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Ideas for the Martin Luther King, Jr. Day of Service
Jan. 15, 2019
Each year on the 3rd Monday of January, the Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. holiday is observed as the MLK Day of Service. In order to encourage individuals and groups to view this as a "day on, not a day off" from school or work, non-profit organizations often organize special volunteer projects around the date. But family, friends, students, and neighbors can come together to honor Dr. King's legacy, too, and move us closer to his vision of a "Beloved Community."
The following are a number of ideas for day of service activities, gathered from a variety of sources.
Host a Teddy Bear and Friends Drive: Collect clean/slightly used stuffed animals then donate to hospitals or a homeless shelter for new arrivals, or your local police or fire station. A teddy bear can bring comfort to children in times of distress.
Make Hygiene Kits for the Homeless: Organize your group to collect hotel samples or purchase travel-sized items from a dollar store to complete the kits. You may even ask your dentist if they would like to contribute to the cause.
Remember Service Men & Women: Send care packages to deployed troops, veterans, and wounded soldiers. Write a letter of gratitude for their service.
Visit with Individuals at a Senior Center: Consider singing, playing an instrument, or volunteering to read magazines, books, or letters.
Pitch In For the Elderly: Organize your group to shovel snow, set up a meal delivery, or do another good deed for elderly people in the community. If you don’t have an elderly neighbor, consider a senior citizens neighborhood community.
Adopt A Park: Decide on a park to adopt. Grab some trash bags and pick up trash to beautify the park. Getting outside to care for the environment is a great way spend a few hours.
Donate Old Linens to an Animal Shelter: Donate old bath towels, blankets and sheets to your local animal shelter. These household items are used for bedding, clean up, and keeping the animals warm.
Book Collection: Collect used magazines, paperbacks, and novels to donate to local organizations or shelters. These places are often overlooked when a group is hosting a book drive.
Recycle Old Athletic Shoes: Sneakers can be transformed into sports surfaces like running tracks, baseball fields and basketball courts. Nike’s Reuse-a-Shoe program has ground down more than 28 millions pairs of shoes turning them into more than 450,000 sports surfaces around the world.
Collect Eyeglasses: Many nonprofit organizations collect old glasses and repurpose them by sending them to people in need.
Stand Up Against Hunger: Collect non-perishable food items from neighbors, family and friends and donate to your local food bank. Before collecting items, check out your local food bank’s website to see what items are accepted or most needed.
Toy Drive: Gather unbroken used baby and toddler toys in good condition from friends, family, and neighbors. Donate these items to a nearby church, synagogue, mosque, or temple for their youngest members.
Help A Child To Read: Become a literacy volunteer to tutor children at your local library or at an afterschool program.
Host a Coat Drive: Drop off donated coats at a local homeless shelter.
Make Blankets: Take a trip to your local fabric store to purchase fleece and other supplies for residents to make a variety of no-sew blankets that can be donated to a local charity. Easy directions can be found online.
Cards for the Elderly: Make cards to give to a home for senior citizens.
Make Placemats: Decorate placemats for Meals on Wheels or an organization that delivers meals to those in need.
Help Others from Different Countries: Donate household or baby items to refugees through the local refugee organization.