LOS ANGELES (CNS) - Service projects will be held throughout Los Angeles County today to mark Martin Luther King Jr. Day in an attempt to fulfill the goal set by Congress in 1994 to make it a ``day on, not a day off.''
Organizers expect more than 1,000 volunteers to sort and fold more than 25,000 items of clothing at the sixth annual Martin Luther King Jr. Day Clothing Collection & Community Breakfast in Hollywood. The event will be held from 10 a.m.-1 p.m. at the headquarters of the volunteer organization Big Sunday at 6111 Melrose Ave.
``There are so many people -- from all walks of life -- who want to work together to make our world a nicer place. Despite what you hear, now, more than ever, most people want to focus on what we have in common," said David Levinson, Big Sunday's founder and executive director.
More than 700 volunteers will join the 270 City Year Los Angeles members at Fremont High School in South Los Angeles from 9 a.m.- 1 p.m. to paint 100 college logos and 20 murals promoting STEAM -- the STEM subjects -- science, technology, engineering and math -- and art.
City Year Los Angeles members work full time at 31 Los Angeles Unified School District Schools to help students stay in school and on track to graduate high school.
Employees of AltaMed Health Services and volunteers will participate in the seventh annual Roosevelt High School Beautification Day from 8 a.m.-1 p.m. The volunteers will include Assemblyman Miguel Santiago, D-Los Angeles, who graduated from the Boyle Heights School. The goal is to create a safe and visually appealing space for the students to learn, a company official said.
A day of service seeking to beautify Lincoln High School in Lincoln Heights will be held from 9 a.m.-1 p.m.
Long Beach's eighth Day of Service will begin at 8 a.m. with a rally at Martin Luther King Jr. Park, with volunteers then participating in service projects throughout the city.
About 300 University of La Verne students, faculty and staff will participate in a variety of service efforts in several cities, including joining Mayor Tim Sandoval in cleaning up downtown Pomona, making blankets for the homeless at the Hillcrest Retirement Community in La Verne and organizing newspaper articles at the headquarters of the Pomona Valley branch of the NAACP in Pomona.
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