Rhode Islanders Unite in Service with AmeriCorps on MLK Day

Published on Tuesday, January 16, 2024

PROVIDENCE, R.I.  – More than 100 AmeriCorps members and community volunteers stepped up to serve on the annual Martin Luther King, Jr., holiday, organized by the McKee Administration’s Commission for National and Community Service – ServeRI –  and the Rhode Island Department of Education (RIDE). Volunteers prepared 20,000 meals for distribution to students and families in partnership with the Segue Institute for Learning and The Outreach Program. Rhode Islanders joined hundreds of thousands of across the country in honoring Dr. King through volunteer service.

Observed each year on the third Monday in January, Martin Luther King, Jr., Day is the only federal holiday designated as a National Day of Service to encourage all Americans to volunteer to honor the life and legacy of Dr. King and improve their communities. While much work remains to fulfill Dr. King’s dream of creating the Beloved Community, ServeRI alongside AmeriCorps remains committed to showing that joining together in service can unify Rhode Islanders of different backgrounds and experiences to transform unjust systems through a fierce urgency of now.

“This is the sixth year that the Department of Education and ServeRI have organized a MLK Day of Service to recognize the role of service in creating the Beloved Community” said Commissioner Angélica Infante-Green. “The AmeriCorps members and volunteers inspire all of us to begin the year dedicated to equity and the needs of our families.”

By coming together volunteers worked in teams to combine shelf-stable ingredients to package approximately 20,000 nutritious meals that will be distributed to families through school and community-based food pantries. The volunteers include Segue Institute for Learning students and AmeriCorps members from City Year Providence, Farm Fresh RI, NeighborWorks Blackstone River Valley, Teach for America, and TerraCorps,  volunteers are organized by ServeRI, AmeriCorps, City year Providence, Farm Fresh Rhode Island, Federal Hill House, Highlander Charter School, Save the Bay, Skills for RI, and Teach For America.

Projects across the nation include delivering meals, refurbishing schools and community centers, collecting food and clothing, signing up mentors, reading to children, promoting nonviolence and more. The MLK Day of Service shines a spotlight on service as a powerful force to bridge economic and social divides – today and throughout the year.  For more information, visit AmeriCorps.gov/MLKDay.

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Housed and supported by the Rhode Island Department of Education (RIDE), ServeRI is the Governor-appointed Rhode Island Commission for National and Community Service, which awards AmeriCorps grants to organizations responding to local needs, builds capacity of programs and agencies through training and technical assistance, and promotes Rhode Islanders’ commitment to volunteer service. Learn about paid, service opportunities in AmeriCorps at www.americorpsri.com.

AmeriCorps, the federal agency for volunteerism and national service, provides opportunities for Americans to serve their country domestically, address the nation’s most pressing challenges, improve lives and communities, and strengthen civic engagement. Each year, the agency places more than 200,000 AmeriCorps members and AmeriCorps Seniors volunteers in intensive service roles; and empowers millions more to serve as long-term, short-term, or one-time volunteers. Learn more at AmeriCorps.gov.