SCA Volunteers Celebrate MLK’s Legacy from Coast to Coast
Hundreds of SCA volunteers across the country took to the field yesterday to celebrate the MLK National Day of Service. From pulling invasives with National Park Service Director Jon Jarvis in DC, to cleaning up a historic park in Harlem, to rejuvenating community gardens in California, SCA members carried on the legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. through hands-on service.
The weekend kicked off on Saturday with SCA’s January ConSERVE NYC event in Manhattan. Despite intermittent rain and snow, 80 volunteers came together to clean up Morningside Park in Harlem, raking, mulching, and conducting visitor use surveys to help the park plan for the future. “My staff was surprised that the volunteers achieved as much as they did in this weather,” said Terese Flores of NYC Parks. “I am so grateful that SCA chose our park and helped us to realize this project!”
On Monday, National Park Service Director Jon Jarvis joined SCA volunteers in Washington, DC to commemorate MLK Day through service at Fort Dupont Park. “Dr. King asked each of us, what are you doing for others, what are you doing for your community?” said Director Jarvis. Over 125 SCA volunteers answered that question by setting out to collect litter and remove invasive English Ivy around the park.
Meanwhile, SCA volunteers were pitching in at other sites around the country. On the East Coast, SCA AmeriCorps members in New Hampshire collected 750 pounds of food donations for the New Hampshire Food Bank, while members of SCA’s New York AmeriCorps program conducted restoration projects at Grafton Lakes State Park in the Adirondacks, and Mills Norrie State Park in the Hudson Valley. In Philadelphia SCA volunteers raked up leaves and collected litter around West Mill Creek Recreation Center. In Pittsburgh, SCA members did double duty, removing invasives in Schenley Park in the morning, then serving as ice skating monitors for the afternoon MLK Day festivities at the park.
Further west, SCA volunteers gathered under sunny skies in Houston to collect litter around Sterling High School with the help of other AmeriCorps partners and alums. In the Bay Area, volunteers nixed invasives at Half Moon Bay State Beach and planted new vegetation, while nearby in Richmond another group rejuvenated the community gardens along the Richmond Greenway. To the north, SCA teamed up with Earth Corps to tackle invasives at Cheasty Greenspace in Seattle, and planted native vegetation with the Audubon Society in Edmonds, WA.
SCA’s nationwide participation in the MLK National Day of Service is only the beginning to a series of National Service Days SCA will hold this year, including Earth Day, Veterans Day, and others. And of course, SCA will continue to offer service, training, and internship opportunities year-round. Keep an eye on our Events page for ways that you can serve with SCA around the country.
Follow the action on SCA’s national Twitter feed.
Tell us how you served by posting on our Service Wall.
