For Immediate Release: January 17, 2006
Contact: Kerrenda T, Crandol, 463-5013
FIRST TRIANGLE MLK DAY OF SERVICE IS A HUGE SUCCESS
Over 1,000 Volunteers Served to Make it ‘a Day On’ Across the Triangle
RTP, NC—“Everyone can be great because everyone can serve” is one of many motivational quotes by Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. It was also the motto of the organizers of the First Triangle Martin Luther King Day (MLK) of Service who for the first time provided residents of Durham, Orange and Wake counties the chance to join the nation-wide movement to make the Dr. King Holiday, “A day ON, not a day OFF.”
“Triangle United Way is proud to sponsor an event that mobilizes the community to do what matters,” said Craig Chancellor MLK Day of Service Committee Co-Chair and CEO and President of Triangle United Way. “Civic engagement matters and volunteering on MLK Day allows youth, families and individuals to connect with diverse agencies and people working to make lives better. What a perfect way to honor Dr. King’s legacy.”
More than 1,000 Triangle residents volunteered on over 50 Triangle MLK Day of Service across the region. The Future Kings and Queens Chess Academy held the first service project on Monday, January 9. The group helped a family from New Orleans, Louisiana that relocated to our community following Hurricane Katrina. The projects offered a variety of volunteer opportunities including landscaping and renovation of local community buildings, African-American history lessons, and dance and choral workshops.
Projects were hosted by the Literacy Councils of Wake and Orange, the Garner Road YMCA, Triangle United Way, Top Ladies of Distinction and the John Avery Boys and Girls Club to name a few. The John Avery site hosted the largest project and had over 100 volunteers including Durham Mayor William “Bill” Bell and Triangle United Way President and CEO Craig Chancellor.
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