Service is as Service Does

The Martin Luther King Jr. Day of Service is one in which I love to serve with City Year in my home state of New York. I'm a proud alumnus of the City Year Boston Americorps Program. I've learned how big our work is and the impact it has in the community on MLK Day. On this special day we see the community, service partners and corporations all pitch in during our dedicated service year.

So on Monday, January 20th my daughters and I took the train to Newtown High School in Elmhurst, New York. We were assigned to a team whose project was to write inspirational letters to accompany care kits for a local women's shelter. Some other projects of the day included: Book shelves being built on the spot by corps members, cool posters of the school's namesake by some of the high-school students, awesome colored bulletin boards and murals which could be found on most floors of the school.

I took the girls around to see the impact of service. The volunteers, partners and all the paint :) Special shout to all sponsors. It was really awesome. Anytime we see a red jacket in our travels, my girls always point out to me someone from City Year. They understand what corps members do, served alongside them on MLK Day and see the impact of service.

Click here for a video snipit of the day!

It's so great to see the ripple effect of service and the partnerships that make it all possible. I was blessed to introduce my neighboor Jason Klein to City Year and see him become a corps member in the early years of the New York site. Jason served on the civic engagement team. It was on an MLK Day that his team led a service project in our neighboorhood of Crown Heights, Brooklyn at Ebbets Field Middle School. Can you imagine?- I had the opportunity to paint the halls of a school I once attended.-It was I.S. 320 at that time.

The experience of City Year in my town with Red Jackets coming down Franklin Avenue!-Priceless. Later that year, Jason became the keynote speaker at our annual fundraiser-which was held at the Lighthouse at Chelsea Piers that particular year. One of our corporate sponsors, paid for a table for 10 alumni.- Which was awesome cause my funds were low and I was in transition. I didn't even know that Jason was scheduled to speak. It was a surreal experience as he talked about me telling him about this work. He told the audience, 'It wasn't just a job, it changed his life.'

Happy 25th Year of service City Year! Special Thanks to our founders Michael Brown and Alan khazei for your vision and ripples of continued service in Boston to South Africa! Hey world, -Do share this excellent program with someone in your town today!