Martin Luther King Day has been one of my favorite holidays since it was first observed in 1986. At first, beyond the strong feelings I had for the man, I liked that there was no commercialism attached to his holiday- no exhortations to go buy furniture or new clothes in the "MLK Day Sales".
In 1994, President Bill Clinton signed the legislation making the day a Day of Service. This year the holiday falls the day before an amazing event, the inauguration of President Elect Barack Obama. As I look forward to a change in the world and in my country, I'm thinking about what I will be doing to change my community.
I think I will gather clothes to donate to the Animal Shelter Thrift store. People who know me would be surprised I have a lot of clothes- I wear only a few of them. I'll gather up the rest and let the profits from them benefit the animal shelter; maybe the clothes themselves will help someone else.
I will also knit a teddy bear for a child affected by AIDS/HIV. The Mother Bear Project to date has sent almost 36,000 bears to children in Africa and Haiti.
If you would like to find a service project, try the MLKDay government website. Have Fun Do Good has a number of ways listed as well, as does Facebook.
Join me- Change is coming, but we can't just wait for it to arrive.
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