The local LGBT and ally community will again celebrate Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Day with a day of service honoring his memory and that of another pioneering activist.
The MLK Day of Service, organized by the Team Bayard planning committee, returns Jan. 19 to William Way LGBT Community Center, 1315 Spruce St. Begun last year, the event includes an array of service projects focused on LGBT causes. The effort pays tribute to the late Bayard Rustin, a top advisor to King who is credited with organizing the March on Washington and who was gay.
About 60 people participated in the inaugural event, said committee co-chair SharRon Cooks, and organizers expect an even-larger crowd next week.
“We have everyone’s emails who participated last year so were able to do an email blast letting them know we’re doing it again, and we expect a lot of new volunteers to participate as well,” she said.
Volunteers will be able to choose among a number of projects: telephone banking for Equality Pennsylvania in support of the statewide LGBT-inclusive nondiscrimination bill; a Gayborhood beautification project; painting the AIDS Library at Philadelphia FIGHT; serving a lunch to the residents of the John C. Anderson Apartments and completing apartment repairs; and assisting Hearts on a Wire with a letter-writing campaign to inmates, among other efforts. Philadelphia AIDS Thrift will be accepting clothing donations at the center throughout the event, which runs from 12:30-4:30 p.m.. A number of community agencies will be present at the center, such as The Colours Organization, which will be offering safe-sex kits and HIV-prevention materials and conducting testing.
Cooks encouraged LGBTs and allies to get involved with the effort, in honor of the work of King, Rustin and countless others.
“Martin Luther King provided service not just to the African-American community but all communities, and he had a message of diversity and working together. And it was an African-American gay man who helped lead the March on Washington, and his story has just started coming to the forefront in the last few years; it’s so encouraging that a member of the LGBT community was so integrally involved in the march and in the Civil Rights Act of 1964,” she said. “So I think it’s good for people to participate for service reasons and also for historical reasons.”
To sign up for a specific project ahead of time, visit www.globalcitizen365.org. Colours will also accept clothing donations for PAT in advance of the event at 1207 Chestnut St., third floor. For more information, email [email protected] or follow Team Bayard on Facebook, Twitter or Instagram.
