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Martin Luther King Day of Service

January 15, 2019 -- In the spirit of serving others, the public is invited to the 10th Annual Highland Park Martin Luther King Day of Service on Monday, January 21 from 10 AM – 1:30 PM at the Recreation Center of Highland Park, 1207 Park Avenue West. This multi-generational community event will honor Dr. King’s life devoted to social service, equality, social justice, economic advancement, and opportunity for all.  The event is free and open to the public. Onsite parking is available, with overflow parking at Wolters Field. The event is organized by the City of Highland Park Human Relations Advisory Group and the Park District of Highland Park.

Highland Park’s own Lynn Epps will present a tribute to Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.  The North Shore Chapter of Jack and Jill of America will perform Living His Dream, featuring children ages 2-11.  The Honorable Jesse White, Illinois Secretary of State, will recount the history of the Tumbling Team and share how it relates to Dr. King. Following will be a spectacular performance by the Jesse White Tumblers, reaching for new heights as they celebrate their 60th anniversary.

Service projects will include assembling toiletries for Hospitalized Veterans and the USO, creating Valentine messages for Operation Support Our Troops (Braeside PTO), creating clothing care packages for homeless youth (A Safe Place For Help), decorating tablecloths for the USO (Wayne Thomas PTO), making cards for kids in hospitals (Kicking Kancer), preparing warmth boxes for the less fortunate (Families Helping Families Chicagoland), assembling meal packs to benefit Wings, Inc. (Rotary Club), and more.

Volunteers will be collecting donations for a variety of causes including toiletries (hotel sized) for Dignity bags, non-perishable food items for Moraine Township Food Pantry, winter coats, hats, scarves and gloves for Tree Hugs, instruments for Ravinia Foundation, new stuffed animals for Zac’s Zoo, and bicycles in any condition for Working Bikes. Drop off donated items to the event between 10 AM – 12 PM.

If you would like to volunteer at the event, please contact Marietta Stevens at info@volunteerpoolhp.org. For more information, contact Terry Grossberg at trpltung@gmail.com or 847.204.4815 or Laura Frey at lfrey@cityhpil.com or 847.926.1860 or visit www.cityhpil.com/MLK.