MLK Day in Austin, TX

Meg here...

I did my Martin Luther King, Jr. Day of Service in Austin, Texas through Hands On Central Texas, a program of United Way Capital Area. I live and serve in North Carolina but was traveling during this time. I still wanted to volunteer so I looked up opportunities in the Austin area. In Austin the day of service was held on Saturday, January 16.

We woke up bright and early on Saturday, drove to Huston-Tillotson University, and checked in for our service project. The room was packed with an assortment of national service volunteers, students, and community members. I knew I was in Texas when I saw burritos for breakfast. They were delicious with coffee and orange juice. The kickoff program included the MLK Oratory Competition recipient, Dr. Richard Reddick (the keynote speaker), and a performance by The Cipher – Austin’s Hip-Hop Project. We also remembered the people of Haiti whose tragedy reminds us to put things in perspective.

After the conclusion of the kickoff we headed over to the Austin Nature and Science Center in Zilker Park, the location of our service project. There we met Ruth, the horticulturist at the Center and about 6 students from St. Edward’s University, a school in Austin. For the next four hours we enjoyed getting to know each other while we cleared beds, swept paths, and raked leaves.

Late Saturday afternoon I had a good nap, my body satisfied from working outside and my mind in a positive place from being part of an important movement. MLK Day of Service is about people coming together, working to make communities better places to live, for everyone. On that Saturday in Austin, I felt like I had been a part of a successful MLK Day of Service!

"WHY I SERVE" & Pictures from Atlanta Training - posted by Elizabeth Egan

WOW! I am so inspired by Mamie's story - her faith, courage, and excitement are quite contagious. I have goose bumps!

WHY I SERVE:
I am originally from NH, but have lived in Boston, Philadelphia, Vermont, and now...New Orleans. I consider each of these very different places home. Although I had always been engaged in community life and various community service projects - My first experience with full-time National Service came when, needing a sabbatical from providing direct service to survivors of violence, I joined the Recruitment Staff for an AmeriCorps program designed specifically for 17-24 year olds.

My first major service project with City Year New Hampshire came when they flew me to Little Rock, AK to help the CY Site there implement 24 service projects at 15 locations around the city in celebration of the 50 year anniversary of the Little Rock 9 -highlighting the struggle to integrate Little Rock Public Schools and the brave journey of the first students to break barriers, leading the way.

I will never forget how amazing it felt to be a part of something that huge, that transformational. I felt a re-surfacing of my youthful idealism, now no longer intangible and fragile, but rather rooted in the witnessing of practical strategies of how to use powerful entrepreneurial tools, skills, and networks to move ideas into reality. I was deeply moved by the power of collaboration - hands, hearts, and minds coming together to leaving a lasting impact in that city.

It was an amazing year, to say the least - I learned so much, but I think the most important lesson was about WHO I AM. WHO I AM is SERVICE. And I believe, with all my heart, that National Service and the ingenuity & passion of those who serve, will be one of the many answers we will use to bring transformation for the many issues individuals, communities, our country, and indeed, the world face.

This belief has only been furthered validated with the experiences of my first two weeks as an AmeriCorps Vista with One-Economy and Central City Renaissance Alliance. In Atlanta, last week, I had the pleasure of coming together at PSO and On-Site Training with a great group of Vistas, including my fellow in-coming One-Economy Team: Sonja, Benjamin, Brian, Mamie, and Katherine (and our leader - Holly)! I can't wait to get to know them better - to benefit from their knowledge, their passion, their support, and their friendship. I believe this year will even better than the last and while I am sure it will also be difficult, I am able to embrace the experience, secure in the knowledge that I am not alone in this and we can make a difference.

Meet the incoming One-Economy Vista class!

(bottom row, left-right:
Sonja & Katherine)
(top row, left-right: Holly, Mamie, Benjamin, Elizabeth, and Brian)