District Residents Volunteered Across the City to Honor Dr. King's Legacy - Releases

Mayor Adrian M. Fenty and other local leaders came together to kick off the Mayor’s second annual day of service in the District of Columbia at Judiciary Square. The Mayor then led the volunteers to the Center for Creative Non-Violence, the nation’s largest homeless shelter, to participate in some 15 service projects. The King holiday is recognized as "a day on, not a day off" for Americans volunteering in their communities. This year more than 15,000 volunteers came together to give their time in the District of Columbia.

“We can best honor Dr. King’s legacy of citizen action by working together to improve our communities,” said Fenty. “Forty years after Dr. King’s death we are can still use opportunities like today to help fulfill his dream.”

Volunteers participated in over 130 projects spread throughout the District’s 8 wards. Serve DC, the volunteer arm of the District of Columbia Government, partnered with District agencies, community-based organizations, schools and faith-based institutions to ensure that citizens in the District and the DC area could engage in the day of service. The projects include: city beautification, administrative and manual aid to local nonprofits, health fairs, school cleanups, MLK educational forums and college preparation fairs. Serve DC utilized the day of service to progress sustainable programs that address the needs of the DC communities.

Service Day Highlights:

Greater DC Cares coordinated 500 volunteers participating in school renovation projects with educational forums on the state of DC public schools.
700 We Feed Our People volunteers provided a nutritious meal and warm clothing and health screenings for homeless and poor citizens in the nation's capital as a way to continue to draw attention to the plight of the poor and neglected outside of the Martin Luther King Jr. Library.
Volunteers restored the Pope Branch Park by cleaning up trash and debris along the tributary and removing invasive plants which threaten its ecological health.
DC Habitat for Humanity held their annual build on Martin Luther King Jr. Day to honor the legacy and to continue the vision of Dr. King.

View a listing of the 2008 MLK Day projects or even register your own! For more information on how to get involved, please contact Dy Brown, or call (202) 727-7931.