Asia Miller plans to dedicate her Martin Luther King Jr. holiday to serving others. She feels that it will be the best way to honor the slain civil rights leader's memory. She's not alone.
Hundreds of Baltimore City students and staff are expected to participate Monday in the Martin Luther King Jr. Day of Service. The event, which is in its first year, will allow students, staff and parents to complete organized service projects dedicated to the memory of the leader.
"This honors his memory because he really fought for equality for everyone," said Miller, a 17-year-old junior at Western High School.
Participants will have the option of making Valentine's Day cards for soldiers stationed abroad; assembling arts-and-crafts kits for critically ill children at the Johns Hopkins Children's Center; making toiletry kits for homeless teenagers, senior citizens and students in foster care and group homes; and learning different ways to become more environmentally sound.
In addition to the school-based sites, participants will also have the option of bringing toys and treats to abused animals at Defenders of Animal Rights and preparing packages of food at Moveable Feast, an organization that assists people with terminal illnesses.
The activities will run from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. at Southside Academy, Northeast Middle School, Antioch Diploma Plus High School and Achievement Academy at Harbor City. Continental breakfast and lunch will be served. A $1,000 national grant for community service efforts helps with the costs.
"It's very important to celebrate the life and legacy and to include students in projects in the community," said organizer Tamara Barron, an educational specialist for pupil services and service learning coordinator for the school system. Student leaders chose the activities during a conference in Ocean City.
"We want to take student voices and engage them in a day of service," Barron added.
Miller, secretary of the Associated Student Congress of Baltimore City, is one of a handful of student leaders helping to organize the event. Miller and the other organizers were to be working Saturday to prepare the four sites.
More than 300 students and 50 adults have signed up for the event. Miller has been pleasantly surprised by the outpouring of support by her peers.
"I think I'll feel like I accomplished something," she said. "I'll think that I've done something for someone else who needed it."