MLK Day of Service 2009 Monday, January 19, 9:30 a.m. - 2:30 p.m. Registration will begin in November 2008.

 
On the third Monday every January, Americans across the country celebrate the national holiday honoring the life and work of Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. As of August 23rd, 1994, Congress passed the King Holiday and Service Act, which expanded the mission of the holiday as a day of community service, interracial cooperation, and youth anti-violence initiatives. Since then the Corporation of National and Community Service, in partnership with the Martin Luther King, Jr. Center for Nonviolent Social Change, Inc. has taken the lead in helping to transform the King’s life and teachings into community service that helps solve social problems.

"Everybody can be great, because everybody can serve." -Dr. King

This will be our 12th Annual Martin Luther King, Jr., Day of Service event at the University of South Carolina - Columbia. Through the partnership between Carolina Service Council, a student organization, and the staff of Community Service Programs, we enabled over 400 students, staff, and faculty to serve the local non-profits during last year's day of commemoration. Many were sent to sites like the Habitat for Humanity, the American Red Cross center to paint and clean, and Hope Worldwide to play with children while helping with a literacy project. Each year the event grows and we project around 450 people will participate on January 19, 2008. Through hard work and fun, the students of the MLK Day of Service Committee give the people at USC the opportunity to create a tangible expression of their concerns for the community.