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Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Day of Service 

Friday, January 26th 2024 
Shifts available morning, mid-day, and afternoon In-person 

To honor and celebrate Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.'s legacy of the beloved community, Columbus State Community College will offer the MLK Day of Service on Friday, January 26th, 2024.  Volunteer opportunities will be available throughout the day at 20 different sites in Central Ohio including Columbus, Delaware County, and the surrounding area, see the map of sites here. Site leaders and volunteers will engage in reflection and conversation about King's legacy of service and action. Register for MLK Day of Service opportunities on Cougar Connect beginning on January 8th, 2024.  
 
MLK Day of Service Frequently Asked Questions 
 
To honor and celebrate Martin Luther King Jr.'s legacy of the beloved community, Columbus State Community College will offer the MLK Day of Service on Friday, January 26th, 2024. Coretta Scott King said, “the greatest birthday gift my husband could receive is if people of all racial and ethnic backgrounds celebrated the holiday by performing individual acts of kindness through service to others.” 
  
If you have any additional questions do not hesitate to reach out to Sophia Lombardo at slombardo3@cscc.edu and check out the page Serve Our Community on Cougar Connect to get any additional updates! 

Frequently Asked Questions:

The MLK Day of Service at Columbus State will be on Friday, January 26th, 2024, to end the week of events and conversations the college is planning to honor Dr. King's legacy. The other MLK Day events sponsored by the college will take place Monday through Thursday of that week. Service shifts are generally 9:00 a.m. – noon or 1:00 – 4:00 p.m. Please look for the time designated on the CougarConnect event listing for each service opportunity.  

The MLK Day of Service is a small-scale version of the annual Day of Service in the Fall and invites members of our college to continue serving our local community throughout the year. Instead of the 80 opportunities for over 1000 volunteers, the MLK Day of Service will utilize 20 opportunities for 200 volunteers. Classes are still in session and offices are still open as usual on this day

The campus will be open and operating as usual during this service day. All essential services must still be performed.

Columbus State Community College encourages students, staff, and faculty at any of the campuses and Regional Learning Centers to participate in the MLK Day of Service if they do not have conflicting classes or essential duties. The MLK Day of Service is completely voluntary for those who are available.   
 
Employees: Participation in MLK Day of Service requires supervisor approval. Check with your supervisor before you sign up for a service shift. Supervisors are not required to approve service time if the staff member’s services are needed. Some front-line employees may be unable to participate.   
 
Supervisors: Please remember that there is an option of morning or afternoon service shifts as you attempt to accommodate staff participation without compromising regular College services.  
 
Students: Please do not miss class to serve on this day unless otherwise approved by your instructor. Student employees with the college must follow work study guidelines and get approval from their supervisor to serve on this day.  

Each partnering organization will determine if they will be providing water or snacks. We will have two main volunteer shifts, one in the morning, 9 a.m. to noon, and one in the afternoon, 1 to 4 p.m. If you choose to serve during both shifts, you have an hour break to get lunch on your own. The MLK Day of Service Thank You & Reflection Luncheon will be on Monday, February 5th. All volunteers, team leads, and community partners are invited to gather and discuss the day. Look out for more information regarding this event on Cougar Connect. 

We will not be giving out t-shirts or bus passes for this event. You are welcome to wear a Day of Service T-Shirt, or any CSCC shirt you may have, but it is not required. Please dress appropriately for the volunteer task you will be doing at your organization. This may mean closed-toed shoes, long pants, etc.. 
 
You are responsible for your own transportation for the day, and if you need assistance traveling to and from your service site, we recommend contacting the other volunteers who you will be serving with to carpool. Parking instructions for your site will be provided on the Cougar Connect event page for the opportunity. Mileage will not be reimbursed for travel to and from your service site for this event.  

Volunteers will be given tasks by the organizations. These can vary at each site, but some asks we have received so far have been organizing or cleaning community spaces, sorting donated clothing or food, creating personal care bags or hygiene kits, serving lunch, photo archiving and data collection, taking inventory of necessary items, paint and assemble furniture, paint a mural, and playing recreation games with youth. Please be sure to read the details for each service opportunity for more specific information.  

Sign-ups will occur on Cougar Connect. Each volunteer opportunity will be an event on Cougar Connect with the title, “MLK Day of Service - ___” and the name of the organization. You can also search for events with this title to see all the opportunities. Sign-ups will open on Monday, January 8th, 2024 and close when a site’s volunteer needs are met, or on Wednesday, January 24th, 2024. 

There are three optional 30-min virtual sessions for Columbus State students and employees to learn more about the organizations they will be serving and prepare for the Day of Service. This will be a great opportunity to meet the other members of your team and ask any questions! You can select a session to attend when you sign up for your site on Cougar Connect. Invitations for the virtual sessions will be sent out to participants. 

Columbus State encourages students and employees to volunteer at organizations they care about in their own time. However, only service events listed on Cougar Connect will be included as a part of the MLK Day of Service. There are no virtual opportunities to service for MLK Day of Service at this time. 

A private site is when all participants are expected to be a part of a Columbus State student organization, department, team, etc... Volunteering as a group is a great way to build community! If you are in a group that would be interested in serving as a team, please contact Sophia Lombardo at slombardo3@cscc.edu to find a site that works best for you. “Public” sites are open for any CSCC students or employees to serve with. This is a great opportunity to meet new people on campus and serve your community! 

Site Leaders will be an experienced CSCC staff, faculty, or student assigned to a site to help coordinate the volunteer activity at that site, take attendance, and communicate with the volunteers, site, and CSCC. To be a site leader for your volunteer opportunity, please select “yes” for the site leader interest question on the Cougar Connect event for your organization. 

The MLK Day of Service Thank You & Reflection Luncheon is on Monday, February 5th 2024, 12-1:30pm in the Multimedia Studio in the Columbus downtown campus Library, Columbus Hall first floor. There will also be a virtual broadcast for those who want to attend from the Delaware Campus or virtually. Lunch will be served to those who attend in-person. 

The Luncheon is for all MLK Day of Service volunteers, team leads, planning committee members, and community partners to gather to discuss the importance of volunteering in Dr. King’s legacy and reflect on their service experience. In this event, participants will write thank you cards, share photos and reflections, and learn more about Coretta Scott King’s goal to have MLK day as a Day of Service. 
 
RSVPs for this event will be on Cougar Connect and sent to all those who participated in the MLK Day of Service. 

Photos from the MLK Day of Service 2023 can be found at this link. And more information about the day can be found here.

If you sign up for the MLK Day of Service and can no longer participate, please communicate about your absence to your Site Leader or to Sophia Lombardo (slombardo3@cscc.edu) as soon as possible. 

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