You strive to be | your dream, but are you…Living the Dream?

The MLK Day of Service has been a tradition for many years, not only here at MHCC but across the nation. What has now become a weekend event for most communities, all started with legislation in 1983. In 1994 Congress voted on creating this nationally celebrated federal holiday that commemorates the birthday of Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

The Corporation for National and Community Service was given the lead in this effort to promote the president’s national call to service initiative. Making the third Monday in January the MLK Day of Service, honorably titled, “Day on, not a day off.” The legacy left by Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. has a strong presence within the communities of our nation. Bringing together all walks of life, instilling cultural acceptance and understanding and encouraging a general atmosphere of peace has helped us all to work toward coming up with solutions to solving our national issues.

With the help of his Executive Cabinet, President Barack Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama will be beginning their Inauguration weekend with upholding the tradition of a National Day of Service. The President and First Lady, 12 members of the cabinet and members of Congress will be volunteering in a number of service projects this weekend. Some will be helping clean up city parks and public areas, some will be feeding the homeless and working in shelters, and many will be attending the inaugural committee’s Service Summit held in the National Mall this Saturday.

Here at MHCC we strive to be | your dream. But therein lies the question. Are we living the dream? It is a gesture of kindness and peace when we donate our time and skills to a need within our community, but how many of us truly offer this gesture throughout the year? Every year we are taught who Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was, what he stood for, and what he hoped for, for our future. However, we rarely go beyond that. Learning how to live for the legacy is something that should be encouraged nationwide and is something more of us could be educated about.

This is exactly what ASG’s event is about on Jan. 22 from 3 to 5 p.m. in the Student Union. We will be hosting a guest speaker, Kashea “Hug-Dealer” Kilson-Anderson, to speak on what Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s legacy is, what it stands for and how we can work towards living the dream.

There are always opportunities to get involved within your local community. Some ideas include your place of worship, at your school, at your place of employment, at a city agency. Here at MHCC, students and employees are already involved with the MLK Day of Service. Our TRiO students will be volunteering at a local elementary school, some students will be volunteering at local city parks and recreation locations, and others are looking to a few websites to find opportunities. A few of those websites are www.handsonportland.org; www.greshamoregon.gov/live; and www.volunteermatch.org.

Being involved and doing what you can to help keep the legacy of Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. alive is always a great thing to strive for. Then again, making the community you live in a better place to live in by working together makes a much better dream come true.

Crystal White is the ASG Director of Diversity at MHCC