MLK Day of Service

By Sherri Goudy

Today is Martin Luther King, Jr. Day. Legislation signed in 1983 marked the birthday of the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. as a federal holiday. In 1994, Congress designated the Martin Luther King Jr. Federal Holiday as a national day of service and charged the Corporation for National and Community Service (CNCS), the federal agency that leads service and volunteering, with leading this effort. Each year, on the third Monday in January, the MLK Day of Service is observed as a "day on, not a day off." MLK Day of Service is intended to empower individuals, strengthen communities, bridge barriers, create solutions to social problems, and move us closer to Dr. King's vision of a "Beloved Community."

The women we have featured in our posts are examples of what it means to serve the community. As we honor the legacy of King, let us think also of these empowered, brave women who faced adversity to achieve a better place for us to live. Let us use today not as a “day off” but as a “day on” - to find what it is in each of us that we can use to give back.