MLK DAY 2014
Life's most persistent and urgent question is: "What are you doing for others?" For the fifth annual MLK Day of Service, 800 college students from ten Oregon colleges and universities volunteered their time at multiple service sites throughout southeast Portland and Gresham. The students performed neighborhood clean-ups, restoration projects, and prepared thousands of college access packets.
The day started with a rally at David Douglas High School. The students were welcomed to David Douglas by the Director of Student Services, Barb Kienle, who championed the diversity of the school and the commitment to getting every single student graduated and most of them going on to college after. The rally continued with an inspirational song, performed by Jesus Vasquez and Paapa hMensa, and a speech delivered by Senator Jeff Merkley. Merkley, a former David Douglas student, asked the crowd "how do we make the world better? Who will change the world, who will work for justice?" He spoke about reclaiming a vision of aspiration, about getting back to a place where education was seen as the most important key to success. Being a son of a machinist, he recalled being dropped off at school with a mission to improve the world through education. He described fighting for this vision with policy as the students fight for this vision with volunteerism. After the rally, students began serving at sites in southeast Portland and Gresham. They performed neighborhood clean ups and completed restoration projects in parks and inside schools. There was a book clean up and distribution project. In addition to these service projects, all these students focused on career and college readiness by creating resource, information, and inspiration kits for over 5,000 local high school juniors. Throughout the day, these students brought home the legacy of Dr. King with their commitment to service and equity. Neglected streets were cleaned, forgotten parks tended, and hope and aspirations were shared from one student to another. |
You are the dream...go forward and make a better world. |
In total
- 800 college students volunteered at 14 different service sites throughout southeast Portland and Gresham.
- Dozens of bags of trash were collected through the neighborhood clean ups.
- 200 student volunteer hours cleaning and processing books will lead to book donations to 200 children in the community.
- 5,000 college preparation packets were created and distributed to Multnomah and Marion County high school juniors.
- Students’ volunteerism had an economic impact of over $46,392 in Multnomah County. Economic impact is calculated by the estimated value of volunteer time reported by the Independent Sector.
Previous MLK Days
Thank you, PARTNERS
We offer a big thank you to our partners and supporters, the 2014 MLK Day of Service could not have happened without your support:
Chemeketa Community College College Possible Concordia University Cover Oregon David Douglas High School George Fox University Gilbert Heights Elementary School Gilbert Park Elementary School Gresham High School Hands On Greater Portland KIND Bar Lewis & Clark College Marshall High School Marylhurst University Menlo Park Elementary School Mill Park Elementary School Mt. Hood Community College Parkrose High School, Portland Community College Portland State University Reed College Reynolds High School Sam Barlow High School Shaver Elementary School Warner Pacific College |
THANK YOU KIND BAR!
A BIG thank you to KIND Bar for coming out and supporting students "doing the KIND thing".
From the healthy snacks, to their commitment to social entrepreneurship with impact, KIND Healthy Snacks is focused is on making the world a little kinder, one act at a time. To that end, KIND supports high impact programs through their "Doing the KIND thing" Project. To learn about this project, visit http://projects.kindsnacks.com/. ABOUTThe MLK Day of Service is a collaborative of Oregon colleges facilitated by ORCC. To honor and celebrate Dr. King's legacy, we unite our community to serve the places that we live, work, and study. Annually, it is the largest mobilization of college students in the country on MLK Day. This event is made possible by a grant from the Corporation for National and Community Service.
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