Delaware

Record Number of Volunteers To Participate in Local Martin Luther King Jr. Day of Service

Thousands of volunteers will pay it forward throughout the region on Monday to mark the annual Martin Luther King Jr. Day of Service.

Here are some of the main events happening in our region, where a record 140,000 volunteers are expected to participate:

  • Some 5,000 volunteers will gather at North Philadelphia's Girard College for the city's signature day of service activities, including projects, workshops, trainings, a health fair, a job fair, a kids' carnival and a performance by the Philadelphia Orchestra. Mayor Jim Kenney, U.S. Sen. Bob Casey, Police Commissioner Richard Ross, the Phillie Phanatic and a number of other guests are expected to attend.
  • Rutgers-Camden will host a reading of Martin Luther King's Letters from Birmingham Jail beginning at 9:30 a.m. in the multi-purpose room on the main level of the Campus Center. At 9:45 a.m., volunteers from the university will beautify the Liney Ditch Park in the South Waterfront neighborhood.
  • Volunteers will spend the day painting and making over Martin Luther King Jr. High School, at Stenton Avenue and Haines Street in Philadelphia's East Germantown neighborhood.
  • At noon, a symbolic ringing of the Liberty Bell will take place on Independence Mall, at 5th and Market streets. Former Gov. Ed Rendell and U.S. Sen. Bob Casey are expected to be in attendance at the ringing.
  • Immediately after, the Philadelphia Martin Luther King Jr. Association for Nonviolence will host its annual awards luncheon at the Sheraton Downtown Philadelphia Hotel, at 16th and Race streets. Award honorees include Herman "Pete" Matthews, of AFSCME District Council 33, retired Philadelphia City Councilwoman Marian Tasco and 900AM WURD and cable talk-show host Thera Martin Milling, among others.
  • At 11 a.m., the Philadelphia Eagles' own Connor Barwin will be honored at the 25th annual National Stop the Violence Alliance event at the Holiday Inn in Cherry Hill, N.J. Tickets are $50, and the event runs until 3 p.m. Barwin, a native of Detroit, will be honored for the work he has done through his nonprofit, the MTWB Foundation. The Rev. Robin Scott-King, a niece of Martin Luther King Jr., will also be honored at the event and serve as its keynote speaker.
  • In Delaware, Red Clay School District in New Castle County will hold a clothing drive from 10 a.m. to noon. Donations of new and gently used clothing can be dropped off at Brandywine Springs School's cafeteria at 2916 Duncan Rd. in Pike Creek. The drive will benefit Friendship House.
  • In Philadelphia, Merchants and staff from Reading Terminal Market will prepare and deliver lunches for 2,500 volunteers participating in the day of service around Philadelphia. Mayor Jim Kenney is expected to stop by the market about 7:30 a.m. to greet workers as they prepare the meals in an initiative organized by Kim and George Mickel, who own Hunger Burger and By George in the market.

More local MLK events can be found here.

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