Volunteer Memphis kicks off its annual MLK Days of Service this Thursday, January 11th. The event that encourages Memphis to “care like King” will take place from Thursday through Monday, January 15th, with the goal to complete more than 5.000 hours of service across the Mid-South.
“It’s five days to recognize Dr. King,” says Reggie Crenshaw, president and CEO of Leadership Memphis and Volunteer Memphis. “And as he said, ‘everybody can be great because everybody can serve.’ I just believe that that is such an important thing for where our community is right now. And being a person who can get out and serve our community is really important. Annually, we have about 300,000 people who volunteer. During last year’s MLK Days of Service, we generated about 6000 hours worth of volunteerism. We had 1200 people that participated.”
Thursday’s event is a VIP reception, but the following days are open to the public, with volunteer opportunities available on Volunteer Memphis’ website according to each day’s theme. Friday is Youth and Education Day, Saturday is Health and Wellness, Sunday is Service Sunday, and Monday is Community Cleanup. For those who are not able to attend any of the volunteer opportunities listed, Volunteer Memphis also has virtual and DIY opportunities, like making care packages for those experiencing homelessness or writing thank you notes for essential workers. “There’s huge opportunities for us to get involved and get engaged,” Crenshaw says. “It’s just taking the time just to do it.”
For Saturday’s Health and Wellness Day, Crenshaw says, Volunteer Memphis will host two community fairs, one at the Orange Mound Community Center at 10 a.m. to noon and the other at the Hollywood Community Center from 2 p.m. to 4 p.m. The fairs will have vendors with free vaccines, free diaper and baby item distributions provided by Bare Needs Diaper Bank, information about joining the Healthier 901 movement, health information, games, and a live DJ from 10 a.m. to noon. The fair at the Orange Mound Community Center will also have food distributions provided by the Mid-South Food Bank. Both fairs need volunteers.
“Generally nationally [organizations] only recognize MLK Service Day for one day,” Crenshaw says. “Right but we do it for five days. The need is so great. Last year we had 93 volunteer projects, and we’re hoping to move towards a much higher number of volunteer projects. So, you know, just trying to do it for one day does our community a disservice. And what we do is get people engaged and volunteer like this yearlong, not just waiting until this time of year.”
At this, Crenshaw remarks that Volunteer Memphis has 480 agencies in their portal and 30,000 registered volunteers. “This year, we’re actively participating in eight counties in West Tennessee and in six counties outside of West Tennessee,” he adds.
Learn more about MLK Days of Service here, and find Volunteer Memphis’ year-round opportunities here.
