Weekend America >> Saturday, January 13, 2007 >> A Day of Service


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How did your life collide with the headlines in 2007?
Iraq, the subprime crisis, Facebook, immigration, oil prices - 2007 had no shortage of hefty headlines. We'd like to hear about how these and other major news events of the past year affected you. Where did your life collide with the news in 2007?

What's your holiday performance story?
The office talent show, the neighborhood caroling posse, the school pageant ... At holiday time we often sing, dance, and dress as shepherds. Did you bloom in the warmth of your audience's adulation, or freeze up like the snowman you'd rather be building? Did your holiday performance change your life or that of someone close to you?

A Day of Service January 13, 2007

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Last week on the show, we asked our listeners what they would be doing to commemorate Martin Luther King Jr. Day. This week, we hear some responses.

Listener Responses to our MLK Day of Action Question:

To properly celebrate the spirit of Martin Luther King, Jr., we should be working to better the world on the day recognizing him, rather than sitting on our couches watching television!

I'll be working with City Year in West Philly. We'll have an amazing group of about 1,000 people serving with us that day in community buildings and schools! January 15th will be an incredible day across the nation!

Caryn - Philadelphia, Pa.

» Learn more about City Year

I tithe my time at my church--it's a hands-on effort with a visible result. I especially enjoy hooking up little kids to the idea of being an integral part of their neighborhood and the air they breathe. I am trained as an SDOT Volunteer Tree Steward by the Seattle Department of Transportation.

My project, It's a Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood Tree Planting Project, in conjunction with Seattle City Light, planted about 200 street trees last fall. On Martin Luther King Jr. Day tree planters and tree recipients will check to make sure these street trees made it through recent HIGH WINDS, SLEET, FREEZING RAIN, ICE and FLOODS.

This project has been planting trees with a little help from various Seattle city departments since 1992. Most recently we lined Latona Avenue North on both sides for about 8 blocks with autumn-flowering Crepe Myrtles and various other Seattle-hardy trees. Hands-on tree planters included 3-year olds and up.

We're planting again in March. Join us!

Nancy - Seattle, Wash.

» Learn more about Seattle's Steward Program

The valiant Weed Warriors, a loose coalition of professional and amateur gardeners, botanists, and environmentalists, will dedicate our volunteer efforts starting at 10 am, Monday, Jan. 15 Martin Luther King, Jr. Day at Bainbridge Island Pritchard Park. This is the site of a memorial being created to remember the Japanese-American Internment in WWII. We will be removing invasive plants as part of restoring the land to its natural state. It is a former Superfund site because it was a creosote plant. This is a wonderful opportunity to heal the land and to heal the memories.

Jeannette - Bainbridge Island, Wash.

I volunteer each Friday night to babysit for a 2-year-old daughter of El Salvadoran immigrants, while her parents work their restaurant jobs.

Lisa - St. Louis, Mo.

I will be volunteering to weed, prune, mulch, and clean-up at the McKinley Park rose gardens in Sacramento, CA. I chose to volunteer at McKinley Park due to it's beauty I have enjoyed for the past 7 years since moving to the Sacramento area. There were many days I went there to walk and enjoy the beauty of the park and were also a few days that I spent in quiet respite on a bench in the rose gardens. Those needed moments of solitude gave me a peace inside that I was seeking and rejuvenated my soul. Now it is my turn to give back to the park that has given so much to me.

Mary - Elk Grove, Calif.

» Learn more about Hands on Sacramento

I'm glad that I have the opportunity to participate in volunteer events on Martin Luther King Day, and try to make it part of my children's understanding of his legacy. My son's school, Germantown Friends School, organizes several volunteer opportunities that day. We will likely prepare sandwiches for a local disadvantaged families.

While I honor and respect the Martin Luther King Jr. Day events, I feel it is more important to make volunteering a REGULAR part of one's life, not just an annual event. My children (ages 5 and 8) and I volunteer at our church's food and clothing cupboard about once a month. There my kids learn that it is easy and fun to serve others. My kids learn that the folks who are in need are kind, considerate and appreciative. And we remember each time we serve that we who have been given much should give to others. And it's fun! My daughter (5) particularly enjoys handing out the little travel bottles of shampoo!

Suzanne - Philadelphia, Pa.