MLK Day of Service board members and local officials announced details of the upcoming event, at a service site in Harrisburg.
In one week, volunteers will serve throughout the region to honor the legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.
Officials gathered in Harrisburg on Monday to announce the 15th annual Central PA MLK Day of Service, which will take place on Jan. 15.
“We have a lot of planned for next week,” said Mike Walsh, vice chair of the MLK Day of Service board.
This year, the service committee is recognizing the 60th anniversary of the signing of the Civil Rights Act.
The day will kick off at 9 a.m. at Greater Zion Missionary Baptist Church in Harrisburg with an opening ceremony. There will be on-site service opportunities, a panel discussion on economics, education and health within the Black community and a community resource fair made up of over 30 organizations offering housing, healthcare and employment assistance.
Additionally, service projects will take place across the region, offering dozens of volunteer opportunities. Community members can sign up to do yard work, assemble care packages, clean up trash and paint, among many other service options.
Monday’s press conference announcing the day of service was held outside one of the service sites on N. Summit Street, where affordable housing organization Beahive will clean out a property to renovate as a home for a low-income family.
“They will hopefully be done in the next couple of months, and we will be able to open it up for a family,” Beahive founder Samara Scott said.
Over 850 volunteer slots still need to be filled, according to Walsh.
“It’s a day on, not off,” said Shelly Lipscomb Echeverria, a board member. “Come out and help people in your community and, if we all give back, you hear the saying, many hands make light work.”
There are opportunities for every ability, every age and for whatever amount of time volunteers can commit to, she said.
Also this year, the committee will recognize three community members for their service efforts, as part of their Drum Major Awards. Joseph Robinson Jr., president of the Martin Luther King Jr. Leadership Development Institute, Helen Spence, coordinator of the Dauphin County Systems of Care, and Charles Appleberry, a school security officer and local sports coach, will all be honored.
While the holiday is only one day, Walsh explained that the committee has started its MLK 365 initiative to keep the mission of service ongoing throughout the year.
“It’s really evident how excited and inspired people get by coming together and honoring the life and legacy of Dr. King and how our eyes are opened to the needs that exist within our community,” Walsh said.
For more information or to register for Central PA MLK Day of Service, visit their website.
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