Community Service Learning Center

MLK Jr. Day of Service

The MLK Jr. Day of Service: Click Here to Register

***Even though registration is full, walk-ins will be welcome on the day of the event.  Registration opens at 9am on Saturday January 21st in Pere Marquette in the Kirkhof Center.***

 

This event is open to Faculty, Staff, and Students

Saturday January 21st 9:00 AM - 3:00 PM in Pere Marquette, Kirkhof Center.  

Transportation, Lunch, and a T-shirt will be provided at no cost. 

National Day of Service where volunteers across America serve in honor of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.  GVSU's service project is coordinated by the CSLC and the MLK Week Executive Planning Committee. The goal of the event is to educate students about the Civil Rights movement as well as inspire them to serve their communities in the spirit of social change. Faculty, Staff, and Students will be serving at multiple work sites around Grand Rapids and Allendale. 

 

About Gloria Richardson

Born in 1922, Mrs. Richardson grew up in Cambridge, in a leading family in the African-American community there. She attended segregated public schools, and then went to Howard University, where she received a B.A. in sociology in 1942. After working as a civil servant in Washington during the war, she moved back to the Eastern Shore and eventually became involved in civil rights, working with the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) to desegregate public accommodations. In 1962, Mrs. Richardson and other local parents formed the Cambridge Nonviolent Action Committee (CNAC), organizing sit-ins in movie theatres, restaurants, and other segregated public places. Eventually, however, they also began to target deeper social issues, such as housing, health care, and adequate wages. In the summer of 1962, "Project Eastern Shore" registered new black voters in the region and encouraged political participation after decades of suppression by the white establishment.

After 1964, Mrs. Richardson moved to New York City, where she remained active in civil rights and anti-poverty campaigns, and until age 85, worked for the city's Department for the Aging.

From http://starrcenter.washcoll.edu/gloria_pg.php

Previous MLK Days

Winter 2011: A Day of Service Celebrating the Works of Ella Baker and Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

   Ella BakerMLK Jr.

To celebrate the works of Ella Baker and Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., students gathered on January 15, 2011 to provide a day of service to the local community of Grand Rapids. The Day of Service kicked off a week of events commemorating MLK Jr.

50 students attended the event which began at 9:00am.  Dr. Veta Tucker, an english professor at GVSU, provided the group with an inspirational kick-off which helped to connect the service that the students were doing to the bigger picture of creating change through grassroots efforts.  A mission that Ella Baker and MLK Jr. were committed to throughout their lives.

The day was then spent at Comprenew Environmental.  Comprenew is a sustainable recycling warehouse for old electronics. The parts are disassembled and either restored or recycled.  The profits earned from the electronic parts go to support education in 44 countries around the world.

Check out some of the media that covered te event below:

WZZM 13 News Coverage (Aired on January 15, 2011): http://tinyurl.com/WZZM-MLK GVSU Lanthorn Picture Slideshow: http://www.lanthorn.com/index.php/gallery/martin_luther_king_service_day GVSU Lanthorn Article: http://www.lanthorn.com/index.php/article/2011/01/students_save_environment_one_computer_at_a_time

The 2011 Day of Service for Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Commemoration Week was made possible through a colloboration between the Inclusion and Equity Division and the Community Service Learning Center