"MAKE IT A DAY ON, NOT A DAY OFF"
January 21, 2008
On Martin Luther King, Jr. Day, 80 New Orleans middle and high school students and 80 Baton Rouge students gathered to honor the memory of Dr. King as they began their five-month participation in the City Year Heroes Program.
The inspiring Heroes Opening Ceremonies were immediately followed by a day of service, where City Year Young Heroes, City Heroes, corps members, families, friends, alumni and corporate partners came together to celebrate the life and work of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. through an afternoon of transformative physical service.
New Orleans Heroes Opening Day Ceremony and Service
After an inspirational Heroes Opening Day ceremony, with our New Orleans Fire Chief as the keynote speaker, corps members joined Hands On New Orleans for a day of transformational service in the lower 9th Ward -- serving at George Washington Carver Elementary and George Washington Carver High School. External volunteers and employees of Shell also participated in the afternoon of service. Service projects included:
painting murals and signs
building and painting picnic tables and benches
creating and painting flowerbeds; and
organizing the school's libraries.
For more information about the MLK Service Day in New Orleans, contact John Bergner at 504-377-9843 or jbergner@cityyear.org.
Baton Rouge Heroes Opening Day Ceremony and Service
At the Heroes Opening Day in Baton Rouge, Chancellor Press Robinson of Southern University at New Orleans was the keynote speaker and Howard Taylor, CEO of United Way, administered the Heroes Opening Day pledge. Immediately following the ceremony, City Year corps members joined more than 200 volunteers for service at University Terrace Elementary School to commemorate the life of Dr. King by transforming, and celebrating the diversity of, the school. Next door at the Baton Rouge Speech and Hearing Center, City Year Heroes performed a service project as a part of the Heroes Opening Day and Martin Luther King Day service. Service projects completed at both locations included:
- creating new gardens
- refurbishing a playground
- creating a butterfly garden
- building benches and painting classrooms; and
- painting murals with depictions of healthy eating and diversity to reflect University Terrace’s largely international student population.
For more information about our MLK Service Day, contact Kori Thomas at 225-571-6459 or kthomas@cityyear.org.