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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”.
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