January 10, 2018

Martin Luther King Jr. Day Holiday a day ON, not a day off!


Make the upcoming Martin Luther King Jr. Day holiday a day ON, not a day off! On Monday, January 15, join thousands of others to honor Dr. King’s life and teachings by serving our community as part of Montgomery County’s 2018 MLK Day of Service.

The Montgomery County Volunteer Center and its partner agencies are hosting a wide variety of family-friendly service projects at three indoor locations providing residents a meaningful way to help others.

The largest site, the Bethesda North Marriott Hotel and Conference Center is located at 5701 Marinelli Road in North Bethesda. This site will feature dozens of service projects and a volunteer fair where participants can learn about nonprofits and government agencies in our region and their year-round volunteer needs. North Bethesda activities will be held from 1 to 3 p.m.

Additional service sites are at the Silver Spring Civic Building located at 1 Veterans Place from 10 a.m. to 12 noon and Seneca Creek Community Church located at 13 Firstfield Road in Gaithersburg from 9 to 11 a.m.

Projects will vary by location and include opportunities such as packaging food for the hungry, crafting costumes for hospitalized children, making dog toys for animal shelters and service dogs, creating hand warmers for the homeless, and writing letters to seniors and military troops. Students are eligible to receive Student Service Learning (SSL) hour credits for participating at any of the three locations.

Several of the Volunteer Center’s partner agencies will hold additional service activities throughout the MLK Day weekend, including Manna Food Center, which seeks volunteers to staff food drives at local Giant Food Stores, and Montgomery Parks, which is coordinating park cleanups and other volunteer activities. Find more details and more ways to serve during the weekend (and all year) at www.montgomeryserves.org.