Gov. Perdue Announces AmeriCorps Members To Honor Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Through Service

RALEIGH – Gov. Bev Perdue today announced that AmeriCorps members across North Carolina will celebrate the legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. by volunteering their time to help others. More than 400 members will help build houses, distribute food, educate others about volunteerism and disaster preparedness, and participate in a variety of community events.

“Dr. King embodied the spirit of helping others,” Perdue said. “AmeriCorps members will use this day of service to celebrate Dr. King’s memory and honor his passion for serving his community.”

The following are projects AmeriCorps members will participate in for the King Day of Service. All events are on Monday, Jan. 19, unless otherwise noted:

• Black Child Development Institute, Spirit of Excellence: Members will march with the Greensboro chapter of the NAACP. The march will begin at 10 a.m. at the Benbow Professional Center ( MLK Drive ) in Greensboro. For more information, call Chris Wallace at 336-230-2138.
      
• N.C. Department of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention, AmeriCorps Promise Fellows: Members and youth will participate in a variety of activities throughout the state, such as discussions, trivia and movie nights about the life of Dr. King. Events will take place in Avery, Cleveland, Greene, Mecklenburg, Mitchell, Moore, Scotland, Stanly, Watauga and Wayne counties from Jan. 13 through Jan. 23. For specific times and locations, contactPam Thompson at 919-789-5580 ext. 268.
      
• Children First of Buncombe County, Putting Opportunities Within Everyone’s Reach ( POWER ): Members will host a celebration for the community youth of the City of Asheville. The celebration will include a peace walk from the United Way Community Services Building ( 50 S. French Broad Ave. ) to MLK Park ( MLK Blvd. ) in Asheville. The children will write letters to President-Elect Obama on how they plan to improve their community, as well as make banners for the walk and read excerpts from Dr. King’s “I Have a Dream” speech. For more information, contact Tammy Capps at 828-259-9717.
      
• Habitat for Humanity, Habitat AmeriCorps – North Carolina: Members will join Chatham Habitat for Humanity for a joint-build project in Siler City. At the Christ United Methodist Church in Chapel Hill, members will make scarves and blankets for local organizations and valentines for troops overseas. For more information, contact Christy Handwerk at 800-422-4828 ext. 4326.
      
• Stokes Partnership for Children, AmeriCorps and Children Together: Members partnered with Goodwill Industries to organize a donation drive. On MLK Day, members will bring the donations to the Goodwill store in the Town of King and spend the day organizing donations and assisting store staff. Activities begin at 9 a.m. For more information, contact Katie Snow at 336-985-2676 ext. 168.
      
• Children’s Village Academy, Project CARE: Members will join the Kinston-Lenoir County branch of the NAACP in a march from the Lenoir County Courthouse ( 130 S. Queen St. ) to the Tabernacle Free Will Baptist Church ( 1003 W. New Bern Rd. ). At the church, there will be discussions and choir performances in honor of Dr. King. The march will begin at 2 p.m. On Saturday, Jan. 17, members will prepare and serve meals to the hungry atMary’s Soup Kitchen ( 110 N. Independence St. ) from 9 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. For more information, contact Melba Lovick at 252-939-1958.
      
• Child Care Services Association, T.E.A.C.H. Early Childhood Corps: Members will volunteer to beautify the grounds of the Durham Literacy Center. For more information, contact Shakeera Myers or Kelly Eppley at 919-403-6950.
      
• UNC-Greensboro Center for New North Carolinians, AmeriCorps Cross Cultural Education Service Systems ( ACCESS ): Members will partner with N.C. A&T University to host educational activities about Dr. King and the Civil Rights Movement for at-risk youth at the Greensboro Children’s Museum. The event will last from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. For more information, contact Sara Carpenter at 336-256-1375.
      
• East Carolina University College of Education, High Expectations for At-Risk Teens ( HEART ): Members and alumni will create disaster relief kits to deliver to the elderly residents of Pitt County. After distributing the kits, members will spend time discussing emergency preparedness with the elderly residents. For more information, please contact Dr. Betty Beacham at 252-328-1849.
      
• Carolina Mountain Conservancy, Project Conserve: Members will assist the South Asheville Cemetery Association with the restoration of the largest African-American cemetery in western North Carolina. The event will begin at 1 p.m. For more information, contact Amy Stout at 828-697-5777.
      
• University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill School of Education, N.C. Literacy Corps: Members will participate in a variety of service projects, including packaging meals for the hungry, painting a mural, renovating homes and discussing the legacy of Dr. King. Activities will be held in Durham, Guilford, Mecklenburg, Orange, Pitt and Wake counties from Jan. 15 through Jan. 21. For specific times and locations, contact Donna Rasmussen at 919-962-5470.
      
• The Servant Center Inc., Partnership to End Homelessness: Members will participate in the MLK Day parade on MLK Drive in Greensboro. At the end of the parade, members will serve soup and hand out homemade scarves outside the Main Branch Public Library ( 219 N. Church St. ). For more information, contact Kathy Vohs at 336-644-3347.
      
• Capital Area Workforce Development Board, Access Joblink: Members will sort donated food items at the Food Bank of Central and Eastern North Carolina in Raleigh. The event will last from 9 a.m. to 12 p.m. For more information, contact Freeman Denton at 919-856-5992.

The N.C. Commission on Volunteerism and Community Service, a federally and state-funded agency housed in the Governor’s Office, administered funding to 13 N.C. AmeriCorps programs for the 2008-2009 program year. Members tutor and mentor school-aged youth, improve the quality of care for preschool children and address the need for affordable housing by building houses for low-income families. For more information on the N.C. AmeriCorps programs, visit the Commission’s Web site at www.volunteernc.org or call 1-800-820-4483 or 1-877-877-1765 ( TTY ).

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