ll make plans to get together again and reach across the table in January. Volunteer to join America’s Sunday Supper, participate in a service project in your community or get started today by taking action online.
Not Your Usual Sunday Supper
America’s Sunday Suppers – inspired by Martin Luther King, Jr.’s vision of people from diverse backgrounds interacting on personal levels – encourage people to share a meal and discuss issues that affect their communities, such as unemployment, homelessness, education and hunger. The events often happen around MLK Day, but you can hold them any time of the year for groups big and small to promote volunteer service. Visit www.pointsoflight.org/mlk for resources to host your own Sunday Supper and – for inspiration – read below about two Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority Sunday Suppers in Maryland during the MLK Day weekend.
Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority sisters pack toiletry kits for
people in need.
Contributing to its mission of “service to all mankind,” Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority chapters across the country hosted volunteer projects and America’s Sunday Suppers to honor Martin Luther King, Jr.
Around 800 volunteers in Mitchellville, Md., and 130 in Baltimore participated in service projects, collecting cans of food, assembling hygiene kits, writing greeting cards to soldiers, and more. They ended the day of volunteer service – which included a performance by a local high school choir – with Sunday Suppers.
The sorority’s MLK Day-related activities nationwide were made possible in part through a $15,000 grant from the Corporation for National and Community Service, administered through Points of Light.
“The purpose of the events was to honor and celebrate the life and legacy of Dr. King and to raise awareness of the need in our community,” said Wanda King, an Alpha Kappa Alpha (AKA) project manager in Maryland. “We are trying to encourage and mobilize the public or others who don’t normally engage with service to get excited about serving.”
Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority sisters gather for a Sunday
Supper in Maryland.
The suppers began with remarks and greetings from Maryland Lt. Gov. Anthony Brow and Angela D. Alsobrooks, Prince George’s County, Md., state’s attorney, who attended the Mitchellville supper. Their appearance was telecast live at the Baltimore event.
At both suppers participants contributed to roundtable discussions about th economic sustainability of communities, Social Security, closing the wealth gap and standards of living.
“Everyone was very engaged in the table discussions which resulted in wonderful suggestions and ideas being brought forth,” said Susan Marsh, AKA’s international secretary.
“Our hope is that representatives from the various community organizations and the localofficials who were present will take the feedback and begin to find ways to implement the suggestions from the discussions into concrete action and policy,” Marsh said.
The MLK Day events were part of AKA’s ongoing efforts to encourage Marylanders to volunteer in their communities.
“It was a beautiful sight to see what can happen when you get so many people together focused on service,” said King. “It is so good to know that our efforts will benefit others.”
Enjoying a sunny, spring-like day in Washington, D.C., today, public figures, veterans, students and families gathered at Dunbar High School – the country’s first public high school for black students – to transform Martin Luther King, Jr.’s message of unity and community into hands-on volunteer service.
White House Chief of Staff Denis McDonough,
right, helps out on the care pack assembly line.
“Today is a day of service and it’s important to give back,” said Nicole Isaac, a veteran and volunteer who drove in from northern Virginia to help out during the Points of Light Family and Community Fun Day. “We’ve come so far, but there’s still so much more to do to help communities sustain themselves.”
Volunteers – including White House Chief of Staff Denis McDonough, U.S. Trade Representative Michael Froman,
students – assembled 500 care packs containing shirts, shorts, sandals and pants, for wounded service members recovering in hospitals overseas.
Veterans at the event benefited from resume reviews and a resource fair showcasing agencies that help veterans and military families.
Exelis Action Corps volunteers help assemble care
packs for wounded service members.
Meanwhile, kids enjoyed balloon animals and face painting. (One of the boys kept looking up at his mom and asking, “Am I still Batman?”) They also learned how to pack healthy lunches and participated in a fitness challenge – jumping through hula hoops and walking like a crab.
The activities were made possible by the Corporation for National and Community Service. The federal agency, which leads the MLK Day of Service, awarded $125,000 to Points of Light to support volunteer projects at eight nonprofits across the country to feed the hungry, clean up parks and schools, provide financial literacy workshops and more. The nonprofits committed to bringing together 175,000 volunteers through the long holiday weekend.
