So, apparently, 15 years ago MLK Day was made a day of community service. Where was I?
"In 1994 Congress passed the King Holiday and Service Act, designating the King Holiday as a national day of volunteer service. Instead of a day off from work or school, Congress asked Americans of all backgrounds and ages to celebrate Dr. King's legacy by turning community concerns into citizen action. The King Day of Service brings together people who might not ordinarily meet, breaks down barriers that have divided us in the past, leads to better understanding and ongoing relationships, and is an opportunity to recruit new volunteers for your ongoing work.
Participation in the King Day of Service has grown steadily over the past decade, with hundreds of thousands of Americans each year engaging in projects such as tutoring and mentoring children, painting schools and senior centers, delivering meals, building homes, and reflecting on Dr. King's life and teachings. Many of the projects started on King Day continue to engage volunteers beyond the holiday and impact the community year-round.
Although the scope of the event grows every year, many people still are not aware of the service component of the holiday. By encouraging the participation of as many organizations as possible, we hope to make next year's King Day of Service the biggest and best ever, engaging more people in service that honors Dr. King's life and teachings."
We can do something special next year now that I know :)
A friendly reminder as we get this year rolling that if you send to an organization outside of the Homespun Helpers Family, please remember to include the letter and tag that I created and posted to the Yahoo page. Or, if you are not on yahoo or can't print those documents, let me know and I'd be happy to print and mail some for you. Id really like to work on getting our name out there this year.
Finally, I'd like to start a new tradition. Right about the middle of each month, I'm going to pick a member of our ever growing membership here, tell you why I think they're spectacular, and then ask you to similarly comment to or on said person if you're of a mind. It's kind of like a student of the month or employee of the month thing, only as of now I've got now plaque to record such things on. Maybe someone skilled in web design could take care of that for us? :D
Anyway, our star of the month this month is Doclegs.
Why Doclegs?
Doclegs is one of about three people who have been part of this group from the very very beginning, back when we got up to 12 items and thought we were the coolest kids in the universe. And we were, but um...we didn't have much to prove it just yet :) Doclegs epitomizes everything I respect in a person. She is always supportive of others, she is a spectacular crafter, an active volunteer for us, and perhaps most admirably, she channeled a difficult time in her life into doing something wonderful and allowing us to support the effort.
Doclegs, you are a superestar, and don't let anyone tell ya otherwise! Congratulations on being our first Star of the Month!!!
More updates to come on Wednesday. Stay warm and cozy, everybody!
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3 comments:
What an awesome idea. Congratulations docleg. I have to play dumb and say I don't know what the difficult situation was in your life; assume it was before I found the group. I'm glad you've come through that situation and look forward to getting to know you better in the coming year.
Believe I'll make that one of my goals, when someone is highlighted each month, even if they're not here on blogger, I'll make an effort to find there blog space and see if I can connect.
Congrtulations!
Sandy
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I also hate to admit it that I didn't know, despite knowing what a great man Martin Luther King was that his day was designed as a National Day of Service. Geesssssss, we need to help get that word out.
Strike 1, I don't see doglegs listed on the members list (is it possible to include a link to these folks blogs each month so we can find and visit them?
Futher thought...Do we have a list of all members that shows if they're a member here on blogger, or LiveJournal, etc.? Might be very helpful Thinking out loud, so to speak; the list could be everyone with a designated color for each blog space? Or at least here that would work;, don't know how the other blog spaces work well enough to know if that would work across the board.
Sandy
Hi Sandy,
That's an interesting idea...a roll call kind of. I'll see if I can add that. I would concentrate on folks that tend to be reasonably active.
Always with the good ideas, you!
If you go to our livejournal community (http://community.livejournal.com/homespunhelpers) you can find a list of all of the lj members in our profile. That might be a somewhat good place to start, just like livejournal people can come here and see the blogger members listed.
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