Martin Luther King Jr. Day

[http://www.mlkday.gov/]

January 18th, 2010

Overview

In 1994 Congress passed the King Holiday and Service Act, designating the King Holiday as a national day of volunteer service. Instead of a day off from work or school, Congress asked Americans of all backgrounds and ages to celebrate Dr. King's legacy by turning community concerns into citizen action. The King Day of Service brings together people who might not ordinarily meet, breaks down barriers that have divided us in the past, leads to better understanding and ongoing relationships, and is an opportunity to recruit new volunteers for your ongoing work. See below for Montana AmeriCorps members Project Examples from 2008.

2009 Member Projects:

There are several Montana MLK service projects registered on the national site that are seeking volunteers. To check them out, go to http://my.mlkday.gov/public/indexSearch.aspx and click on Montana.

The Presidential Inaugural Committee is also organizing service activities nationwide. Find or create an event.

Helena
Dancing for the Dream - The Governor's Office of Community Service, in conjunction with ACMAC and community members, is hosting a diversity fair in the Capitol Rotunda starting at 2pm. Lt. Governor John Bohlinger will give the opening remarks. There will be a screening of Martin Luther King Jr.'s "I Have a Dream" speech in addition to various cultural dance performances. All are welcome to attend this event.

The diversity fair will follow a morning of service around the community. There will be an opportunity for volunteers to help sort food at the FoodShare warehouse, among other projects. More information to follow. Click the mlkday.gov link above to sign up as a volunteer. Opportunities will be posted to that site as plans are finalized.

Lake County (Ronan, Pablo, Polson)
There will be three days of events in the week prior to MLK Day. All events will take place at Salish Kootenai College in Pablo. On Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday (January 12th-14th) there will be a film festival showcasing films from all over the world. Tuesday will kick off with a local foods lunch, and Wednesday there will be two dance performances (12-1, and 5-6). Thursday afternoon there will be a diversity fair with displays from various organizations throughout the area. Some displays will have interactive activities for the children who attend the fair. The theme this year is "What Unites Us".

Crow
Crow site will be hosting a coat drive at the multi-purpose building in Crow Agency. Volunteers will be accepting donated coats that are in good condition for all ages. The volunteers who participate on this day will be given free MLK service day shirts. Hot cocoa and cookies will be served to everyone. The Crow Housing Authority’s media team will be taking pictures so that we can capture these happy faces while they pick out their very own warm winter coat.

Please contact gro.gnisuohworc|nosreffeja#gro.gnisuohworc|nosreffeja if you wish to participate or donate.

Butte
On January 19, MM$ and Tech Campus Corps are joining together with Human Right Network, TAPS-Taking Action for Peaceful Solutions, Sacred Ground, Habitat for Humanity of Southwest Montana, Butte Family YMCA, and Consumer Credit Counseling Service/Rural Dynamics Incorporated
to sponsor a community MLK observance speech at 5:30 PM in the Butte Courthouse. Afterward, there will be a pot luck dinner hosted at St. John's Episcopal Church. The MLK day speech will be delivered by Eran Thompson of the Not in Our Town organization. All AmeriCorps members in Butte are welcome and encouraged to participate.

Please contact Michaelynn Hawk (406-723-5176 or gro.tmsccc|kwahm#gro.tmsccc|kwahm ) if you wish to participate and bring a dish for the potluck.

Billings
MSU-Billings Campus Corps team will be hosting a week of events. Starting on Monday the 19th, there will be a morning bell ringing and ceremony (speaker TBD) and "I Have A Dream" wall where students/attendees will write their dreams on hand cutouts and put on mural, along with MLK quotes. Tuesday, a showing of Presidential Inauguration in Student Union, Lunch theme of diversity and Political Science professor presentation. Wednesday, an underground railroad simulation where participants are slaves using the URR to escape to freedom. Thursday, an I Have a Dream Rally featuring a showing of MLK's speech. Saturday, a service project TBA. All events take place at the MSU-Billings campus and participants are welcome

For more information, please contact Megan Jung at moc.liamg|nagem.gnuj#moc.liamg|nagem.gnuj

Miles City
On January 19th, 2008, the Miles Community College Multicultural Club will celebrate the anniversary of Martin Luther King Jr’s birthday and participate in the national Martin Luther King Day of Service. To honor King’s memory, the Miles Community College Multicultural Club plans to show a documentary called Citizen King at the Miles Community College.

Citizen King* is an in depth documentary that looks at the contributions and legacy of Martin Luther King Jr. The film encompasses King’s life from 1963-1968 and focuses on his fight for equality and his struggle against poverty.

King left not only a legacy of fighting for civil rights, but also fought to make sure that people had the dignity of living without hunger. Thus, we ask the community to bring one canned good as a price of admission to the film showing. All goods collected will be donated to the food bank.

