Make Day of Service a year-round effort

Each year, the Martin Luther King Day of Service seems to rise to a new level.

More projects. More volunteers. More sponsors. More lives touched.

This year, a new year-round initiative and the election of Barack Obama as president promise to make the Jan. 19 extravaganza of altruism even more inspiring and far-reaching, organizers and Mayor Nutter said yesterday at the National Constitution Center.

Speaking at a news conference, event founder Todd Bernstein pointed out to gathered officials, supporters and students that they were in the same auditorium where Obama had made his memorable speech about race last May.

During that address, Obama issued a call to service, said Bernstein, president of Global Citizen, a group that encourages civic involvement.

In that spirit, on Jan. 20, Global Citizen will launch MLK 365, "a year-round initiative to connect volunteers with projects," Bernstein announced.

"We have way too many challenges to have just one day on," United Way vice president David Fair said, supporting the idea. "I hope to see you on Jan. 20 and 21 . . . and all the other days of the year . . . doing what you can do."

Nutter - who has been active in the local day of service since its first year in 1994, according to Bernstein - pointed out that Obama will be sworn in just one day after the nation marks an anniversary of the birth of the civil-rights pioneer.

Nutter praised the organizers, volunteers and dozens of young people in the audience, many of them in red "City Year" T-shirts.

"You help to make this city, you help to make this country, a great place to live," he said.

This year's day of service will have record numbers of volunteers (about 65,000), projects (more than 750) and sponsors (48 so far), Bernstein said.

The hot spot promises to be Temple University, where several thousand people are expected to pitch in on about 100 projects.

Unveiled at the news conference was a 48-foot mural made of panels created by students at eight area schools. The painting will be displayed Jan. 19 at the university's Liacouras Center. Another work created with the Mural Arts Program will be displayed at Graterford prison.

New this year is a program called One King Day, One King Book, in which schoolchildren read Martin's Big Words, by Doreen Rappaport, then discuss it and write essays.

Many sponsors host specific events. A Kid's Carnival will be presented by Target Corp., the service day's biggest backer. A health and wellness fair, with advice and testing, will be offered by AmeriChoice and United Health Care. Homeless people will get meals with pies at the Municipal Services Building thanks to Brown's ShopRite and Peachtree & Ward Catering.

Also, a computer-refurbishing program is sponsored by The Inquirer, Philadelphia Daily News and Philly.com.

Although many of the projects need no further assistance, there's still time to volunteer or even launch a new project, Bernstein said, adding that sponsors also were needed to sustain MLK 365.

Nutter also presented the Harris Wofford Active Citizenship Award to YouthBuild Philadelphia Charter School, which teaches useful trades to high school dropouts seeking a second chance.

On Martin Luther King Day, YouthBuild students will help assemble an environmentally friendly playground at Winchester Recreation Center, near Temple University.

Wofford, who cochairs the day of service, brainstormed the event with Bernstein in the mid 1990s and cosponsored legislation to create the first national Martin Luther King Day of Service in 1994.

They were worried that King's birthday was "turning into just another day off, especially for young people who knew less and less about Dr. King . . . who was a champion of action and an enemy of apathy," Bernstein said.