In the spirit of Martin Luther King, Jr., we’re taking a break from featuring a charity in our blog this week.  Instead, we’re putting the spotlight on ALL of America’s Charities (all 100+ of them).

This week marks the 26th anniversary of Martin Luther King, Jr. Day.  First designated as a Federal Holiday back in 1994, the MLK Day of Service is typically observed as “a day on, not a day off”.  It’s a day when Americans of every age, from all walks of life work together to provide solutions to our most pressing national problems and celebrate the legacy of Dr. King through service projects that strengthen communities, empower individuals, bridge barriers, and create solutions. 

For some of us, MLK, Jr. Day is one of the few times during the year when we set aside time to give back to the community. For others, volunteering is a yearlong commitment to supporting charities and community projects that are important to us.  For many, volunteering is mainly a “feel-good” type of event that we enjoy doing along side our family or coworkers, while for others it is a more personal experience – one in which we devote our time to a cause particularly close to our heart.

I recently spoke with one of my coworkers here at America’s Charities about her plans for MLK Day and (in addition to being super impressed by her dedication to volunteerism), I was inspired to do a little soul-searching myself.  Here is part of the conversation we had:

Me: 

Do you have any plans for MLK Day this year?

Coworker: 

My husband and I are volunteering at Give Kids the World Village this Sunday for their Candy Land game night.  My husband is going to dress up in a costume to play the character Murphy the Gingerbread man during the game and activities, and I am going to be the lead for Murphy.

Me: 

Wow, that sounds fun.  Is this a special fund raising event or what exactly is the purpose of Candy Land game night?

Coworker:

Give Kids The World Village is a nonprofit “storybook” resort, where children with life-threatening illnesses and their families are treated to weeklong, cost-free fantasy vacations.  Every Sunday, The entertainment department at the village hosts a nightly family fun event for all to attend called Candy Land game night which has dancing, sweet treats and visits from Candy Land Characters too. 

Me:

Have you volunteered there before?  How did you learn about them?

Coworker:

My husband and I have regularly volunteered at Give Kids the World Village for 7 years. We have logged over 1000 hours of volunteer time so far.  I learned about the village when I started to work for America’s Charities in 2002.  I sta  rted volunteering there with my husband and children in 2005 and we’ve been helping ever since.

Supporting Give Kids the World Village is important to my coworker and it’s obvious that she enjoys volunteering for them.  After learning about my coworker’s MLK Day plans (and long history of volunteering), it wasn’t just the amount of time she spends volunteering that impressed me, but rather the fact that she found a cause that is important to her, took time to learn about the cause, and has truly dedicated her support to that cause.

MLK, Jr. Day is a good reminder of the importance of volunteerism, but even greater is the cue it provides each of us – to educate ourselves more about the different causes out there (beyond the ones that are well-marketed), to find a cause or two that are important to us personally, and to really pour our energy and devote ourselves to supporting and finding solutions to those causes.

“Everybody can be great, because anybody 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 the second theory of thermo-dynamics to serve. You only need a heart full of grace. A soul generated by love.” - Martin Luther King Jr.

I encourage you to learn more about MLK Day and the events going on that you can help with, but I also challenge you (and myself) to find a cause to which you can truly devote yourself.  We all have different talents and interests; imagine if we all took those unique talents and interests and applied them to a cause important to us – not just one day a year, but continuously until a solution is found for that cause?