1,500 Volunteers Set to Honor Dr. MLK Jr. This Weekend

More than 1,500 volunteers will fan out this weekend across the greater Portland metro area in service to the late Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.  Working with local nonprofits and schools, volunteers will help out more than 65 community-based projects.

The MLK Weekend of Service, held Jan. 12 – 15, is an event of United Way of the Columbia-Willamette and organized by the nonprofit’s volunteer program, Hands On Greater Portland.

The event is presented by Regence BlueCross BlueShield of Oregon and supported by adidas, Bank of America, The Boeing Company, Daimler Trucks North America, Intel, JP Morgan Chase and Umpqua Bank, with special thanks to U.S. Bank.

Volunteer projects during this Martin Luther King Weekend of Service include restoring and refurbishing classrooms, gardens and play spaces at schools and community centers, sorting food and clothing, serving meals and doing home repairs.

The majority of these projects support United Way’s agenda to invest in our region’s kids so they are free from poverty and free to reach their potential.

Friday, Jan. 12

NAYA: Reorganize the children’s library and organize the free clothing closet // 10:00 a.m. to 11:00 a.m // Native American Family Center (NAYA), 5135 NE Columbia Blvd, Portland, OR

Meals on Wheels: Meal preparation // 10:00 a.m to 11:00 a.m // Meals on Wheels 7710 SW 31st Ave. Portland, OR

Chelsea Hicks Foundation: Organize the costume closet // 12:00 p.m. to 1:00 p.m. // Chelsea Hicks Foundation 14865 SW 74th Ave. Suite 240, Tigard, OR

Scholls​ ​Heights​ ​Elementary​ ​School: Staff room spruce up and building items for school events // 2:00 p.m. to 3:00 p.m. // 16400 S.W. Loon Drive, Beaverton, OR

Saturday, Jan. 13

Children’s Book Bank: Clean books for low-income youth // 10:00 a.m to 11:00 a.m // The Children’s Book Bank 1915 NE 7th Ave., Portland, OR

Monday, Jan. 15

Oregon Food Bank: Sorting and packaging donated food // 10:00 a.m to 11:00 a.m // Oregon Food Bank 7900 NE 33rd Drive, Portland, OR

Financial Beginnings: Skills-based volunteer training for JP Morgan Chase employees // 10:00 a.m to 11:00 a.m // United Way of the Columbia Willamette offices 619 SW 11th Ave. Portland, OR

Gilbert Park Elementary: Garden clean-up day at Gilbert Park // 10:00 a.m to 11:00 a.m // Gilbert Park Elementary SUN Garden 13132 SE Ramona, Portland, OR

Hillsboro Public Library: Spruce up the library // 10:00 a.m to 11:00 a.m // Hillsboro Public Library 2850 NE Brookwood Parkway, Hillsboro OR

p:ear: Spruce up p:ear // 12:00 p.m. to 2:00 p.m. // p:ear building 338 NW 6th Ave., Portland, OR

Tigard Library: Clean up and sort books at Tigard Library // 3:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m. // Tigard Library 13500 SW Hall Blvd., Tigard OR

Schoolhouse Supplies: Process donated classroom supplies // 3:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m. // Schoolhouse Supplies at Madison High School 2735 NE 82nd Ave., Portland, OR

Each of these projects will have a United Way staff member or volunteer leader available onsite to answer questions.

For a full list of volunteer activities throughout the weekend, please visit: http://www.unitedway-pdx.org/mlk