In another recognition of the MLK Day of Service, today Points of Light honored Christine Wright and her daughter Melanie Stevenson of Birmingham, Ala., with a Daily Point of Light Award. More than a decade ago, Wright and Stevenson created a family tradition of bringing three generations together every MLK Day to volunteer. Read their story here.
It’s not too late to participate in MLK Day of Service-related activities. Visit
, where you can pledge to host an America’s Sunday Supper honoring Dr. King.
Let us know how you celebrated the MLK Day of Service. We’d love to hear from you at
To enter, students must create posters that answer that question and inspire people to volunteer during the MLK Day of Service, Jan. 20, and beyond. Students in kindergarten through 12th grade are eligible; entries must be postmarked by Feb. 28. In addition to receiving Samsung tablets, winning students may have their posters displayed in the Martin Luther King, Jr. Memorial bookstore in Washington, D.C.
For more information about the contest and other ways to teach children about Dr. King’s legacy, visit www.scholastic.com/mlkday.
And to find out how you can get involved in the MLK Day of Service, go to www.pointsoflight.org/mlk.
Where Will You Be on Jan. 20, 2014?
The Martin Luther King, Jr. Day of Service and Remembrance is just five weeks away, on Jan. 20, 2014. Make plans today to volunteer in your community, or to host or attend America’s Sunday Suppers, gatherings designed to bring people together to share a meal, talk about critical issues and discuss ways people can unite to meet urgent local needs.
Visit Points of Light on Facebook to find a volunteer opportunity near you, download a project toolkit, or pledge to host an America’s Sunday Supper in your neighborhood.
Through a grant from the Corporation for National and Community Service, Points of Light is supporting eight signature projects with these outstanding nonprofit organizations: Global Citizen (Philadelphia); Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority (nationwide); HandsOn Broward (Broward County, Fla.); United Way of Greater St. Louis (St. Louis); Volunteer Center of Greensboro (Greensboro, N.C.); HandsOn Atlanta (Atlanta); United Way HandsOn Suncoast (Tampa, Fla.); and the National Alliance of Faith and Justice (nationwide).
Need a Grant for Your 2014 Martin Luther King Day of Service Project?
From mucking out homes devastated by Hurricane Sandy to transforming veterans’ homes in Phoenix, last year Points of Light’s nonprofit partners and HandsOn Network affiliates across the country engaged more than 250,000 people in Martin Luther King Day of Service projects.
Points of Light is currently accepting grant applications for 2014 MLK Day of Service projects. Grants are available with support from the Corporation for National and Community Service. There is still time to apply!
Applications are being accepted through Friday, Oct. 25
.
Join the nation in honoring Dr. King’s legacy through service on MLK Day 2014!
Change Notes: Vice President Biden Joins Points of Light on Day of Service
Dear Friends,
Vice President Joe Biden, Dr. Jill Biden and a dozen of their kids and grandkids joined Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano and nearly 10,000 volunteers at the D.C. Armory yesterday to put together 100,000 care kits for U.S. military personnel, disabled veterans and civilian first responders. In his remarks thanking the thousands gathered for donating their time, Vice President Biden said, “Dr. King imbued in the public this notion of absolute service,” and noted that it was this legacy of volunteerism and service that Points of Light and President George H. W. Bush have continued.
It was an amazing day in Washington, DC and across the nation, as millions of volunteers honored Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. with a National Day of Service. Points of Light mobilized hundreds of thousands of people, including volunteers who mucked out homes devastated by Hurricane Sandy in New York, transformed veterans’ homes in Phoenix, and completed school makeovers in Los Angeles. Check out some of the great photos and extensive news coverage here.
Points of Light’s signature event in DC, the largest single-site service project of the inaugural weekend, was made possible by Target, which gives 5% of its profit and thousands of volunteer hours to communities every day. We are so proud of our partnership with Target and inspired by their extraordinary corporate leadership.
This weekend of service, celebrating Inauguration Day and Dr. King, is a great reminder that we each have a leadership role to play in setting the course for our nation.
Let us know what you did this weekend – and what you plan to do all year long, as we rededicate ourselves to Dr. King’s dream. Connect with Points of Light on Facebook and on Twitter at #2013MLKDay or at [email protected].
