MLK Day Resources

Take advantage of this day off to train volunteers to serve throughout the year. They will leave prepared to be effective volunteers and help you accomplish your mission.

• Dr. King's life and teachings
• Dr. King’s principles of non-violence
• Host a discussion across generations 
  • Generations over Dinner: Honor Dr. King and host your own conversations over dinner (or other meal) that foster a sense of constructive action, civic participation, and belonging and combat the corrosive effects of hate on our democracy and safety. Learn more.

Help people in your community get job ready:

• Resume writing
• Interview skills
• Dressing for success
• Research training programs
• Help individuals complete a job application or application for a training program

• Serve meals at a homeless shelter
• Bring meals to homebound neighbors and consider signing up to be a regular volunteer with local meal delivery services like Meals on Wheels
• Organize a food drive or even start or plan a community garden. When organizing a food drive make sure to check with the food pantry or food bank to see what’s needed and how you can be most helpful.
• Teach healthy eating on a budget
• Sign up for the End Hunger Challenge, a five-day online curriculum from the Congressional Hunger Center.

• Help others get vaccinated or find a testing location
  Do you know individuals who have not yet gotten a COVID-19 vaccine? You can serve others by helping them get vaccinated. Find tools to help you have a conversation, and use these resources to find a vaccine location near you or a COVID test.
• Arrange a health fair or dental clinic
• Organize a blood donor drive
• Register bone marrow and organ donors
  • Information about bone marrow donation
  • Information about organ donation
• Organize a drug take back
  • You can find a collection site near you. Click on the collection site locator and input your information.

• Remove graffiti from a building and paint a mural
• Create community green spaces by planting trees, grass, and flowers, especially in locations that may lack adequate green space
• Reclaim a park or abandoned space for community use
• Become a volunteer with a local, state, or national park

• Distribute fire safety information and check for working smoke detectors
• Make and distribute disaster preparedness kits
• Host working sessions to help economically vulnerable citizens
• Share resources or apps that neighbors can use to help each other if disaster strikes
• Be your own first responder
• Check out tools and information about disaster and emergencies planning

• Help low-income families find free tax preparation services and take advantage of the earned income tax credit 
• Shovel elderly neighbors' walkways, clear leaves or help with other yard maintenance
• Participate in or create a neighborhood watch program
• Install smoke detectors or distribute batteries and install new batteries for those who have detectors. (Check with your local Red Cross and/or Fire Department to understand the greatest need.)
• Weatherize homes (Local churches may have a good idea of community members who need assistance.)
• Get free tools to help you run a coat or clothing drive in your community. 
• Volunteer with the National Alliance to End Homelessness and participate in the Point-in-Time Count to help those experiencing homelessness in your community.

Learn how you can help refugees and take action on MLK Day.

The National Voluntary Organizations Active in Disaster serves as a clearing house for anyone who wants to help communities and individuals recover from disasters. Learn about what you can do.

• Mulch the base of trees and plants
• Start a compost 
• Tend a garden 
• Develop a project to help your church or home conserve rain and stormwater. 
• Educate about safer cleaning products for homes and other facilities. 
• Insulate windows. WindowDressers provides free or low-cost inserts for volunteers to install in Vermont, Maine, New Hampshire, or Massachusetts. 
• Learn more about climate justice. 
• Learn more about environmental justice projects and programs at the Environmental Protection Agency.
• Get more project ideas and tools: 
  • Multisolving Institute 
  • Council on Environmental Quality
  • Drawdown Ecochallenge

• Focus on recruiting and training additional volunteers for high impact, student-support roles such as tutors, mentors, student success coaches, and post-secondary transition coaches
• Host training or conduct a FAFSA completion event to help student access federal student aid
• Support students to draft or revise college admissions essays
• Host a career fair to provide middle and high school students with an opportunity to learn about various career paths that are available at local companies
• Help students prepare for and lead a discussion or presentation about Dr. King’s life and teachings for community members
• Beautify school buildings and grounds to provide a welcoming environment for students and educators
• Partnering with a local organization or educators, create take home activities that preschool students can do with their families to get ready for kindergarten (e.g., letter recognition games, board games that allow students to practice using numbers 1-10, etc.)
• Host a clothing/coat drive for students and families
• Engage students of all ages in real-world science