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Register for MLK Day of Service (January 20, 2025)

Register HERE to Volunteer

MLK Day of Service - “A Day On, Not A Day Off”

Photos from MLK Day 2024

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Register HERE for MLK Day

 

MLK Day of Service: January 20th, 2025 (8:00am-12:00pm)  

Volunteer Event Details: 

Cal Poly Humboldt students, staff and faculty, College of the Redwoods, and community members are invited to participate in a morning of community service. Volunteer and support our Humboldt community! 

T-shirts available for the first 100 volunteers. Breakfast snacks, coffee & tea provided.

Event Schedule:

8:00-8:15am: Volunteer Registration & Breakfast Snacks/Coffee (catered)

  • Sign-in, release of liability and field trip roster forms
  • Glove distribution
  • Light breakfast snacks and drinks available
  • T-shirts available for the first 100 volunteers!

8:20am: Welcome Message

  • Welcome remarks
  • Project & logistics overview

8:30am: Group Photo

8:40am: Load Busses and Departure for Community-Based Sites

8:40-9:00am: Travel to Community Sites

9:00am-11:45am: Engagement & Reflection at Community-Based Sites

11:45am-12:00pm: Return to Campus and/or Head Home 

 

Volunteer Projects / Community Site Descriptions

 
Boys and Girls Club of the Redwoods (10 volunteers)

Volunteers will help to clean, sort, and maintain high-use program spaces, including garden projects at the Eureka Clubhouse and Teen Center.  Volunteers will not be engaging with youth during this volunteer event. The Boys and Girls Club of the Redwoods serves the community as a youth development program for children ages 6 to 18.

 
Jefferson Community Center (30 volunteers)

Volunteers will assist with indoor and outdoor site improvement projects at this urban community space in Eureka. Indoor projects may include: sorting/organizing supplies, reorganizing the library, and installing new shelves in the family resource center. Outdoor projects may include: planting trees along the sidewalk, prepping and planting winter garden beds. The Jefferson Community Center and Westside Community Improvement Association (WCIA) supports and facilitates programs to revitalize neighborhoods by increasing recreational, educational and vocational opportunities.

 
Northcoast Regional Land Trust (NRLT) (40 volunteers)

Volunteers will work outside to assist with invasive plant removal to enhance wetland restoration projects and improve the Freshwater Farms Reserve Nature Trail. Volunteers will also help develop a pollinator habitat. Join the Northcoast Regional Land Trust at the Freshwater Farm Reserve and help protect native plant biodiversity at this beautiful 74-acre property of protected wetlands and pastures.

 
Oh Snap! Food Pantry - Cal Poly Humboldt Campus (10 volunteers)

Volunteers will help sort donations for the campus thrift store. Volunteers will also assist with food sorting and pantry cleaning to prepare for the first day of school! This program serves students at Cal Poly Humboldt in providing access to food and basic needs resources.

 

MLK Day of Service - Event Description

Each January, Cal Poly Humboldt students, staff, faculty, and community members are invited to join in a morning of community service on Martin Luther King Jr. Day. This is a wonderful opportunity to contribute to local organizations while commemorating the life and legacy of Dr. King. 

What is Martin Luther King Jr. Day and Why is it a “Day of Service?”

Legislation signed in 1983 marked the birthday of the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. as a federal holiday.  In 1994, Congress designated the Martin Luther King, Jr. Federal Holiday as a national day of service.  Each year, on the third Monday in January, the Martin Luther King, Jr. Day of Service is observed as a “day on, not a day off.

Who organizes this event? 

The MLK Day of Service is a collaborative event organized by several programs at Cal Poly Humboldt. We are proud to partner with College of the Redwoods for MLK Day of Service in 2025. 

