A group of City Year Young Heroes during their 2009 Martin Luther King, Jr. Day of Service project at Emery Elementary School in Washington, DC
January 18th is Martin Luther King, Jr., Day — a national day of service. Where will you volunteer your energy and time?
For 15 years, MLK Day has been a national day of service, mobilizing projects that strive to transform Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.’s life and teachings into community service that helps solve social problems — strengthening communities, bridging barriers, and empowering individuals.
The day of service, which is known as a “day on, not a day off,” typically enjoys a great deal of support and participation among national service corps—who volunteer for and often organize service projects.
This year organizers are launching a special initiative to connect schools in need with technology support. If you serve in a school that could use tech support — anything from a website facelift to blogging support for student clubs — you can post a volunteer opportunity on AllForGood.org:
When you create your volunteer opportunity, be sure to:
- Use a descriptive title and make sure to include the “MLKTech” keyword – the keyword is necessary for search.
- Set the date as January 18, 2010
Web professionals can search for opportunities on Serve.gov.
Learn more and find opportunities to serve on the Serve.gov and MLKDay.gov sites. Also check out yesterday’s Change/Wire post from Service Nation, chock full of MLK Day resources.
Already planning a project? Be sure to register it so that people in your community will find out how to support it!
Last year, inspired by Barack Obama’s call to service, MLK Day enjoyed the largest turnout in its history. On January 19, 2009, service projects numbered about 13,000 (compared to 5,000 in 2008), and the Corporation for National and Community Service estimated the total number of volunteers at a million.
Check out this video with more information about MLK Day:
The New Service 