SEEDS: Students for Education, Empowerment, & Direct Service
MLK Day of Service
Join the Portland Reed Alumni Association in volunteering on Martin Luther King Jr. Day 2009!
WHY SERVE ON KING DAY?
Dr. King recognized the power of service to strengthen communities and achieve common goals. As he once said, “Everybody can be great because everybody can serve.” King Day of Service honors that legacy by seeking to transform the holiday from simply a day off from school or work for millions of Americans to a day ON-that is, a day of community service that strengthens communities, empowers individuals, bridges social barriers, and moves us closer to the “Beloved Community” that Dr. King worked toward.
VOLUNTEER DAY: Monday, January 19th, 2009
TIME: Meet at the vans at Reed at 8:15 am (for those needing a ride), volunteer from 9 am - 12 noon, with an optional lunch out or return to Reed afterwards.
PROJECT: Join Hands on Portland as the David Douglas School District librarians guide volunteers through covering hardback and paperback books, protecting them for future use at various school libraries in the district. David Douglas is one the largest and most ethnically diverse school districts in Oregon--and the poverty rate of the adults in the David Douglas High School District is high and continues to grow. Currently, over 64% of students receive a free or reduced lunch, an indicator of high poverty. Support librarians, teachers, students; encourage reading; and protect library books, a precious resource!
Manual dexterity and/or a knack for a task like gift wrapping are a plus on this project as we need people who will carefully cover books. This project is great for families with kids ages 12 and older. Youth under 14 must attend with a parent/adult chaperone. Volunteers under age 18 must bring a waiver signed by a Parent/Guardian (email SEEDS for a link to the waiver.) This project is disability-friendly. The school building is wheelchair accessible and the project will be done while seated at a table. The project requires manual dexterity. SEEDS will provide water bottles and tasty snacks.
To sign-up, email Fawn at SEEDS by NOON on Friday, January 16th.
Please let me know if you'd like to ride in the van to the site or meet us at the school. (I'll email you directions.) Thanks and I
hope to see you there!
About the Day
Each year on the third Monday of January, schools, federal offices, post offices, and banks across America close as we celebrate the birth, the life, and the dream of the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. It is a time for the nation to remember the injustices that Dr. King stood against, but more importantly the basic rights he stood for: equality, freedom, and dignity of all races and peoples. Dr. King furthered his cause in a spirit of nonviolence that took the world by storm.
And in the spirit of taking the world by storm, in the spirit of Dr. King's dream, SEEDS offers service trips from Reed to all of its students and staff members so that they, too, can make the world a better place. So next MLK Day don't just remember Dr. King and his achievements while going to the movies: make a more meaningful contribution to the community in the spirit of Dr. King by volunteering!
Past Projects
MLK Day 2007: Service at the ReBuilding Center and the Sisters of the Road March and Rally
A fun and "physically exhilarating" experience of helping to organize and move building materials.
The ReBuilding Center is a popular destination for homeowners,
do-it-yourselfers, contractors, artists, and enthusiasts interested in
building with affordable, environmentally low impact materials. With an
inventory that changes by the hour, The ReBuilding Center is the
largest non-profit used building materials resource in North America.
The ReBuilding Center plays an important role in the region's effort to
maintain livable neighborhoods, preserve natural resources, and reduce
reusable materials from entering the wastestream. With widespread
community support, The ReBuilding Center diverts 4.5 million pounds of reusable building materials from entering our landfills each year.
On MLK Day 2006, we spent 2 hours painting and otherwise brightening up the new Children's Room at Project Unica, a program of Catholic Charities that serves Latina, primarily Spanish-speaking survivors of domestic and sexual violence and their children. We put up shelves, built a toy box and painted a mural. Project Unica provides childcare in this room for kids whose mothers are attending a support group or meeting with their advocate for support and case management.
Click on the thumbnails below to see full-size photos of busily painting Reedies and the finished children's room.
