National Days of Service
Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Day
January 16, 2010
"Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. once posed what he called 'Life's persistent and most urgent question.' It was not about civil rights, justice, or peace. It was: 'What are you doing for others?'
It has been more than four decades since America last heard that challenge from such a unique and powerful voice. We've seen great progress. And yet our society is still confronting many of the same challenges Dr. King faced -- the mountain of poverty in our cities, the epidemic of high school dropouts, the cycle of gangs and violence facing too many of our young people.
Dr. King understood that government alone couldn't solve these problems; that it would take citizens acting together. He challenged all Americans to join in building a more perfect union and said 'everybody can be great because everybody can serve.'" (Isaac Newton Farris and Stephen Goldsmith, AmeriCorps Press Release)
Saturday January 16th our VISTAs in Austin joined over 700 other volunteers through United Way's Hands on Central Texas Campaign. Like our service on 9/11, it was fun to take a break from our day to day roles in indirect service and get to provide some hands on help. Our group volunteered for Partners in Education, sorting books for the Feria Para Apprender book fair.
We started the day at United Way's Reflecting on a Dream Breakfast at Huston Tillotson University. There we heard moving speeches from Representative Dawnna Dukes, the winner of the Children's Oratory Contest, and Keynote speaker, Dr. Richard Reddick, UT Professor and Harvard Graduate. The Breakfast ended with an energizing performance by The Cipher, Austin's Hip-Hop Project.
After the breakfast everyone went to their respective sites for the day of service. There were 50 people volunteering with Partners in Education, and they kept us busy sorting, boxing, and bagging 17,000 books. The books will be given out at the book fair in February to Spanish speaking families to promote literacy. It was great to be an active part of Dr. King's legacy and spend the day volunteering in our community!
September 11th, Day of Remembrance
September 11, 2009
| Friday, September 11th, 2009 our VISTAs in Austin teamed up to take part in United Way's Hands on Central Texas Campaign. We joined over a 1,000 volunteers around Austin in partaking in the National Day of Service and Remembrance. As VISTAs we are serving every day in "indirect" service roles, so it was a great opportunity to volunteer directly with our community. "In April, President Obama signed the Edward M. Kennedy Serve America Act which, for the first time, officially recognizes September 11 as a National Day of Service and Remembrance. This year, on September 11, the President, the Corporation for National and Community Service, My Good Deed and the 9/11 families asked all Americans to remember that Tuesday eight years ago and recommit to service in their communities throughout the year." (Live United Campaign) |
United Way started off the day at the Long Center with a kick off breakfast for all the volunteers. We heard speeches from United Way, Days of Caring, and the Long Center. The highlight of the morning was the keynote speaker, former University of Texas running back, turned Professional Football Player, Will Matthews. He shared some inspiring stories of his experience volunteering with the NFL and got everyone excited for a Day of Service. After the breakfast and speeches volunteers departed to the 54 different service sites around Austin. The volunteers at the sites worked on community improvement projects such as cleaning Lady Bird Lake, school revitalization, gardening and landscaping, and mentoring and tutoring.
| Our team worked on the Mayfield Park Volunteer Garden. In 1971, Mary Mayfield Gutsch presented Austin with her 23 acre wooded estate on Old Bull Creek Road for all Austinites to enjoy as a park. Restoration of the cottage and gardens is being coordinated by the Mayfield Park Community Project, sponsored by Friends of the Parks, a non-profit organization that partnered with United Way for National Day of Service. We spent the day pulling weeds out of the over-grown garden plots, and saving the flowers from invasive weeds and vines. We were joined by volunteers from IBM and the flocks of peacocks that live in the park. The day was overcast and there were a few sprinkles but luckily the rain held out until almost the end when we were putting the tools away. Although it was a little soggy, it was great to spend the day outdoors volunteering to preserve one of our city's beautiful gardens. |