UF students to do community service in honor of King

January 14, 2013

GAINESVILLE, Fla. — University of Florida students will continue an annual tradition to recognize the legacy of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. by doing two hours of community service in the Gainesville area Jan. 21.

UF will not hold classes that day to recognize the birthday of the slain civil rights leader, but about 200 UF and Santa Fe College students will be volunteering at various nonprofit organizations such as UF’s Natural Area Teaching Laboratory, the Edible Plant Project and the Boys & Girls Club. Specific tasks will vary by service site but include yard work and painting.

Group registration starts at 7:45 a.m. and individual registration starts at 8 a.m. at the Gator Wesley Foundation, 1380 W. University Ave. A light breakfast and snacks will be provided. Service work will be completed between 8:30 a.m. and 11:30 a.m.

Volunteers can then return to the Gator Wesley Foundation for lunch and reflection at 11:30 am.

After the service event, volunteers are invited to join the UF and SFC MLK Team to participate in the Annual King Celebration Commemorative March, starting at 1 p.m. in Bo Diddley Plaza in downtown Gainesville and continuing to the MLK Multipurpose Center on Waldo Road. Participants and organizations are encouraged to march behind the University of Florida MLK Celebration banner in a show of unity and support. There will be a shuttle available from the UF campus to the march’s starting point. The shuttle will also be available to return to campus.

“This will be a great opportunity for students and community members to work together doing something that will benefit our city,” said Maria Munoz, coordinator of the event.

To register for the “MLK Day of Service” or to look for more events go to www.ufmlk.org.

Other activity highlights this month include a performance of “Ain’t I A Woman,” a musical theater program celebrating the lives of four African-American women: novelist and anthropologist Zora Neale Hurston; ex-slave and abolitionist Sojourner Truth; folk artist Clementine Hunter; and civil rights worker Fannie Lou Hamer. It will be held at 9 p.m. Jan. 22 in the Rion Ballroom of the Reitz Student Union. Admission is free.