Community Service Learning Center

MLK Jr. Day of Service

 

This event is open to Faculty, Staff, and Students

Saturday January 26th 2013 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 2012: A Day of Service Celebrating the Works of Gloria Richardson 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 21, 2012 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.

100 students attended the event which began at 9:00am. After service in the morning Dr. Elaine Schott, a professor in the school of Social Work at GVSU, provided the group with an inspirational message which helped to connect the service that the students were doing to the bigger picture of creating change through grassroots efforts.  A mission that Gloria Richards and MLK Jr. were committed to throughout their lives.

Students worked at organizations such as: Feeding America, Love INC., Allendale Public Schools, Harrison Park Elementary, etc.  Students sorted food, organized books, and worked with donations for the poor. 

Also students watched a recorded message from Veta Tucker on Gloria Richardson:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VY1MWsBx_Bw

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

Fox 17 News: http://www.fox17online.com/videogallery/67572432/News/mlk-day---1.21.11#pl-62894906

 

2012 Photos

 

 

The 2012 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