The City of Martin and the University of Tennessee at Martin officially announced National Day of Service plans for Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Day on Monday, Jan. 20, beginning at 9 a.m. at the Kathleen and Tom Elam Center.
The planning committee – composed of city officials, university officials and the UTM Black Student Association – has organized the Day of Service to package 20,000 meals to address the need of food insecurity in Martin and Weakley County.
The Day of Service activities will open with a call to action from UTM Chancellor Yancy Freeman, followed with instructions for volunteers who will organize and package the 20,000 meals.
The meals will serve the Martin/Weakley County community and will be distributed to local food banks and pantries to assist those with food insecurity needs.
Churches, community organizations and individuals – along with UT Martin faculty, staff and students – are invited to participate in the Day of Service. Participants are encouraged to register online through Runway at https://runway.utm.edu/submitter/form/start/667865. An email confirmation receipt will be sent to confirm registration.
Those who experience any issues with online registration or need assistance should contact Brad Thompson, director of Economic and Community Development for the City of Martin, at Martin City Hall at 731-587-3126 or bthompson@cityofmartin.net or Kameron Echols, director of Multicultural Affairs at UT Martin, at 731-881-1864 or kechols3@utm.edu.
The packaging event is a coordinated effort with the Meals of Hope organization in Nashville. Meals of Hope is a nonprofit 501(c)(3) organization that is committed to bringing people together to fight the hunger epidemic. Founded in 2007 in southwest Florida, Meals of Hope has packed over 100 million meals that have been donated to communities in need across the nation and around the world. For more information about Meals of Hope, visit its website at mealsofhope.org/tennessee.
“This event comes with a cost, and we are thankful for the UT Martin Student Organizations, community businesses and individuals who donated to make this Day of Service possible,” said Nichols.
Echols also reflected on thoughts that King believed that people should have access to food, education and dignity.
“I have the audacity to believe that people everywhere can have three meals a day for their bodies, education and culture for their minds and dignity, equality and freedom for their spirits,” King said.
King believed that poverty, hunger and homelessness should not be tolerated.
“Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. also said, ‘Life’s most persistent and urgent question is, What are you doing for others?’” said Thompson. “What a good activity for us to honor Dr. King’s legacy in service to others.”
Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Day became a federal holiday in 1983 and was first observed as a federal holiday in 1986. It was made a national day of service through the King Holiday and Service Act, signed into law in 1994. It was first observed as a national day of service in 1995. This year marks the 40th federal observance of the Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Day holiday.
