President-elect Obama challenged Americans to commit to more than one day of service; which translated locally into unprecedented numbers of food, clothing and blood drives being planned for the three-day weekend.
One neighborhood effort is organized by "Hands-On Northeast Ohio", part of a national network of volunteer groups sponsoring 2,000 projects across the nation.
Jeff Griffiths is the local executive director.
JEFF GRIFFITHS:
"We have a very philanthropic region, and our vision and our goal is to help turn that philanthropy into civic action. Whether it's for a company, a family, a team, we feel that's our mission, and really we don't have a choice in our community BUT to do that.. "
Griffiths' group will host 100 volunteers, who will fan out to public housing complexes across Cuyahoga County Saturday, to help senior citizens chronicle their memories and thoughts of Dr. King. Other volunteers, some with corporate sponsors, will design permanent art pieces about Dr. King, to be placed in Cleveland schools.
But not every effort is that large.
There are efforts by people like Almond Scott of Shaker Heights, who has committed herself to helping victims of domestic violence and will be collecting clothing and other items this weekend. She says however one chooses to serve, even the smallest acts can make a difference.
ALMOND SCOTT:
"Think about helping someone else on the National Day of Service. What could they do on that day to help someone else? That one thing they could do may help one person all year -giving that one time, could help someone the rest of the year."
The National Day of Service is officially Monday, but many service events are also being held over the weekend.
An unofficial listing on the USA Service website, partly spearheaded by Michelle Obama, currently lists more than 95 volunteer events from Streetsboro to Mentor to Amherst, as varied as assisting people in danger of foreclosure, to making repairs at a transitional housing agency.
Rick Jackson, 90.3.
