Champions of Dreams Community Day
Saturday, January 16, 2010
10 a.m to 2 p.m.
Sterling Community Center, Greenville, SC
MLK Dream Weekend is an organization of civic and business leaders committed to the cause of Dr. King and the people of Greenville County. MLK Dream Weekend was initiated in 2006 in effort to pay tribute to Dr. King and honor his legacy during the week of the Martin Luther King, Jr. holiday, and throughout the year. Now celebrating our 5th anniversary, MLK Dream Weekend continues to give Greenville citizens an opportunity to honor the memory of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., while celebrating the diversity of the community in which we live. More than just events leading up to the King holiday, MLK Dream Weekend creates opportunities for networking, inspiration and support through several events and initiatives all centered around Dr. King’s message of dreaming big and achieving those dreams. Forty-five years ago Martin Luther King had a dream for all of us. A dream that broke down discrimination and gave everyone the freedom to follow their dreams, or simply strengthen our communities by helping one another. Thankfully, we are not the only ones in the community that care about giving back and creating opportunities for people in the greater Greenville area to improve the quality of life of citizens that live here. For this reason, as part of the 2010 events, MLK Dream Weekend in conjunction with Hands on Greenville and United Way of Greenville County, desire to provide an opportunity for local non-profit organizations to gain exposure, increase awareness, fundraise, advocate their cause, recruit volunteers and solicit community support. Our hope is to achieve this through a MLK Champions of Dreams Community Day event to be held on Saturday, January 16th from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at Sterling Community Center in Greenville, SC. Nonprofit organizations wishing to participate in this event at no charge should contact Angela Petri-Giacometti, Volunteer & Program Manager at Hands on Greenville at 864-242-4224.
To further enhance this effort the day will also consists of on-site service projects the day of the event and donation drives leading up to the event. A few examples of the projects include making blankets for sick children, creating placemats for food delivery programs, writing cards to hospic patients, and projects centered around honoring the teachings of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. The donation drives will take place throughout the Greenville County schools. These drives will include, but are not limited to, collections for diapers, canned foods, medical supplies and toiletries. This is a great opportunity for agencies to build up resources after most agencies are quite depleted after the holidays.
Champions of Dreams Community Day will act as a perfect motivator to launch volunteer efforts within our community for 2010, including activities taking place during the MLK Week of Service, Sunday, January 17, 2009 – Saturday, January 23, 2009. During the MLK Week of Service, Hands on Greenville, United Way of Greenville County and MLK Dream Weekend will be working wtih participating agencies to set-up volunteer projects at their sites and work to organize various donation drives throughout the school system. Last year, Hands on Greenville engaged over 3,800 people in volunteer projects and donations for MLK Week of Service, benefitting 42 local non-profits.
Hands on Greenville and MLK Dream Weekend Partnership
Hands On Greenville, founded in 1994, is a non-profit organization that helps individuals, families and corporate and community groups find flexible volunteer opportunities at more than 300 service organizations. Hands On Greenville volunteers are at work every day of the year building community and meeting critical needs in schools, parks, senior homes, food banks, pet shelters, low-income neighborhoods and more. Hands On Greenville is an affiliate of the HandsOn Network and Points of Light, an umbrella association of “Cares” and “HandsOn” organizations across the United States, U.K. and other countries. www.handsongreenville.org
Mission:
- Link volunteers with rewarding volunteer opportunities
- Champion volunteerism and civic engagement
- Partner with others to understand, identify and respond to the changing needs of our community
