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Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. devoted his life to advancing equality, social justice, and opportunity for all. He challenged us to build a more perfect union and taught us that everyone has a role to play in making America what it ought to be. With his leadership, our nation made great strides against racial discrimination and toward increased civil rights.
Dr. King’s teachings can continue to guide us in addressing our nation’s most pressing social needs today. Each of us can contribute to strengthening our own communities by serving in Dr. King’s honor on the King Holiday and throughout the year. And, by making service part of our daily lives, we can help realize King’s dream and support our nation’s renewal and recovery.
What Is the King Day of Service?
In 1994, Congress designated the Martin Luther King Jr. Federal Holiday as a national day of service and charged the Corporation for National and Community Service with leading this effort. Taking place each year on the third Monday in January, the King Day of Service is the only federal holiday observed as a national day of service – a “day on, not a day off.” The King Day of Service empowers individuals, strengthens communities, bridges barriers, addresses social problems, and moves us closer to Dr. King’s vision of a “Beloved Community.”
Why Serve on King Day?
Dr. King recognized the power of service to strengthen communities and achieve common goals. Service is integral to meeting national challenges such as poverty, economic insecurity, illiteracy, hunger, environmental degradation, and more.
In addition to helping solve serious problems, service brings people from different backgrounds together, and benefits those who serve.
What Types of Service Are Encouraged?
All types of service are encouraged, particularly projects that connect participants to ongoing service throughout the year. Projects include preparing and delivering meals, refurbishing schools and community centers, collecting food and clothing, removing graffiti and cleaning neighborhoods, reading to children, training mentors or tutors for youth, and much more. Many service projects are connected to the life and teachings of Dr. King and include time to reflect upon his life and teachings.
Who Can Participate in the King Day of Service?
People of all ages, backgrounds, and abilities are encouraged to serve on King Day, and to make the day the beginning of an ongoing commitment to a cause that is meaningful to them and serves a need in their community.
How Can I Continue to Serve After King Day?
As part of his United We Serve initiative, President Obama has called upon all Americans to make service a part of their daily lives. Where and how you serve is up to you – the important thing is to get involved.
2009 Highlights
The 15-year effort to transform the King Holiday into a national day of service took an exponential leap forward last year, when President-elect Obama asked Americans to serve and made the King Day of Service a centerpiece of his Inauguration. Fueled by this call to service, the King Day of Service experienced a historic level of participation, with more than one million Americans serving in 13,000 projects in all 50 states – more than double the previous year.
King Day of Service
Grantees and Partners
Each year, the Corporation awards more than $500,000 in grants to intermediary organizations across the country to organize service projects on the King Day of Service. The current grantees are Campus Kitchens Project, National Alliance of Faith and Justice, North Carolina Campus Compact,Points of Light-HandsOn Network, Service for Peace, and Youth Service America. The Corporation and the King Center lead the King Day of Service in partnership with numerous national nonprofit organizations, faith-based and community groups, state service commissions, government agencies, educational institutions, and corporations and businesses.
Other Resources
A wide variety of free King Day resources for individuals and organizations is available at MLKDay.gov. These include:
Project Registry
To register your project go to Serve.gov/mlkday and click the register your project link. This takes you to a list of websites where you can register your project. Be sure to include MLK Day or King Day of Service in your project title and description so it will be easy to find on Serve.gov and other sites that list King Day of Service volunteer opportunities.
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