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MLK Day
Service Projects Abound
originally published January 10, 2007
Ben Emanuel
On the second day of the new year, the every-Tuesday, Women in Black-sponsored peace vigil on Broad Street downtown took special note that the number of U.S. military deaths in Iraq had exceeded 3000. The handmade white crosses commemorating Georgia’s losses numbered 93.
As this year’s Martin Luther King, Jr. holiday approaches, Athens is getting ready for another citywide “Day of Service” to commemorate the Jan. 15 holiday and Dr. King’s legacy. Following a national trend, local organizers hope to continue finding volunteers who’ll choose to make their holiday what’s known as “a day on, not a day off.” Expecting 300–400 volunteers, the coordinators of the service day also seek to build on local energy and momentum from specific projects over the past five years. Athens’ MLK Day of Service, as it exists now, grew in large part from an MLK Day service project in 2002; on that day, a surprisingly large number of volunteers turned out for the initial clean-up of Gospel Pilgrim Cemetery on Fourth Street in East Athens. Because of the initial clean-up of large amounts of debris from the long-neglected cemetery, the East Athens Development Corporation, with help from UGA students, faculty and others, has been able to continue rehabilitating the cemetery.
The 2004 MLK Day of Service saw a team of volunteers gain significant ground in an ongoing battle with kudzu growing along Pulaski Creek just north of downtown. The biggest service project planned for this year’s MLK Day will capitalize on the work already done to reclaim the area between Pulaski and Hoyt streets. Specifically, the Athens Community Council on Aging, which has occupied the old railroad depot there for years, is near completion of its new Frances and Upshaw Bentley Center for Elder Care, and has big plans in mind for its immediate surroundings.
Athens-Clarke County
A scene from the clean-up of Gospel Pilgrim Cemetery on Fourth Street in East Athens on Martin Luther King, Jr. Day in 2002. Athens’ MLK Day of Service, as it exists now, grew in large part from the surprising success experienced on that day.
The Council on Aging - with cooperation from a handful of Athens-Clarke County (ACC) departments, the Community Tree Council, Oconee Rivers Greenway Commission, Upper Oconee Watershed Network, Georgia Forestry Commission, UGA’s Warnell School of Forestry and Natural Resources, and residents of the Pulaski Heights neighborhood - received a $25,000 grant from Home Depot last year to landscape the area near its buildings with mostly native trees and shrubs, creating an attractive greenspace that will also help to rehabilitate the stream bordering the property. Specific plans include a “memory garden” that will provide a safe outdoor space for people suffering from Alzheimer’s’ disease. 100-year-old pavers from outside the old train depot have already been re-used to build a wall around the memory garden, and volunteers will help put in plants that will be familiar to older citizens.
The landscaping and tree-planting along the creek will also serve as a “reforestation pilot project” for Athens-Clarke County as it looks to restore stream corridors like the kudzu-choked one that leads toward downtown from the North Oconee River along Pulaski Creek. ACC officials hope one day to create a spur of the present North Oconee River Greenway going up the creek past what will be a park-like setting at the Council on Aging.
Other projects for the MLK Day of Service include continuing improvements at Gospel Pilgrim Cemetery, as well as clean-up at two other historic African-American cemeteries: Brooklyn Cemetery near Alps Elementary School and Spalding Cemetery in East Athens. Other volunteers will landscape the Milledge Avenue entrance of Clarke Central High School, and Keep Athens-Clarke County Beautiful will direct bulb planting where the Martin Luther King, Jr. Parkway intersects the 10 loop. Finally, at Gaines Elementary, volunteers will help re-plant trees where many were cut down when the school was built. Now, the Community Tree Council and Georgia Forestry Commission plan to improve “outdoor classrooms” on the school’s campus while also tracking energy conservation benefits of having shade trees growing at the school.
Volunteering isn’t all: the afternoon will see the annual MLK Day celebration at the Lyndon House Arts Center, featuring varied local entertainment, speeches and an exhibit of historic Clarke County School
desegregation memorabilia. See Out There! and ABC for more information.
To pre-register for volunteer projects, call Community Connection at 211 or 706-353-1313, ext. 231. Or, email handson@communityconnection211.com. For more information, visit www.volunteer211.com. Volunteers are encouraged to bring gardening tools if they have them. The MLK Day of Service kicks off at 9 a.m. on Monday, Jan. 15, with light breakfast and volunteer registration at the Athens Community Council on Aging (135 Hoyt St.).
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