Local nonprofit Civic Works will honor Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.’s legacy by rallying 300 volunteers to participate in its annual MLK Day of Service, “A Day On, Not a Day Off.”
Hundreds of volunteers will work across seven project sites, banding together to make a hands-on impact in Baltimore. There are corporate volunteer groups participating, including the Orioles, Live Casinos & Hotels, Actalent, and Aerotek. Local churches and nonprofits will participate, as will individuals.
One of the participating nonprofits is Civic Works YouthBuild Closet Project. YouthBuild is an organization which gives a second chance to Baltimore City youth who have dropped out of high school. The program offers construction training and certifications, assistance in earning a high school diploma or GED, and job placement services.
Civic Works MLK Day of Service activities will include organizing warehouses and facilities that lend to the community, cleaning public spaces, landscaping urban farms, gardening, and more.
Civic Works has been focusing on service as a means of strengthening Baltimore’s community for 30 years. It has helped train residents for jobs, made homes safer and more energy efficient, helped grow fresh, healthy food for underserved populations, and much more. By the numbers, Civic Works has tutored 59,705 students, retrofitted 5,063 homes to make them safer for older adults, transformed 295 vacant lots, distributed over 330,000 pounds of healthy food to underserved communities.
The birthday of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. is a federal holiday celebrated on the third Monday in January, this year falling on Jan. 20, 2024. His actual date of birth is Jan. 15, 1929. Many employers and community-focused organizations perform acts of public service to pay homage to Dr. King, one of the most prominent figures in the Civil Rights movements whose legacy lives on well past his assassination in 1968.
Only the federal government is required to give paid time off to their employees on federal holidays, though in Maryland it is also a state employee holiday, and Baltimore City employees also have an official holiday that day.
To learn more about Civic Works, click this link.
