“Make it a day on, not a day off!”
Join Central Oregon in a national day of service on Martin Luther King Jr., Day 2010

To make Martin Luther King Day a "day on, not a day off," Volunteer Connect has organized service projects in Crook, Deschutes and Jefferson counties. Volunteers of all ages are encouraged to participate in this event and connect with their community on January 18th, 2010.

In 1994, Congress initiated Martin Luther King, Jr. day as a national day of service. Last year, in 2009, over 13,000 community service projects took place across the country on the King Day of Service. For more general information about the King Day of Service you can visit www.mlkday.gov.

This year Volunteer Connect has organized over 20 half-day projects for volunteers to participate in, spanning Bend, La Pine, Madras, Prineville, Redmond and Sisters.

Volunteer Connect MLK Day organizer, Jessica Knight, is excited about this event’s potential, “Our goal is to support Dr. King’s message that ‘everybody can be great because anybody can serve’ by engaging a wide variety of volunteers. We will have youth and student groups, corporate staff, families and individuals coming together”.

Projects are primarily in the morning, and include cooking, cleaning, organizing, painting, building, sewing and even bicycle repair. In Redmond, there will also be a special afternoon literary workshop hosted by Deschutes County RSVP.

To view a list of projects with more details, please visit www.volunteerconnectnow.org

Schedule:
Projects will be from 9:30am-12:30pm, followed by a light complimentary lunch and reflection session in each community.

About Volunteer Connect
Slated to launch its full volunteer referral program in February 2010, Volunteer Connect will work to link interested volunteers with meaningful opportunities to meet community needs in Central Oregon. The Volunteer Connect website will serve as a resource for students, businesses, families or individuals who are looking for one-time or ongoing community service opportunities. To date, over 70 agencies throughout the tri-counties have signed on. Interested agencies and volunteers are encouraged to visit www.volunteerconnectnow.org or call (541) 385-8977.

[Disclaimer: I worked on the Volunteer Connect website.]