MLK Day Is a Day of Service. How Will You Serve?

The BSA’s commitment to service has been an integral part of Scouting’s mission since our founding more than a century ago, so it is only fitting that we honor the life and legacy of Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. this coming Monday as part of our nation’s MLK Day of Service.

Service to our communities is how we teach our young people to be good citizens, help their neighbors and become effective leaders. We see many examples of our Scouts living up to that service commitment every day, especially when they follow the trail to earning their Eagle Award through community projects like these:

• Helping to brighten the day for cancer patients in Tucson, Ariz.
• Repairing an eagle viewing station in Sohola, Penn.
• Saving bats and reducing mosquito populations in Chilton County, Ala.
• Building a barbecue pit for a church in Attleboro, Mass.
• Assembling Adirondack chairs for a town farm preserve in Weston, Conn.

Following the first Day of Service in 2014, President Obama issued a proclamation for the MLK Day of Service in 2015, encouraging all Americans to launch or join Day of Service projects across our country as part of this federal holiday.

Dr. King would have been proud. Hundreds of thousands of Americans have answered the call to service to honor his memory. Citizens in all 50 states have delivered meals, refurbished schools and community centers, and collected food and clothing. Volunteers also recruited mentors, supported job-seekers, built homes and provided other services for veterans and military families, and helped citizens improve their financial literacy skills.

How will you serve? You can plug your zip code into this link to find a service project in your area. Or launch a service project of your own, and make this an annual event to honor Dr. King’s legacy. If you plan to participate in a service project on Monday, I’d love to hear about it, so please post a comment to describe your activity.

No matter the size of your project or the time you commit, think of the commitment Dr. King made to preach nonviolence to make this country a better place to live, believing in a nation of freedom and justice for all. His legacy will live on in our Scouts as we continue to be of service to communities across our nation.

Thanks for reading.

Mike