Scroll through the long list of volunteer opportunities on Philadelphia’s 30th annual Martin Luther King Day of Service, and you could easily become overwhelmed with choices. Personal care item drives. Community center cleanups — so much trash pick-up. Tutor training — all part of the nation’s largest King Day of Service. (Meanwhile, it’s also the 60th anniversary of the Voting Rights Act and Inauguration Day for President-elect Donald Trump.)
This year, sign up. Join in. See what a little volunteering can do for you, your city, our world.
But wait. There’s more. MLK weekend also brings plenty of programming — including free and ticketed programs — at the African American Museum in Philadelphia, the National Constitution Center, Eastern State Penitentiary …
Here, ways you can volunteer, take part, observe and celebrate the Martin Luther King, Jr. Day of Service in Philadelphia:
Take Part in Philly’s Biggest MLK Events
SHOW UP AT THE CENTER OF IT ALL. Girard College (2101 S. College Avenue) is the signature site for the Martin Luther King Day of Service on January 20, from 8am to 5pm. This year’s theme: “The Beloved Community.” Registration is not required; in addition to volunteer opportunities, there will be a health and wellness fair, a jobs fair, children’s activities Love Now Media‘s storytelling booth, and a live WURD broadcast.
There, you can:
- Assemble hygiene and children’s literacy kits.
- Work on a Declaration of Independence-centered printmaking with Mural Arts Philadelphia.
- Join the Committee of Seventy in putting together civic engagement starter kits to help Philadelphians understand how city government and voting in Philadelphia work.
Attend:
- A noon rally for peace and justice with the Cecil B. Moore Philadelphia Freedom Fighters, the. organization that led efforts to desegregate Girard College in the 1960s.
- A health and wellness fair by the Black Doctors Consortium.
- A marketplace of community organizations offering volunteer opportunities.
Learn:
- To be a children’s Reading Coach with Read by 4th.
- CPR with representatives from the Philadelphia Fire Department.
- About voting — and register to vote.
Bring kids:
- For MLK story time, coloring, video watching, book take-homes and a carnival.
Book ahead:
Martin Luther King, Jr. Tribute Concert. At 3pm, Damon Gupton conducts; Charlotte Blake Alston narrates; violinist Nathan Amaral plays; Girard College High School and CAPA Choirs and the Philadelphia Orchestra perform in Girard College Chapel. On the program: Lift Every Voice and Sing, and pieces by Florence Price, Rev. Dr. Charles A. Tindley and William Grant Still. Free; reservations recommended. 2101 S. College Avenue
SPEND 1, 2, 3 or 4 DAYS AT THE AFRICAN AMERICAN MUSEUM IN PHILADELPHIA. AAMP offers a four-day weekend of programming, January 18 – 20, including free admission on Monday, 10am to 5pm. Note: Sunday, January 19, they open late (1:30 to 5pm) in order to host a Black Panthers’ inspired children’s brunch that is already sold out. 701 Arch Street
Pitch in at Philadelphia Schools
Note: Some of these activities are outdoors and may be weather-dependent.
Join YouthBuild Philly Charter School students in revitalizing Richard R. Wright Elementary School in Strawberry Mansion on January 15 from 9am to 2pm. 2201 N. 28th Street
All opportunities below are posted on Global Citizen 365’s website. Go there for availability, contact information and registration. Most are for ages 14 and up unless otherwise noted.
Girls High in Olney. Restore the home economics space and organize book closets. Prep lunches to donate to shelters. January 20 from 8am to 2pm. N. Broad Street and Olney Avenue
John Moffet K-5 in Olde Kensington. Paint literacy-theme murals. Assemble literacy kits. Organize classrooms. Bring kids (all ages) to a literacy carnival. January 20 from 8:30am to 1pm. 127 W. Oxford Street
Benjamin Franklin High School on North Broad. Be a reading buddy for the morning (registration required); take part in yoga with kids (BYO mat); donate and sort books and toiletries. January 20 from 9am to noon. 550 N. Broad Street
Thomas Mifflin School in East Falls. Spruce up the front office, staff lounge and elementary school grounds (BYO shovel, gardening gloves). January 20 from 9am to 1pm. 3624 Conrad Street
Julia Ward Howe Elementary in Fern Rock. Paint murals. Clean out closets. Move furniture. Make signs in Spanish, French and Portuguese. January 20 from 10am to 1pm. 5800 N. 13th Street
Taggart Elementary in Whitman / South Philadelphia. Help create a children’s library (third floor; stair access only) by cataloging and alphabetizing books. Have pizza! Ages 15 and up. January 20 from 10am to 2pm. 400 W. Porter Street
Pennsylvania School for the Deaf in Germantown. Adults are needed to supervise some of the 145 Germantown Friends students in baking cookies, prepping meals, learning ASL, collecting blankets, making care packages for NICU babies, cleaning up the library and campus, more. 100 W. School House Lane
Clean, Tidy: Rec Centers and Parks
Christy Rec Center in Cobbs Creek. Join staff to clean up. January 20 from 9am to 2pm. 728 S. 55th Street
Martin Luther King Jr. Rec. Center in Sharswood. No better place to pitch in than this namesake community resource, where volunteers will hand out refreshments and guide community members to sessions on teen financial literacy, health and wellness, and job readiness. All ages. January 20 from 9am to 3:30pm. 2101 Cecil B. Moore Avenue
West Mill Creek Playground in Mill Creek in West Philadelphia. Help clean up indoors and out. Distribute gloves and hats. January 20 from 9am to noon. 5100 Parrish Street
