MELROSE — All are invited to participate in the annual Martin Luther King Jr. Day of Service on Monday, January 20. This day of service encourages community members to honor Dr. King’s legacy by engaging in acts of service.
The MLK Jr. Day of Service will begin at 9:30 a.m. with breakfast at the Melrose Unitarian Universalist Church (MUUC), 70 West Emerson St., Melrose. Here volunteers will have the opportunity to sign up for service projects being hosted by community organizations and places of worship throughout the city. Volunteer activities include readings and discussions about Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. for children and their caregivers, cleaning the Milano Center, clearing trails in the Middlesex Fells, preparing dinners and decorating cookies for Bread of Life, packing backpacks for a Backpack Nutrition Program, shopping for the Pantry of Hope and learning how to contribute to The Food Drive’s Melrose Community Freezer.
At 10 a.m. volunteers can depart for their chosen service projects or they can stay at MUUC for two one-hour presentations. The presentation at 10 a.m. will focus on the work of the Melrose-based Immigrant Support Alliance (ISA) including the state of immigration in Massachusetts. Additionally, ISA will be collecting personal care items for refugees staying at hotels in Saugus and Burlington. Suggested items include toothpaste, deodorant, bar soap, shaving supplies and smaller sized bottles of shampoo or lotion. Items will be collected during the breakfast sign-up and the pizza lunch. The presentation at 11 a.m. will be on the State of Systemic Racism in Melrose which will report racial disparities across Melrose institutions based on data analyzed by the Reparations for Melrose working group.
At 12 p.m. volunteers will return to MUUC for pizza lunch followed by a ceremony at 12:30 p.m. This will include a performance from the Melrose MLK Day Choir and a community reading of Dr. King’s “I Have a Dream” speech.
For up-to-date information, visit facebook.com/MLKJrDayofServiceinMelrose.