triangle.com | Home

On the annual MLK Holiday, The Triangle United Way in conjunction with the Martin Luther King Committees of Raleigh & Durham, this project will involve On the annual MLK Holiday, The Triangle United Way in conjunction with the Martin Luther King Committees of Raleigh & Durham, this project will involve thousands of volunteers to go into various communities in Durham, Raleigh and Chapel Hill to provide hand's on service to residents.

2008 Raleigh/Durham MLK Day Community Service Program
Monday, January 21, 2008

Purpose:
The MLK Day Community Service Program will join hundreds of other cities across the nation who honor the King Holiday by mobilizing thousands of everyday citizens in service projects that connect people to King’s philosophy of service and brotherly love. The MLK Day Community Service Program will expand involvement in the King Holiday by youth, parents, grandparents and organizations across the region who care about valuing diversity and keeping Dr. King’s dream alive. The goal is to ignite the spirit of community by providing a quality experience for volunteers of all ages and the opportunity to create lasting results across the Triangle region.

Lead Program Sponsors:
Partners Already Committed to Date (Expand This List)
Triangle United Way
Raleigh Martin Luther King Committee, Inc.
Durham Martin Luther King Steering Committee
North Carolina Martin Luther King Resource Center, Inc.
North Carolina State University King Service Challenge
The Clarence E. Lightner Youth Leadership Endowment Fund, Inc.
Passage Home Community Development Corporation
Research Triangle Park Black Diversity Network
Durham Business And Professional Chain
Cary Martin Luther King Task Force
Strengthening The Black Family Conference
RTP IBM Corporate Diversity Committee
The Volunteer Center of Durham
Chapel Hill-Carrboro NAACP
Triangle Lost Generation Task Force
Raleigh's "Pride" Teens of America
Volunteer Center Of Durham
Jack & Jill Club of Cary
Town Of Wake Forest
Town Of Chapel Hill
City Of Durham
City Of Raleigh

1. The 2008 King Service Day Planning Committee lead coordinators will include Craig Chancellor, President of Triangle United Way, Mr. Bruce Lightner, Chairman, Raleigh MLK Committee and an assistant coordinator representing the Triangle United Way African American Leadership Initiative.

2. The 2008 King Service Day Planning Committee will be goverened by selecting 10 members from each county: Durham, Raleigh, Orange/Chapel Hill and Cary. Representatives will ensure linkage to the broader committee and determine/select the emphasis of service projects for each specific community. Ideal committee members will be individuals with ability to engage:
- small and major corporations
- schools
- civic and religious organizations
- neighborhood associations
- clergy and multicultural congregations
- organizations including college, middle or high school students/student leaders
- youth-serving organizations
- human service agencies.

3. A 3-4 person volunteer steering committee will manage finances of the overall King Service Day Planning Committee Program in order to ensure accountability and reporting to all sponsors.

4. January 21stis the official Service Project date although community projects can be conducted during the entire week-end beginning January 19th.

5. The team will identify as many potential service projects as possible for interested teams and organizations and encourage groups to select the project that fits their interest and capacity. Projects will be located across the Triangle region. Projects leaders will be asked to recruit members/volunteers of different ethnic and religious affiliations in order to connect as many people as possible to Dr. King’s legacy of service to the beloved community. Projects will be designed to increase awareness of existing health and human services available to support seniors, youth, single parents, and people seeking basic needs.

6. Strategies will be developed to specifically engage middle school and high school age youth (12-18 years old), and to empower them to select and execute a project. Rewards will be identified for targeted youth and their parents or selected mentor/adult who assists in executing the project. Youth will be rewarded with community service credits, summer jobs or linked to prospective employers who agree to develop on-going relationships and provide support based on meeting specific education and civic requirements.

7. A signature project to benefit a specific target group and neighborhood or community will be identified and executed by the Planning Team and the MLK Committee on January 21.

8. A project tool kit will be created and made available on the MLK website and TUW’s website to help teams select and organize projects.

9. Fund-raising for the signature and overall program will be done by the lead coordinators and the Steering Committee, and must not duplicate efforts to retain sponsors for the existing Martin Luther King Celebration events. Organizations and foundations not currently sponsoring the 2008 MLK Holiday activities will be targeted for the King Service Day.
to provide hand's on service to residents.