MLK Day of Service Will Be Jan. 18 at Recreation Center

HIGHLAND PARK, IL - One of Chicagoland’s best Martin Luther King Jr. celebrations is right here in Highland Park.

The city’s 7th annual day of service and celebration will be held from 10 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. on Monday, Jan. 18 at the Recreation Center of Highland Park, 1207 Park Ave.

Read More: Hundreds Showed Up in 2015 to HP’s MLK Jr. Day of Service

Illinois Secretary of State Jesse White will recount his experiences as a student of King’s and the Jesse White Tumbling Team will perform. Lynn Epps of Highland Park will perform a portrait of King, and the Edgewood Middle School chorus will be there.

The gym at the recreational center will be filled with several different area service projects showcasing what they do. Included will be the assembling of toiletries for hospitalized veterans and the USO, creating Valentine messages for Operation Support Our Troops (Braeside PTO), decorating squares for Project Linus (Lincoln Service Club), decorating tablecloths for the USO (Wayne Thomas PTO), helping prepare soup packets for Moraine Township Food Bank (Red Oak PTO), decorating book marks for Bernie’s Book Bank (Ravinia CARE Club) and decorating and filling book bags for distribution at North Shore Health Clinic.

Last year, hundreds of students, parents, volunteers and community members came out for the event, which bills itself as “a day on” and not “a day off.”