Refreshments will be provided at the film screening. The showing will begin at 6:30PM in room 316 of Miles Community College on January 19th. For more information please contact Robin Gerber at 406-874-6193 or Everet Yi at 253-222-4715

*Subject to change

Great Falls & Other*
MLSA member Amber Murrey-Ndewa and MM$ members Steve Cape, Georgiana Horn, Megan Powell and Ali Smith are collecting children's books, adult books, text books, 'how to' books, religious books, and magazines for the Center for Communal Skills Building in Yaoundé, Cameroon, Central Africa. Collection sites include: GFPL, UGFL, and GF Senior Center. For additional info email Amber at moc.evil|awedn-yerrumrebma#moc.evil|awedn-yerrumrebma Check out the Center for Communal Skills Building website at: www.ccsbcameroon.com.

Havre
The Campus Corps team at MSU-Northern has created a booklet, to be distributed at the Havre Boys & Girls Club on MLK Day. The booklet includes the history of and facts about 50 different nationalities prevalent in Montana.

For an electronic copy of the booklet, please contact the Northern Campus Corps team at ude.nusm|sproCiremA#ude.nusm|sproCiremA after January 19th.

Missoula

Project Homeless Connect A day of hope for those in need… With the support of Mayor Engen and the Missoula County Commissioners, the Missoula At-Risk Housing Coalition is planning Missoula’s third annual Project Homeless Connect. Project Homeless Connect is a one-day, one-stop event aimed at connecting the homeless and those at risk of becoming homeless with core services. AmeriCorps members will offer one-on-one support throughout the day. Training for the day takes place on Wednesday, January 28 — stop by anytime between 9AM and 3PM for a short orientation to activities on the 29th. No appointments are necessary! For more information, contact Melissa at 258-4980. To volunteer, contact Curtis at 549-4555 or Caitlin at 829-3928.

Pizza & Civic Reflection at 6:30pm in the OCE for our Campus Corps team and the Hollywood Alternative Break Participants. We will be discussing the short poem “Niki Rosa” as it relates to our understanding of privilege.

“King, Kennedy, Nixon, and the Election of 1960,” at 7:30pm in the Gallaher Business Building 123 there will be a UM lecture by Irwin Gellman, who has completed the first of a 3-volume biography of Richard Nixon.


Past Project Examples

In 2008, AmeriCorps members were involved in the following projects:

BIG TIMBER
The Learn and Serve program at SGHS is recognizing student volunteers in community and church youth groups, student tutors and mentors, student leaders in youth organizations, etc. They are also holding a week-long drive for needed items for their local food bank.

BILLINGS
Volunteers with RSVP and the Foster Grandparent Program will work with students at the Boys of Girls Club of Yellowstone County to make cards for soldiers stationed overseas from 9 a.m. – 11 a.m. on Monday, January 21st. VISTA volunteers from area organizations will help to facilitate the project.
Billings Campus Corps, in honor of MLK Day, will celebrate age differences. On January 26th, Campus Corps members and recruited students will be playing Family Feud with the residents of St. Johns Lutheran Ministries Retirement Home from 10:00 AM-12:00 PM.

BROWNING
Graffiti will be removed at the College Campus Building, and the surrounding area will be cleaned up.

BUTTE
Montana Tech Campus Corps will be helping Suited for Success, a local nonprofit organization that provides interview and work clothing to low income men and women. They will be cleaning out their storage rooms, sorting though clothing and organizing the storage rooms.

GREAT FALLS
Volunteers are needed to take Oral histories of RSVP volunteers. The purpose of this project is to help RSVP Staff gather information about the volunteers for volunteer recognition purposes.
RSVP Cartridge Recycling Organizing Party - Volunteers will organize ink and toner cartridges and prepare them for shipping to be recycled. This project reduces the community’s impact on the landfill, and will help raise matching funds for the North Central MT Retired Senior Volunteer Program. Citizens are welcome to bring ink and toner cartridges, cell phones, newspaper, phone books, magazines, office paper, cardboard, and aluminum cans to be donated to RSVP to be recycled.

HAMILTON
An AmeriCorps team will be serving the Bitterroot Attention Home, a home for at risk youth, for MLK day. Donations will be presented and group activities dealing with prejudice and discrimination will be facilitated. Several projects around the house will be completed and dinner will be prepared. A prejudice reduction workshop will be facilitated by the National Coalition Building Institute.

HAVRE
An essay contest will take place and is open to all 6th through 8th grade students. The students are asked to select one of Martin Luther King Jr. quotes from four offered and base a 300-500 word essay on that quote. The essays will be judged by SEA members from MSU-Northern and all entries are to be submitted to the MT Campus Corps office by January 8th. The winner will be announced on MLK Day and will receive a $50.00 U.S. Savings Bond provided by Wells Fargo Bank, a personalized plaque provided by MT Campus Corps, and an opportunity to be published in the Havre Daily News.

HELENA
Carroll College’s Campus Corps members are having a diversity fair for elementary school children in the Helena area. The fair will include various activity booths where children can learn about Martin Luther King Jr., and the value of diversity in our world today. There will be performers and ethnic food donated by local restaurants.

SIDNEY
Communities in Action VISTAs will engage the community by passing out carnations to Richland County residents to celebrate Random Acts of Kindness/MLK Day. The flowers are meant to inspired recipients to pass a good deed onto others in return. Volunteers are needed to pass out te carnations.

Resources

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