Creating a central organizing system for a city-wide day of service event
Abstract
The Greater Philadelphia Martin Luther King, Jr., Day of Service is considered the largest MLK Day of Service event in the United States. Co-chair Todd Bernstein explains how a collaboration of community organizations has effectively established and sustained a central organizing system that matches volunteers with existing service projects and provides technical assistance to organizations holding their own Day of Service activities. In 2001, the group had over 25,000 volunteers serving in several hundred projects. This practice is from an interview presented on the For Non-profit Organizations website.Issue
Most cities organize the Martin Luther King, Jr., Day of Service on an ad hoc basis, with little or no coordination between the various organizations engaged in activities. Such a situation does not provide broad logistical support to organizations and can make it difficult for volunteers to find out about all available opportunities.Action
In Philadelphia, a central organizing system has been developed for the Martin Luther King, Jr., Day of Service. Anyone who wants to volunteer can call and be matched with an existing project. Individuals or groups can also be provided technical assistance to help organize their own projects. This serves dual purposes: it helps build the capacity necessary to get a project completed and it helps diversify the project in terms of the different kinds of people who volunteer and interact with each other. This process reflects the spirit of the day — breaking down barriers and learning from one another.
There are three key organizing partners in the Greater Philadelphia King Day of Service: The Citizenship Project, United Way of Southeastern Pennsylvania, and Philadelphia's Promise — The Alliance for Youth. The central headquarters for coordinating King Day of Service activities are at the United Way's office, which is where the event staff works (beginning in September) to help organize the event and facilitate the collaboration.
The participation of each volunteer is acknowledged with a commemorative T-shirt. With 18,000 volunteers participating in Philadelphia's MLK Day of Service 2000, providing that many shirts proved to be a considerable expense. To cover the cost of the shirts, as well as other operating costs, over 20 sponsors were recruited to fund the event. The sponsors were acknowledged by having their logos featured on the shirts. Additionally, the Philadelphia mayor, who served as the Honorary Chair, recognized the sponsors at the annual press conference to kick-off the event.
The completion of each project includes a reflection period for the volunteers and event staff. Everyone comes together briefly to talk about the significance of the day, sharing his or her personal reasons for coming out to perform. They talk about the connection between volunteering and Dr. King's message. They then discuss why citizen action is not only important on one day of the year, but is something that should be carried forward in daily life.
The event staff tries to make sure that service project groups include members of the communities that are being served. When groups that consist solely of outsiders are sent into communities, there is little chance that members of those communities being served will embrace the projects as their own. Community members must be active participants in the service projects in order to develop the sense of community ownership that leads to a sustainable effect.
Context
The Martin Luther King Holiday was established as a federal holiday in 1986. The King Holiday and Service Act was signed into law in 1994. The First Annual Greater Philadelphia Martin Luther King Day of Service was held in 1996, with 1,000 volunteers. By 2001, over 25,000 community members were serving at several hundred sites throughout southeastern Pennsylvania and Camden County, New Jersey. Projects included school beautification, preparing meals at homeless shelters, and teaching computer skills to seniors. On January 16, 2006 the Day of Service will expand to include the entire Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, as well as counties in New Jersey and Delaware.Outcome
The King Day of Service serves both as an opportunity to honor an American hero in a unique way and to make citizen action the common experience of everyone — to make volunteer service the symbol of "new patriotism." Many of the projects started during the Greater Philadelphia Martin Luther King Day of Service continue beyond the day and lead to year-round civic engagement.
One example of year-round civic engagement resulting from the King Day of Service involves Philadelphia Reads, a local effort that brings together corporations, law firms, and non-profits to help children increase their capacity to read independently. Five hundred volunteer reading tutors were trained at 12 different training sites throughout the Greater Philadelphia region. The volunteers received a 90-minute training session by certified reading specialists from Philadelphia Reads. At the conclusion of the training session the volunteers read to kids who, during the training session, were doing mural projects focused on Dr. King. Those two groups came together to read about Dr. King with one another. Each of those volunteers made an ongoing commitment to read to kids at least one hour each week throughout the entire year.
Evidence
In 1999 the Greater Philadelphia Martin Luther King, Jr., Day of Service was honored by the Points of Light Foundation as a national Point of Light.
With more than 45,000 people simultaneously participating in nearly 600 projects (2005), it is considered to be the largest MLK Day of Service event in the United States.
Posted On
February 19, 2002For More Information
Related Practices
Related sites
Greater Philadelphia Martin Luther King Day of Service
United Way of Southeastern Pennsylvania
Martin Luther King, Jr. Day of Service