MLK Day of Service is Organized and Supported By:
  • Youth Educational Services (Y.E.S.)
  • Center for Community-Based Learning
  • Division of Enrollment Management & Student Success
  • Office of Student Life
  • Umoja Center for Pan African Excellence
  • College of the Redwoods

Testimonials from MLK Day of Service Volunteers and Community Partners

Student Volunteer Reflection

“After attending my first MLK Day of Service event, I really look forward to being able to participate in future events like this one on campus and in the community! It was super rewarding being able to connect with peers in a face-to-face setting and share the significance of the holiday while giving back and building community with one another.” 

- Autumn Cry-Mark, Cal Poly Humboldt student and Y.E.S. student leader 

Community Partner Feedback

"MLK Day with YES House has become a tradition. From our inception, participants from the University have come and invested their time and talents in beautifying and building up our Community Center. The Jefferson Community Center, located in an formerly abandoned school, is founded and led by neighbors in the most ethnically diverse and lowest median income section of Eureka. Through volunteerism and community support, together we have created the bustling, beautiful heartbeat of our neighborhood.  THANK YOU!"

- Heidi Benzonelli, President Westside Community Improvement Association

“Together, we repaired a fence, removed over 2 truckloads of invasive vegetation, and just about 500 lbs of trash from this former dairy farm. After last weekend's winter storm and flooding, the community garden was looking rough, with sheet mulching that floated away, and vegetation that tangled into the fence and pulled it down during the flood. Now, the space looks better than ever - what would have taken staff a month to fix was done in a short 3 hours!”

- Northcoast Regional Land Trust (Instagram post 1/17/24)

“The work we did today saved me a month’s worth of work in 3 hours. This was huge! So amazing!”

- Matt Drummond, Community Garden Planner

 

MLK Day Of Civic Engagement January 2021 and 2022 - A Recap

January 2022

Closing Speaker: Bree Newsome - Virtual Speaker & Guest

Monday, January 17th, 2022 (8:00am-1:30pm)

Schedule for the Day

8:00-8:15am: Volunteer Registration & Breakfast Snacks/Coffee (catered)

  • Sign-in, release of liability, and field trip roster forms
  • T-shirt and glove distribution
  • Drinks and granola bars available (room off lobby)

8:20am: Welcome Message

  • Welcome remarks: Dr. Eboni Ford Turnbow
  • Project & logistics overview: Melea Smith

8:30am: Group Photo

8:40am: Load Busses and Departure for Community-Based Sites

9:00-10:45am: Engagement at Community-Based Sites

  • Off-campus: 3-4 community sites (Eureka and Arcata)
  • On Campus: Event clean-up and OhSnap!

10:45-11:00am: Return to campus

11:00-11:15: Grab & Go Lunch

  • Return work gloves

12:00-1:25pm: Closing Speaker (Bree Newsome)

  • Hyflex event in the Great Hall (with Zoom access for virutal attendees)
  • Closing speaker
  • Q & A / Reflection

1:25-1:30pm: Evaluations

 

mlk_jr._day_flyer_2022

 

January 2021 

A Morning of Civic Engagement & Community Organizing Workshops *Virtual
Monday, January 18th, 2021 (9:30am-12:30pm)
Schedule & Recordings for the Day

9:35-10:00am: Land/Labor Acknowledgement & Welcome Message 

9:50-11:00am: Keynote Speaker - LaTosha Brown

11:05am-12:00pm: Break Out Sessions (2 workshops offered)

  • Art and Community Activism
  • The Salvation of Democracy: Civic Engagement of the Dispossessed
    • Presented by: Ron White from Humboldt Area Foundation & Chair of a National Organizing Network
    • Movements are often spearheaded by those most oppressed in society but results in the expansion of the democratic promise for all. This presentation will explore how marginalized communities have organized and breathed life into campaigns that have expanded our franchise of participation. We will use this conversation to explore what this means for local politics
    • Recording: https://youtu.be/Ql7rEdeXG2I

12:00-12:30pm: Reflection & Closing 

 

mlk_day_flyer_2021