Washington D.C. — For hundreds of thousands of Americans across the country, January 19 will be a day "on" for service — not just a day off from work — as they honor Martin Luther King Jr. by engaging in service activities for their communities and neighbors. Citizens in every state will join together to tutor children, build homes, clean parks, paint classrooms, deliver meals and perform countless other acts of service.

Participation in the day of service has grown steadily since 1994 when Congress passed legislation encouraging Americans to celebrate the King Holiday as a day of service reflecting Dr. King's life and teachings.

"We encourage all Americans to make the King Holiday a day on, not a day off," said David Eisner, CEO of the Corporation for National and Community Service, which, along with the King Center for Non-Violent Social Change, has led the effort to transform the holiday into a day of service. "Dr. King once said, 'Everybody can be great, because everybody can serve.' The King Holiday affords the ideal opportunity to remember the legacy of a great American by being one yourself."

Eisner, who will be building Habitat for Humanity homes along with AmeriCorps*NCCC members in Charleston, S.C., that day, added, "Volunteering on King Day also is an excellent way for Americans to continue to answer President Bush's call to serve their nation by devoting at least 4,000 hours over the course of a lifetime to serving others."

Last November, the Corporation awarded $500,000 in grants to support nearly 100 King Day service projects across the country. A full list of these projects can be found at www.mlkday.org. The Corporation has also encouraged all of its Senior Corps, AmeriCorps, and Learn and Serve America programs to undertake service projects in their local area.

Among the hundreds of King Day service projects scheduled over the holiday weekend:

• The Greater Philadelphia Martin Luther King Day of Service will engage more than 40,000 volunteers in community service activities at more than 600 service sites, including schools and community and faith-based organizations.
   
• In Washington D.C., retired Washington Redskin Darrell Green and Chair of the President's Council on Service and Civic Participation will join Senior Corps Director Tess Scannell and volunteers in a Service for Peace project to provide disaster preparedness kits for residents of the Brookland Manor housing complex. Also, Corporation Chief Operating Officer James Manning will join AmeriCorps members, local congregations, and residents in a clean-up and mural painting project at Benning Terrace.
   
• In New York, television personality Al Roker will broadcast from a Habitat for Humanity site where hundreds of AmeriCorps members, volunteers and homeowners will rehabilitate 10 apartments in central Harlem. Corporation Chief Financial Officer Michelle Guillermin and Public Affairs Director Barbara Taylor will join in this "Building on the Dream" project to honor Dr. King.
   
• Californians will participate in dozens of projects across the state. AmeriCorps Director Rosie Mauk will join the Los Angeles Conservation Corps and 200 volunteers to renovate the homes of 30 elderly low-income residents.
   
• In Helena, Mont., Governor Judy Martz will join middle school students in a diversity fair to learn about Dr. King's life and teachings.
   
• In Texarkana, Ark., RSVP volunteers are building a playground at a school in a low-income community to provide a safe place for children to play after school.
   
• In Storm Lake, Iowa, 50 college students from Buena Vista University are engaged in a service learning project to teach at-risk middle school students lessons on the life and teachings of Dr. King.
   
• In Bradenton, Fla., hundreds of members of ManaTEENs, the nation's largest locally based teen volunteer initiative, will paint 15 homes in Manatee County for low-income families and senior citizens.
   
• In Boston, Learn and Serve America Director Amy Cohen will join City Year AmeriCorps members and 100 middle school students in the Young Heroes program to paint murals and beautify classrooms.
   
• In Fairfield, Conn., the American Red Cross will offer adult, child, and infant CPR training to 100 teens at the University of Bridgeport and Fairfield University.

In a presidential proclamation issued yesterday, President Bush said, "America has come far in realizing Dr. King's dream, but there is still work to be done. In remembering Dr. King's vision and life of service, we renew our commitment to guaranteeing the unalienable rights of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness for all Americans."

On January 15, on what would have been Dr. King's 75th birthday, the President discussed Dr. King and the contributions made by faith-based organizations at church in New Orleans. A day later, Corporation CEO David Eisner was in Jackson, Miss., to announce a new initiative with the National Conference of Black Mayors to place AmeriCorps*VISTA members in 35 cities across the south to recruit volunteer mentors for children of prisoners.

The Corporation for National and Community Service provides opportunities for Americans of all ages and backgrounds to serve their communities and country through three main programs: Senior Corps, AmeriCorps, and Learn and Serve America. Working with national and community nonprofit organizations, faith-based groups, schools, and local agencies, the Corporation engages Americans in service to meet critical needs in education, the environment, public safety, homeland security, and other areas. The Corporation and its programs are part of USA Freedom Corps, a White House initiative to foster a culture of citizenship, service, and responsibility, and to help all Americans answer the President's Call to Service. For more information, visit www.nationalservice.org.