Martin Luther King Jr. Day at City Year Sacramento
“Everybody can be great…because anybody can serve. You don’t have to have a college degree to serve. You don’t have to make your subject and verb agree to serve. You only need a heart full of grace. A soul generated by love.” – Martin Luther King Jr.
City Year draws a lot of inspiration from Dr. King, and it is most evident on Martin Luther King Jr. Day. Instead of taking the day off, each year, all 29 City Year sites have a “day on” for service, partnering with our communities and local champions for a day of physical service. This year in Sacramento, our AmeriCorps members participated in a community march as well as service projects at two of our partner schools.
The 39th annual MLK Walk 365: March for the Dream honors the civil rights leader Martin Luther King, Jr. The four-mile march runs on the mission “Honoring the past, Impacting the future.” City Year Sacramento AmeriCorps members assisted in multiple capacities this year: we started and ended the day strong, assisting with the set-up and closing of MLK 365 Walk at Sacramento City College. We supported the Education Village by connecting with neighborhood families through arts and crafts. We also spread the word about City Year to march participants, sharing our experiences so far in our year of service.
Improvement projects and physical service were flourishing at two of our school sites, Father Keith B. Kenny Elementary and Fern Bacon Middle School. The weather was on our side as we painted murals to brighten up these campuses and make them feel even more welcoming. Gardens were weeded, classrooms cleaned, and hospitality packs were made for our students. These impactful acts of service would not have been possible without the help of Kaiser Permanente, the Fern Bacon’s City Year team school sponsor; Hands On Sacramento; and the City Year Sacramento Civic Engagement team.
Martin Luther King Jr. Day is an amazing time to connect our mission and impact to our larger community. By coming together, we reinforce the importance of service for a cause greater than self.
To see our day of service first-hand, be sure to check out the MLK Day Highlight on our Instagram, @cityyearsacramento.
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