Cradle Beach will join Western New York AmeriCorps and Hands On
Greater Buffalo along with thousands of Americans across the country to
celebrate the 2009 MLK Day of Service, making it “A Day On not a Day Off“.
The day will begin at 9AM at Durham Memorial AME Zion, 174
E. Eagle Street in Buffalo, where local community leaders will read passages
from “A Storybook of Change” as volunteers gather and ready themselves
for a transformational day of service that spreads across the region.
The public is invited to join in this January 19th event in honor
of the life and legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.
Some volunteers will create “A Storybook of Change: Civil Rights
on Canvas”. When finished, the storybook will consist of 16 large scale
paintings on canvas, chronicling civil rights milestones nationally and in
Western New York from the beginning of slavery through the historic upcoming
presidential inauguration. These canvases will then be bound together to form
an illustrated “Storybook”.
Less artistic, but highly necessary painting will be done as
approximately 30 AmeriCorps volunteers and Cradle Beach staff will be
participating in a painting project in Cradle Beach’s main building, the Jim
Kelly House. Volunteers will be painting eight bedrooms, a long hallway, and a
large dining hall. With the help of volunteers, the facilities will be
bright and clean for hundreds of disabled and disadvantaged campers that will
attend camp this summer.
The volunteers will travel to satellite sites to serve with partner organizations including The International Institute of Buffalo, Cradle Beach, Buffalo Science Museum, Buffalo Niagara Riverkeeper, Buffalo ReUSE, St. Monica Scholars, Asarese-Matters Recreation Center, Buffalo State College Volunteer Center, PUSH, ReNU Niagara, Cazenovia Community Resource Center, Ronald McDonald House and South Buffalo Educational Center.
Volunteers will serve at their sites from 10AM to 2PM before
returning to Durham Memorial, where they can donate blood to Upstate New York
Transplant Services before heading home. UNYTS will be on site from 8:30AM to
3PM.
Over 4000 Western New Yorkers will serve with throughout the
month of January in commemoration of the life and legacy of Dr. Martin Luther
King. Martin Luther King Day of Service 2009 is made possible by a grant
from The Corps Network.
For more information, go to handsongreaterbuffalo.org, or contact Patrick Metzger.
Above Image from LIFE Magazine.