Sunday, February 28, 2010

MLK Day

MLK Day is a Day on not off!

We want to hear your story of service. Share Them NOW!


What projects did you do to keep service as a central part of this national holiday?

Here is one story from Literacy AmeriCorps - New Orleans Member Kathy Bailey:

On Martin Luther King Day, I volunteered for 5 hours at Camp Hope in St. Bernard Parish. Camp Hope is a volunteer camp that was previously run by Habitat For Humanity and located in the former Beauregard Middle School in Violet in St. Bernard Parish. When Beauregard was decommissioned last year, they relocated to another former school located in Arabi, where they are now funded by the Parish. They just re-opened for volunteers in early January, but still had work to do. They sent out a request to all former guests/residents to come help on Martin Luther King Day. There were over 50 volunteers there -- some doing planting out in the parish and some helping with Camp Hope itself. I stayed at Camp Hope and helped clear out and clean up the entrance and moved a load of potted trees and plants. I also helped clean up inside in the large room to be used as a cafeteria and meeting place. Crystal and Doug were the people overseeing my work.

5 comments:

  1. Dr. Martin Luther King is one of the, if not the greatest Civil Rights Leaders of modern era. Businesses, non-for-profits, government agencies, etc are given the day off to honor him and the legacy he bestowed; however, for all the fighting he did for equal opportunity for African Americans, we should honor his name by volunteering to help society on our day off. On Dr. King day, I, and the rest of my Literacy AmeriCorps Members of the Greater New Orleans Area (GNO) planted trees in New Orleans East: it was cold, it was wait, we got very muddy, but this was the least we could do for a man who gave his life so all US citizens can be treated equally. The best part about the day was knowing that our volunteer effort would last for years to come by planting Cypress, Pine, and other trees in the GNO.


    Jonathan Fratella
    Literacy AmeriCorp Transition Coach

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  2. On the Saturday before MLK Day, I planted trees with several other AmeriCorps members in New Orleans East. As Jonathan said, it was wet and muddy but definitely worth it.

    On MLK day, I participated in an impromptu service project with a couple friends. We went around the neighborhood with big trash bags and picked up garbage. People definitely gave us some funny looks, but it was a great way to hang out and chat with friends while doing a little bit for the environment. It reminded me of a nature camp I attended when I was a kid- the activity we would get most excited for was trash pick-up!

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  3. Antoinette SpillersMarch 1, 2010 at 11:24 AM

    The Saturday before MLK Day, Literacy AmeriCorps participated in the Bring Nature Center Back 2 Clean up day. We spent the day in Eastern New Orleans, at the Audubon's Nature and Science clearing out dead trees and planting new trees. It was rainy, cold and extremely muddy, but the service project was a very rewarding experience. Hopefully one day, the Nature Center will be completely rebuild.

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  4. Antoinette SpillersMarch 1, 2010 at 11:32 AM

    On MLK Day, I attended the annual MLK Parade, which began in front of City Hall and ended on MLK Blvd, in front of Dr. King's statue. The parade was amazing. Before the parade, there was an opening ceremony filled with songs, poems, speeches, prayer and acknowledgements. Everyone was welcome to march but I stood on the side and watched all the schools celebrate Dr. King's legacy to music and dance. It was great to see so many people celebrate the legacy of a great man, from little babies to the elderly. Dr. King Parade is a New Orleans tradition, one that gets better each year.

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  5. My MLK Day was truly a learning experience for me. My service project was located at the Samuel J. Green Charter School in New Orleans. I was assigned to the computer lab and assisted in helping restore the computers by setting up the correct monitors,CPU's, and speaker. God knows I didn't have a clue as to what to do with all the mixed up equiptment. After exploring all the different parts of the computers I somehow found myself putting the desk top together one after another. It was a beautiful day and there were so many young people to help with this project as well as help me too!

    From: Gail Eugene

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