Serve your community on MLK Day

Martin Luther King, Jr. once dreamed of a “Beloved Community”—a place where everyone is respected and free from poverty, hunger, and hate. This year marks the 30th anniversary of the MLK Day of Service, and it’s a great time to reflect on Dr. King’s vision and act in making it a reality.

As the commission on national service and volunteerism, Serve Washington and its programs, share this philosophy. We believe service, volunteerism and civic engagement can improve lives, expand opportunities to meet local critical needs and strengthen capacity to create healthy and resilient communities.

As Martin Luther King Jr. Day approaches on Jan. 20, we invite everyone to participate in a service activity this month. Whether big or small, formal or informal, your individual actions make a difference!

How You Can Get Involved

Here are just a few examples of ways to serve:

Assist a nonprofit, community organization, or DEI initiative in their respective work.
Write cards to residents of a senior center or deployed military members.
Collect supplies or make toys for an animal shelter, or do a neighborhood food drive for the food bank.
Assist a neighbor or coworker in need.

This by no means covers every way you can serve, but we hope these suggestions inspire you to come up with your own!

Find a Service Project

Need ideas? Serve Washington has resources to help you get started:

Serve Washington’s “Get Connected” Tool

This tool lets you search for volunteer opportunities in your community. Results can be filtered by location, focus area, and more. It also has a special section highlighting MLK Day projects.

National Resources

Websites like Idealist, Just Serve and Volunteer Match let you search for local projects by zip code.

AmeriCorps and Points of Light have lists of projects that can be done in any community by yourself, or in a group.

Host a Project

Planning your own activity? Many platforms like those mentioned above let you register it to recruit additional volunteers!

Learn About Dr. King’s Legacy

Take time to explore Dr. King’s life and work. The King Center is hosting some virtual events throughout January, including:

• Beloved Community Book Reading: A professional storyteller will use animated reading, voices and expressive storytelling techniques. A Q&A session for children and parents follows (Jan. 14)
• Beloved Community Global and Youth summits: (Jan. 15-16): Keynotes, panels, and networking.

New this year is the Coretta Scott King Rose Gallery, a free, virtual experience featuring photos and stories celebrating her work for peace and equity.

Online Library and Videos: Visit the King Center's library to view a series of videos about historical leaders and everyday people who have contributed to creating the Beloved Community.  It has a virtual tour of the Martin Luther King, Jr. Historical Park in Atlanta, recorded children’s book readings and discussions with authors. There’s also a series of civil rights talks and panels with leaders of the Civil Rights Movement and people who knew them.

Share Your Volunteer Story

We’d love to hear about your service! Share photos, videos, or stories by tagging us on Facebook, Instagram or X; upload them through our Volunteer Story Project portal or email them to us! We’ll feature as many stories as possible on our channels.

Together, let’s honor Dr. King’s dream by giving back and building bridges in our communities.

How will you serve this MLK Day?

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Related: Gov. Bob Ferguson proclaims Jan. 20 as Martin Luther King, Jr. Day of Service

OLYMPIA--Gov. Rob Ferguson has proclaimed Monday, Jan. 20 as the Martn Luther King, Jr. Day of Service in the state of Washington.

MLK Day is the only federal holiday designated as a National Day of Service that encourages people across America to volunteer to improve their communities. 

Read the proclamation below:

WHEREAS, the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. is considered one of the most prominent leaders of the civil rights movement; and

WHEREAS, King attended segregated public schools in Georgia and entered Morehouse College at age 15, earning his bachelor’s and doctorate degrees; and

WHEREAS, Dr. King advocated and organized the use of non-violent disobedience techniques to combat institutional racial segregation, discrimination and disenfranchisement throughout the United States, leading protests and demonstrations; and

WHEREAS, Dr. King traveled over six million miles, speaking over 2,500 times including his trip to Seattle in 1961, when he delivered his message entitled “Segregation and the Civil Liberties: Implications for Students” to more than 2,000 people at the University of Washington, Temple de Hirsch Sinai, and Garfield High School; and

WHEREAS, many of his speeches were improvised including his most well-known “I Have a Dream” speech delivered on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial on August 28, 1963, during the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom; and

WHEREAS, the next year, at age 35, Dr. King was awarded the prestigious Nobel Peace Prize; and

WHEREAS, during his travels abroad, he used the Black freedom struggle in our nation as a message of hope to those experiencing discrimination, racism, poverty, and imperialism everywhere; and

WHEREAS, while his vision remains largely unrealized, his powerful words and actions continue to have a profound effect on the global consciousness; and

WHEREAS, the third Monday of January is designated a federal holiday in the United States to honor Dr. King; and

WHEREAS, each of us can honor Dr. King and help realize his dream by serving others and strengthening our communities on this holiday; and

NOW THEREFORE, I, Bob Ferguson, governor of the state of Washington, do hereby claim Monday, January 20, 2025 as

Dr. Martin Luther King. Jr. Day

in Washington, and I urge all people in our state to join me in this special observance.

Signed this 20th day of January, 2025