MLK Service project breaks new record
Jan. 18, 2014. Decatur High School students bag up leaves as part of the MLK Service Project. Photo by: Dan Whisenhunt
The organizers of the city’s annual MLK Service Project said the event reached a new milestone this past weekend.
Decatur’s Lifelong Community Coordinator Lee Ann Harvey said 1,300 volunteers showed up this year, beating the previous record of 1,200. Volunteers made major or minor repairs to about 24 homes over the Martin Luther King Jr. Day weekend, an effort that assisted older, lower-income residents of Decatur’s Oakhurst community.
City Manager Peggy Merriss announced the total at the end of the Jan. 21 Decatur City Commission meeting.
Harvey said the Service Project organizers count the volunteers by the number of waivers signed during the three day event. The actual number is a little higher than 1,300, so the organizers are rounding downward.
“It’s an impressive number of volunteers that we’re very happy came out,” Harvey said. “They got an amazing amount of work done, and we are glad that we were able to find a lot of our last-minute walk-up volunteers appropriate jobs to do so we could expand the assistance we’ve provided to the senior citizens.”
Harvey is catching her breath before beginning preparation’s for next year’s event.
To see Decaturish.com’s three day series on the MLK Service Project, click the following links:
How may we serve you? MLK Service Project, Day 1