A Day On, Not a Day Off

Art by Kathleen Chosa

How are you celebrating Martin Luther King Day? Sleeping in? Hitting great sales? Or are you giving back to the community?

If you are like the CalSERVES AmeriCorps folks, you will be giving a day of service! Yes, they give service pretty much around the clock, providing over 1700 hours each during the 10 months they work in our programs. But this AmeriCorps Service Day is an opportunity to do things that are a little different.

This year marks the 25th Anniversary of the Martin Luther King Jr. Federal Holiday, and organizers see the milestone as a perfect opportunity for Americans to remember Dr. King’s life and legacy and to honor him by taking action to solve problems in their communities.

For 2012, the folks putting on the Service Day decided to focus on helping kids facing homelessness and in foster care. Different community organizations were selected to provide with help, and over 100 AmeriCorps members are going at it! Here's what they will be doing:

• Preparing brunch for families and lead fun activities with children at a homeless center;
• Moving supplies of a non-profit that helps women in crisis to new site, building planter boxes, painting, and hanging curtains;
• At a Homeless Resource Center, painting and cleaning children’s play area, installing basketball hoop, organizing adult and children’s areas;
• At a school for children that have been abandoned or neglected, painting the MPR and kitchen, organizing/cleaning the emergency storage area, garden clean up, and campus revitalization.
• Making quilts to give to children in crisis.

I'm impressed.

So, how will you Make a Difference?   

by Emily Mann, CalSERVES Project Coordinator