Name: How to get involved in Philly’s MLK Day of Service — from reading coaching to citywide cleanups
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How to get involved in Philly’s MLK Day of Service — from reading coaching to citywide cleanups

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Live: Congress begins second impeachment of Trump for incitement of insurrectionEvery year on the third Monday in January, communities across the U.S. honor the life and legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. by performing acts of service — and Philly is home to the largest King Day event in the country.Pennsylvania U.S. Senator Harris Wofford helped create the national King Day of Service in 1994 through federal legislation he co-authored with civil rights icon Rep. .What started in Philly in 1996 with 1,000 volunteers has morphed into a day of service that works to foster civic engagement and understanding of Dr. King’s legacy with hundreds of thousands of volunteers across the U.S.On Monday, Jan. 18, Girard College — which serves as the Philly region’s King Day of Service hub — will host hundreds of projects, workshops, trainings, and other events.The , now in its 26th year, spans the entire Delaware Valley and attracts tens of thousands of participants.The event’s 2021 theme is “Justice &amp; the COVID-19 Health Crisis.““In 1966, Dr. King said, ‘Of all the forms of inequality, injustice in health is the most shocking and inhuman,’” said Todd Bernstein, president of the nonprofit Global Citizen and the event’s founder and director, in a press release.The online events will run Jan. 16 to 18 and will feature family-friendly activities, a documentary screening, poetry and more.“The global pandemic has revealed so much suffering, with a deadly pandemic and some 360,000 U.S. deaths,” said Bernstein. “It has awoken more Americans to disparities in healthcare and systemic racism. We have massive unemployment, food insecurity, and a lack of critical resources for students who are confined to their homes, particularly from underserved urban public school systems.”The day’s activities include free COVID-19 testing, food distribution, a virtual career expo, and discussions on racial justice and disparities in health care. An details these and hundreds of other volunteer opportunities.Here’s a look at some of the project’s featured events, and how you can get involved:Free COVID-19 testingwill be providing free COVID-19 testing at Girard College’s Fairmount campus from 9 a.m. to noon. The drive-thru and walk-in testing site aims to target marginalized populations from underserved communities. Those interested in getting tested can , though registration is not required.King Day reflectionA virtual discussion on Dr. King’s legacy and racial justice, the COVID-19 pandemic, and barriers to accessing health care will be held at 3 p.m. Those interested can .Career exploration expoThis year’s career expo is focusing on providing resources and guidance to young people who are out of work. The first session will take place from 10 a.m. until noon, with the second scheduled from noon until 2 p.m. The expo’s workshops will include a virtual job hunt boot camp and sessions with industry leaders who can connect attendees with job opportunities suited to their skills and career interests. Those interested can .Reading Captain trainingThe Reading Captains initiative, which champions the city’s movement for childhood literacy, will be holding a 90-minute virtual training at 10:30 a.m. The goal is to train more community members to help Philly children read at grade level by the end of the third grade. Those who attend the training will be certified as Reading Captains in Philadelphia. Those interested can .Outside of the city’s official King Day of Service project, plenty of social justice-oriented nonprofits and civic engagement organizations are hosting their own events. Here’s a look at a handful of Philly-based projects, and how you can get involved., which clears Philly streets of litter one bright orange trash can at a time, is hosting a citywide cleanup. The event, slated for Sunday, Jan. 17, will take place in Kensington, North Philadelphia, South Philadelphia, and Germantown. Those interested in volunteering, donating, being a site-leader, or partnering as a business, can .The African American Museum in Philadelphia’s 15th Annual Martin Luther King Jr. Weekend Celebration has gone virtual.The online events will run from Jan. 16 to 18, featuring activities like a documentary screening of a reading and discussion with the city’s poet laureate and a virtual tour of the museum’s latest exhibit,The event’s 2021 theme asks the question, “What can we do for others?”Those interested in signing up for specific events can .Terrill Haigler, affectionately known as , and Pennsylvania State Rep. Malcolm Kenyatta are teaming up to host a neighborhood cleanup in North Philadelphia. Residents are encouraged to bring a face mask and a friend to North 17th and Jefferson streets to clean up Philly “one block at a time.” The event will run from&nbsp;11 a.m. to 2 p.m.&nbsp;View this post on Instagram&nbsp;Philadelphia’s National Constitution Center is hosting a free virtual class on the civil rights movement throughout the week of Jan. 18. Among the topics the course will cover are the Warren Court and landmark laws enacted by Congress like the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Voting Rights Act of 1965.Fairmount’s Eastern State Penitentiary will commemorate Dr. King with virtual readings of his 1963 “Letter from Birmingham Jail.” The event will be broken out into six 30-minute sessions, each followed by a period of reflection. Participants can join as many of the sessions as they’d like. Those interested can tune in to the penitentiary’s or via .Get daily updates from WHYY News!The free WHYY News Daily newsletter delivers the most important local stories to your inbox.Stanford and her team have provided COVID-19 testing and education to over 21,000 people in the city since the pandemic’s outbreak in April.There will be no formal recognition of this monumental event, neither nationally nor in Philadelphia, where the event occurred. Here’s why.They are gathering on the heels of yet another shooting by a white police officer of a Black man — this time, 29-year-old Jacob Blake in Kenosha, Wisconsin, last Sunday.Sign up for our weekly newsletter.Together we can reach 100% of WHYY’s fiscal year goal

Live: Congress begins second impeachment of Trump for incitement of insurrectionEvery year on the third Monday in January, communities across the U.S. honor the life and legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. by performing acts of service — and Philly is home to the largest King Day event in the country.Pennsylvania U.S. Senator Harris Wofford helped create the national King Day of Service in 1994 through federal legislation he co-authored with civil rights icon Rep. .What started in Philly in 1996 with 1,000 volunteers has morphed into a day of service that works to foster civic engagement...

How to get involved in Philly’s MLK Day of Service — from reading coaching to citywide cleanups

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