Martin Luther King COMMUNITY Day Activities

Jan 16, 2017
9:00 am - 1:00 pm
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Grace Chapel

The fourth annual Martin Luther King Community Service Day takes place on Monday, January 16th. Congregants can join with more than 400 volunteers from throughout Lexington for a variety of services to Lexington and to our surrounding communities: making cards for hospital patients, veterans, and disabled adults; making goody bags for homeless children with senior residents of Waltham Crossing; serving lunch at senior villages in Lexington; joining in activities with homeless children and adults at the Waltham YMCA; making scarfs for those in need; helping deliver donations to such organizations as the Lexington Food Pantry.
Many of these activities are family friendly, and lots of fun.
The Service Day also offers a wide variety of opportunities for sharing our resources with those in need: food for the Food Pantry; toys for Birthday Wishes; books, DVDS, CDs, video games and other media for More Than Words; gently-worn (or new) kids clothing for Cradles to Crayons; gently used clothes and shoes for all ages at the Waltham Y; and financial donations to any of these organizations and to Lexington Community MLK Day for expenses.
The day will begin at 9-10:30 with a Panel Discussion and Community Dialogue on Race, at Grace Chapel, sponsored by the Lexington Interfaith Clergy Association and the Lexington Human Rights Council. Small group discussions will build on  J. Anthony Lukas’ book “Common Ground: A Turbulent Decade in the Lives of Three American Families,” about the Boston busing crisis. This is an opportunity to read or re-read Lukas’ book, and talk about where we have come since that time and where we want to go.
At 11:00, participants will gather at the statue on the Battle Green for the Unity Walk to Cary Hall.
 
At 11:30 at Cary Hall, there will be an inspirational program of words and music by First Parish member Regie O”Hare Gibson and by the Special Needs Arts Program (SNAP) Sing Along Chorus.
 
Service activities begin following the program.
 
Many First Parishioners have participated in this day since it began, and found it moving and  community-building. It will provide many ways for us to share in the work of providing concrete resources and hope to our nation’s most vulnerable residents.
For further details, go to Facebook: Lexington Community MLK Day
To volunteer: go to lexingtonmlk.org
For question: go to lexingtoncommunity@gmail.com, or contact Helen Cohen at helencohen@rcn.com.