Aspen Farms and Tiffany Fletcher Recreation Center in Mill Creek in West Philadelphia. All ages (provided youth come with an adult) to help clean up trash, remove vegetation, plant beds and sort supplies (BYO wheelbarrow, shovels, etc. if possible) at Aspen Farms from 10am to noon. Distribute flyers to neighbors from noon to 2pm on January 20. 4700 Brown Street
Haverford Branch Library in Carroll Park in West Philadelphia. Help beautify this community space, indoors and out. January 20 from 10am to noon. 5543 Haverford Avenue
Transformation to Recovery in East Passyunk / South Philly. Pick up litter and debris in the blocks around a residential recovery center and house. January 20 from 10am to noon. 9th and Catrell streets
Laura Sims Skate House in West Philadelphia. On the edge of Cobbs Creek Park, this 40-year-old ice skating rink needs help with organizing and cleaning indoors and trash pickup outside. January 20 from 10am to 1pm. 210 S. 63rd Street
Tacony Creek Park in Northeast Philadelphia. Tidy the park. Learn about the environment. Enjoy a free lunch. January 20 from 10am to 12:30pm. Bingham and Ashdale streets
Historic Fair Hill in Fair Hill / North Philly. Clean up the neighborhood around a historic arboretum, garden and cemetery — the final resting place of abolitionists and women’s rights activists — and rake and garden onsite. At noon, gather by a fire to sing freedom songs. January 20 from 10am to 1pm. 2901 Germantown Avenue
Sturgis Playground in Oak Lane. Clean debris and trash from the playgrounds and basketball, volleyball and tennis courts and football fields. January 20 from 10am to 2pm. 200 W. 65th Avenue (on N. 2nd Street)
Athletic Recreation Center in Brewerytown. Reorganize the music room and computer lab; move supplies to basement storage. All ages. January 20 from noon to 3pm. 1400 N. 26th Street
Wissahickon Valley / Blue Bell Park in Northwest Philadelphia. Remove invasive vines and litter. RESCHEDULED TO FEBRUARY 1 from 9am to noon. 842 W. Walnut Lane
Build, Repair, Paint on MLK Day
Community Education Center in University City. Repaint the theater’s risers; do indoor-outdoor clean up, including in the theater, dance studios and restrooms. January 20 from 8:30am to noon. 3500 Lancaster Avenue
Habitat for Humanity in Cecil B. Moore / North Philadelphia. The nonprofit’s warehouse needs work in the form of insulating, building Adirondack chairs and sheds and other tasks. Lunch is provided. January 20 at 9:30am to 2:30pm. 1835 N. 19th Street
Donate, Organize, Give Out: Food + Essentials
Prospect Park Fire Company in Delaware County. Drive-thru to drop off nonperishable foods (crackers, juice, canned fruits and meats, cereal, healthy snacks), baby items (diapers, formula, wipes), tampons and pads, pet food and household cleaners. January 20 from 8 to 11:30am. 1001 Lincoln Avenue, Prospect Park
Germantown Friends School in Germantown. Drop off new children’s clothing items: underwear, undershirts, hats and socks. January 20 from 9am to noon. 31 W. Coulter Street
Penn Wood High School in Lansdowne. Donate toiletries: body soap, toothpaste, toothbrushes, dental floss, mouthwash, deodorant, body lotion, hair care products, laundry detergent and feminine products for the school’s Resource Pantry. January 20 from 9am to 1pm. 100 Green Avenue, Lansdowne
Beth Am Israel on the Main Line. The synagogue is asking for new and gently used clothing and books. January 20 from 9am to noon. 1301 Hagys Ford Road, Penn Valley
Franklin Towne Charter High School in Tacony. Bring toiletries for honors students to sort and donate to St. Francis & St. Vincent Home. January 20 from 9:30 to 11:30am. 5301 Tacony Street
Pinn Memorial Baptist Church in Overbrook Farms. Drop off personal items — soap, lotion, shampoo, toothbrushes and toothpaste, razors, socks, tampons and pads, tissue packs, wipes, diapers, gloves, underwear, hand sanitizer. Stay, if you wish, to pack it for transitional facilities and residential senior centers. January 20 from 9:30 to noon. 2251 N. 54th Street
Most of the above opportunities are posted on Global Citizen 365’s website. Go there for availability, contact information and registration.
Visit museums on King Day
Museums open doors and provide extra programming geared toward Dr. King’s legacy.
HONOR AFRICAN AMERICAN HISTORY. From January 18 through 20, from 10am to 5pm, the Museum of the American Revolution’s Martin Luther King Jr. Weekend includes first-person performances, historical meet-and-greets, hands-on exhibits, and more pre-MLK Black history. $13-$57. 101 S. 3rd Street
LEARN YOUR CIVIL RIGHTS HISTORY. The National Constitution Center waives admission on January 20, from 10am to 5pm. Go for readings of King’s I Have a Dream speech (11:45am and 1:45pm); live, especially-for-kids civil rights-era songs (12:45 and 2:45pm), and all-day arts and crafts and story times. All January, you can donate school supplies (pens, pencils, crayons, copy paper, hand sanitizer, folders, and age-appropriate books). Free. 525 Arch Street
LISTEN TO CIVIL RIGHTS ICONS. Eastern State Penitentiary’s annual MLK Day January 20 from 11am to 1pm highlights Dr. King’s Letter from a Birmingham Jail through performances by the Black Breath Collective, readings by students from The Bridge Way School, and presentations by Lewis Webb and social justice champion Robert Saleem Holbrook. $17, free for ages 12 and under. 2027 Fairmount Avenue
BRING THE KIDS. MAKE ART. The Woodmere Art Museum Martin Luther King, Jr. Family Festival features art-making, an interactive performance by Thembi Palmer, and time in the museum itself on January 20 from noon to 3pm. Free. 9201 Germantown Avenue
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