Acitivities Planned for King Day of Service on Monday
NORTH ADAMS, Mass. — Martin Luther King Jr. Day this Monday will feature events and volunteer efforts across the county.
In North Adams, the Martin Luther King Day Committee welcomes volunteers for its 24th annual Day of Service and celebratory lunch.
The day begins with registration at 8:30 a.m. at Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts' Church Street Center. There will be projects on-site and at more than 10 other sites around the area such as Goodwill and the Northern Berkshire Family YMCA beginning at 9 a.m. Service tasks are suitable for all ages and abilities and include tasks such as painting, cleaning, organizing, building, winterizing, or sewing.
The free luncheon and community celebration begins at 12:30 at the center. There will be entertainment and talks, and the posthumous presentation of the 2017 Peacemaker Award to the late Don Quinn Kelley for his many years of work against injustice and for inclusion in the Berkshires and beyond.
For more information, contact Kathy Keeser at 413-664-4006 or kathykeeser@gmail.com.
Great Barrington celebrates "MLK Day: Reclaiming Our Cooperative Heritage." Community justice and social economic development leader Jessica Gordon Nembhard will speak at the 18th annual Interfaith Celebration at noon at First Congregational Church, 251 Main St.
Author of "Collective Courage" and a 2016 Cooperative Hall of Fame inductee, Gordon Nembhard will highlight native son W.E.B. Du Bois' pioneering cooperative advocacy, reveal the hidden history of African-American cooperative businesses and share contemporary cooperative opportunities for all.
Gordon Nembhard is a professor of community justice and social economic development in the Department of Africana Studies at John Jay College, City University of New York.
After the reception, she will lead a community conversation at 1:30 p.m. to discuss cooperative options for youth and adults, schools, businesses and local governments. The public is invited to both free events and are asked to bring a nonperishable food item for the People's Pantry.
Register in advance to get your choice of activity at berkshirenonprofits.com.
More than 20 community organizations, businesses and congregations are sponsoring and partnering on the MLK Day Interfaith Celebration. More information can be found at HousatonicHeritage.org.
Williams College will celebrate a day of events that are free and open to the public.
From 9 a.m. to noon, Williams students will partner with MCLA students and members of the Berkshire community to participate in a variety of service projects through Day of Service in North Adams.
At noon in Griffin Hall, Room 2, students, faculty, and staff are invited to a viewing and discussion of the civil rights advocate's controversial speech, "Beyond Vietnam: A Time to Break Silence." Lunch will be served.
A screening of the movie "Selma" will be held from 1 to 3 p.m. in the Paresky Auditorium. Also from 1 to 3, in Baxter Hall, students of Steven Miller, associate professor of mathematics, will build a LEGO recreation of the Edmund Pettus Bridge. Families are especially welcome.
Lee Snack Bar will provide free hot chocolate, sundaes, and a build-your-own cupcake bar from 2 to 5 p.m.
The final program will run from 3:30 to 5 p.m. featuring student speakers, a presentation from Sisterhood, performances from Sankofa and Gospel Choir, as well as opening remarks from Shawna Patterson, director of the Davis Center.
To end the day, there will be a campus-wide themed dinner at Whitmans Dining Hall from 5 to 7 p.m., with a fundraiser for the Berkshire County NAACP.
These events are co-sponsored by the Davis Center, the Center for Learning in Action, the Chaplain’s Office, and Dining Services.
Berkshire Community College's Service-Learning Program is partnering with the Harvest Table, Central Berkshire Habitat for Humanity and Gladys Allen Brigham Community Center for the Day of Service.
This is the fourth year that BCC will participate; approximately 45 BCC students and employees will participate.
A limited number of slots for volunteers from outside BCC are still available. Registration is required. Both monetary baked goods donations are also welcome.
Volunteers will meet at First United Methodist Church at 55 Fenn St. in Pittsfield at 9 a.m. and disperse to three city locations: Habitat for Humanity project at 5 Hall Place; Gladys Allen Brigham Center, 165 East St., for activities with children; Harvest Table at 55 Fenn to cook and serve community lunch.
Central Habitat for Humanity and Berkshire United Way will also host a Volunteer Income Tax Assistance Rally from 3 to 7 p.m. at 314 Columbus Ave. Community members with a household income of $54,000 or less, who missed filing their tax returns during any of the years between 2013-2015, can stop in and have their back taxes filed for free by IRS-certified VITA volunteers. Visit the IRS for a list of what you’ll need to bring. Attendees will be entered into a door prize drawing for three $25 Big Y gift cards.
A psalms and spirituals community sing-along presented by the Cantilena Chamber Choir from Saratoga Springs, N.Y.,will be held at Trinity Church, 88 Walker St., Lenox, on Sunday, Jan. 15, at 3 p.m. Special guests include the Zion AME Church Choir from Pittsfield, and community activist Shirley Edgerton. King will be remembered in poems and speeches, but the focus of the program will be a spiritual sing-along with the choirs. Admission is free of charge but there is a suggested donation of $15. Trinity Church is located at 88 Walker Street in Lenox.
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