The 2010 King Day of Service Will Bring Americans Together to Serve their Communities at a Time of Growing Social Need

• Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. once said “Life’s most urgent and persistent question is: what are you doing for others?”
  
• On January 18, Americans will answer that question by joining with their neighbors to serve their communities on the 2010 Martin Luther King Jr. Day of Service.
  
• As part of the United We Serve initiative, we are calling on Americans to make the King Holiday ‘a day on, not a day off,’ and to make an ongoing commitment to serve throughout the year.
  
• Led by the Corporation for National and Community Service and the King Center, the King Day of Service will include thousands of projects spread across all 50 states.
  
• Projects include delivering meals, refurbishing schools and community centers, collecting food and clothing, signing up mentors, reading to children, promoting nonviolence, and more, with many projects starting on King Day and lasting throughout the year.
  
• America faces tough challenges, many made worse by the economic downturn. The needs are great, millions of Americans are hurting, and government can’t do it alone.
  
• Volunteer service – starting on the King Holiday and continuing throughout the year – is a powerful way to tackle tough problems and advance social justice.

Service is the Right Way to Honor Dr. King

• 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.
  
• Forty years after Dr. King’s death, we still have work to do to realize his dream: 37 million Americans live in poverty, 50% of students in our inner cities don’t graduate from high school; 15 million children need mentors, and millions are suffering from the economic downturn.
  
• 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.
  
• King Day is the only federal holiday observed as a national day of service – a “day on, not a day off.”
  
• Participation has grown every year since, with record turnout last year fueled by President Obama’s call to service and momentum building for this year.
  
• The King Day of Service empowers individuals, strengthens communities, bridges barriers, addresses social problems, and moves us closer to realizing Dr. King’s dream.

Service is a Solution – on the King Holiday and Throughout the Year

• Service tackles serious problems and advances social justice.
  
• The most effective intervention in a troubled child’s life is a mentor; tutors help children read and graduate from high school; volunteers provide critical health and independent living services and help people find jobs, gain hope, and reach their potential.
  
• Service breaks down barriers by bringing people from different backgrounds together. And service benefits those who serve: youth do better in school, seniors are healthier, families are closer, and all gain fulfillment and a sense of purpose.

Make it a Day On, Not a Day Off

• On the King Holiday -- January 18, 2010 -- honor Dr. King by serving in your community.
  
• Projects are taking place across America and they need you. Make this and every King Day the beginning of a year-round commitment to service.
  
• Visit www.Serve.gov/mlkday to post or find a project near you.

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