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MLK Service Challenge

"...If you want to be important—wonderful. If you want to be recognized—wonderful. If you want to be great—wonderful. But recognize that he who is greatest among you shall be your servant. That's a new definition of greatness

And this morning, the thing that I like about it: by giving that definition of greatness, it means that everybody can be great, because everybody can serve You don't have to have a college degree to serve. You don't have to make your subject and your verb agree to serve. You don't have to know about Plato and Aristotle to serve. You don't have to know Einstein's theory of relativity to serve. You don't have to know the second theory of thermodynamics in physics to serve. You only need a heart full of grace, a soul generated by love. And you can be that servant."

The Drum Major Instinct, February 4, 1968 Atlanta Georgia
Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

As so eloquently stated by Dr. King, anyone can be great because anyone can serve!  What better way to celebrate his memory and his mission than by engaging ourselves in community service?  Too many people see the MLK Holiday as just another day off.  My hope is that the MLK Service Challenge helps Longwood see this holiday as a “day on” and not a day off.  We want to challenge faculty, staff and students to CELEBRATE this remembering Dr. Kings words and giving back to their community. 

How does the MLK Service Challenge work?

Everything begins with the projects.  We contact various agencies in Farmville ask if they have a project that our students could complete in a days time during the month of January.  Examples of projects might be repainting some rooms in a non-profit office building, putting up drywall in a Habitat for Humanity house, picking up trash along a river or section of highway, cooking and delivering meals for Meals on Wheels, or visiting a local nursing home and throwing a Birthday Party for residents born in the month of January.  The possibilities are endless!

Register as a group or an individual! Once projects are selected, students will be asked to register between November and January.  For the first MLK Service Challenge we will have at least five or six different projects (thus we will be helping five or six agencies all in one day!).  By registering, students are committing to coming out for the day and working in a groups of 10-12 to complete their challenge.  As we can only have so many students working on a given project, registration also helps us know how many students are coming and guarantees them a spot in a group.  Students who register will not know what project they will receive until the day of the event.  This helps build anticipation and makes the “reveal” all the more fun!  At registration, students are told only to dress warmly in old clothes.  Faculty and staff are also encouraged to register and participate. 

The big day!  The actual day begins with students coming together for breakfast and a brief presentation of the purpose of the day.  Then students will be put into groups and be given an opportunity to come up to the front and select an envelope containing the details of one of the five projects.  The students will spend the day at their assigned agency trying to complete their service “challenge”.

 Celebrating our success!  At the end of the day, groups will come back together for dinner and reflection on the day’s events.  Each group will have the opportunity to come up to the front and share their successes with the crowd.  It is at this time that those who have gathered for the day can really take home Dr. Kings message that in order to be great all we need is “a heart full of grace, a soul generated by love”.

 

   

Volunteer & Service-Learning · Longwood University · Farmville, VA · P:(434) 395-2930 · F:(434) 395-2237