New York State Commission on
National & Community Service

New York State Commission on
National & Community Service

Martin Luther King Junior Day 2010
A Day ON for National Service Programs in New York State!

ONCS MLK Day Logo

The New York State Commission on National and Community Service encourages all New York national service programs to participate in Martin Luther King Service events each year. In 2010, the State Commission was directly involved with New York’s MLK Day Celebration at the Empire State Plaza in Albany, debuting the Commission’s new Public Service Announcement to attendees and informing attendees about ways to volunteer in their communities.

Congratulations to all New York State Citizens who answer our President and Governor’s Call to Service each day of the year!

Many service events commemorating Dr. King occurred throughout the state and nation in January 2010. While many events occurred throughout the state, below is a sampling of New York’s MLK Day activities:

Click here to read the full story about a few of New York State’s Martin Luther King Jr. Day events.

Student Conservation Association AmeriCorps

On Tuesday January 19th, 2010, service members with the SCA Hudson Valley AmeriCorps program recognized Martin Luther King Jr. Day by serving at the Sadie Peterson Delaney African Roots Library. The Library is a grassroots initiative located in the Family Partnership Center in Poughkeepsie, New York, focusing on the African contribution to history and culture. With an informative collection of books, videos, and programming for all ages, the Library has built pride among African-American children. The African Roots Library has a growing collection of materials authored by people of color, and also serves the Poughkeepsie community by providing after-school activities for local youth. The SCA Hudson Valley Corps assisted with shelving library materials, computer maintenance, and general library clean-up. Corps members living in the area also hope to become involved in future educational programs offered by the Library. SCA members learned a great deal from volunteer library staff, while working hard and having fun.

Community Counseling and Mediation

On Sunday, January 17, 2010, eighteen CCM AmeriCorps members gathered at P.S. 57 James Weldon Johnson School in East Harlem, NY to assist Children for Children’s event set up for the MLK day event on the following day. The members were responsible for carrying and setting up tables to be used for service projects on the following day. The members worked with other volunteers in an effort to prepare for the next day’s event. One of the biggest jobs of the day was the laying of a massive amount of paper and tape on the schools’ entire gym floor. This particular job took almost all of the members’ effort in order to complete. The other members assisted downstairs with preparing the tables to be used for volunteer and participant sign-up. In addition, other member tasks involved creating signs for the next day’s event. As a whole, members worked very intensely and closely with the staff of Children for Children in preparation for the following day in event which anticipated 2,000 youth would participate.

Rochester AmeriCorps

On the day that celebrates the life and achievement of civil rights leader Martin Luther King, Jr., 40 local AmeriCorps members, nine Rochester Youth Year VISTA members and 13 members of the City of Rochester P.R.I.M.E. Program (a job readiness program) worked together at two Volunteers of America locations.

The Rochester AmeriCorps MLK Day Project brought together the three programs to assist Rochester’s Volunteers of America, an organization dedicated to enabling people in our community break the cycle of poverty and reach their full potential. At the Lake Avenue address, volunteers sorted, painted and beautified the facility. A second group of volunteers cleaned, sorted, organized and disinfected at the Ward St. shelter.

Red Hook Public Safety Corps

The Red Hook Public Safety Corps partnered with local schools in the area to spread awareness about service and to unite the community. The day began with AmeriCorps Members giving an overview of MLK Day and the meaning of volunteerism. Following this members of the community were brought together to create a unity quilt which will highlight the" meaning of community" . Members ended the day with a park cleanup and creation of bird feeders with kids from the local schools.

Genesee County AmeriCorps

In the spirit of Martin Luther King Day, the Genesee County AmeriCorps program, in partnership with RSVP of Genesee Co., hosted the first annual “Be a Star-GO Volunteer!” Fair. The goal of this event was to connect potential volunteers with organizations that rely on their service, and we did just that! 25 agencies attended, representing a broad cross section of the community, and nearly 30 people from the general public attended. In a matter of just 2 hours, RSVP signed up 2 new volunteers, the Salvation Army got the contact information for 10 individuals, and the County Park spoke with three interested people, two of which came to an event the very next day! These successes, amongst others, were highlighted on the front page of our local newspaper. One of the unanticipated benefits of bringing together so many service organizations was the networking that resulted. A VISTA member representing the Red Cross felt that he made, “many great connections,” and two agencies which happened to be sitting at the same table realized that they should be referring clients to each others’ services. Even though the fair was small, this concept has great potential within our county. We look forward to sustaining and expanding this project in the future.

Oswego AmeriCorps

Oswego AmeriCorps members came together on Saturday, January 16th, 2010 and Monday, January 18th, 2010 (Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Day) with two service events to honor Dr. King’s legacy of service in the Oswego community. On Saturday, January 16th the members participated in a Salvation Army soup kitchen located temporarily at St. Mary’s. They cooked and served a chili lunch to approximately 30 people and provided a box of children’s toys for the attendees to take. On Sunday, January 18th, 2010, some members helped to put on activities related to Dr. King’s teachings about peace for the children at the School’s Out program at the Oswego YMCA. The children enjoyed the activities and all the crafts they were able to do, such as putting together a “Dr. King message quilt” and making peace bracelets. Another activity they enjoyed was the Disability Obstacle Course that included wearing big glasses that were mostly covered with tape and shooting a basketball to simulate a visual disability.

**Click Here to Read all the Great Stories from MLK Day 2010**

Fellow New Yorkers,

Welcome to the New Yorkers Volunteer website! This interactive site is designed to help you find opportunities to volunteer across the State and to enhance the recruitment capabilities for so many of New York’s community organizations. Click here to read Governor Paterson's full letter!

$50 Million in Social Innovation Funding Now Available - Click here for more information how effective non-profits working in low-income communities can apply Serve America Act A-Z Is AmeriCorps Right for My Organization? Click here for more information about 2011-12 AmeriCorps Funding Give a Day. Get a Disney Day! Click here for information how you can get a FREE ticket to a Disney Park by volunteering!