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Celebrate MLK Day as "A Day on, Not a Day Off"

Published January 14, 2012 2:18 PM by Glen McDaniel
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On Monday the country celebrates the birthday of Martin Luther King Jr. Although King was actually born on January 15, 1929, his birthday is celebrated annually on the third Monday of January as a federal holiday.

Increasingly private organizations are observing that day as a holiday for its employees. Even some healthcare companies are joining the observation.

If you are one of those individuals lucky enough not to be working, the tendency might be to kick back at home and just "veg out."  As hard as you work, that might seem pretty reasonable.

However the Corporation for National and Community Service (CNCS) is advocating that the day be observed as a day of service  in the tradition of King's own philosophy. They recommend that it be "a day ON, not a day off." 

To find opportunities to volunteer in your own community, visit the mlk.gov website. Not only will you feel much better than just sitting around, but you have the added opportunity to network and educate. At volunteer events you are always asked what you do for a living, where do you work, or what organization you represent. Well, just pull out your elevator speech.

This might well turn out to be a PR opportunity. Who says you cant do two things at once or use an altruistic event to educate? Never pass up an opportunity to do good as you do well. Wherever you will be tomorrow, I wish you a happy MLK, Jr. Day.

 

 

 

 

posted by Glen McDaniel
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4 comments
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I am working today, but I feel like what we do every day is service. It has not been too busy today, but I feel I and my colleagues made a difference in someone's life today. It is almost time to go home but I worked for almost 9 hours today and I never once felt deprived that the rest of my family and many of my colleagues are off today. I felt I was doing very important service.
Janice A. January 16, 2012 3:01 PM
Riverdale GA

I am at  a local elementary school with my 15 year old son and 18 year old niece. We are doing general clean up, building shelves and so on. We have met lots of eonderful people here. Sure enough everyone asked where I work and I was able to explain about the MLS profession and the important work we do. What an awesome day so far.
Rosetta Blanco January 16, 2012 1:21 PM
Dallas TX

Great article Glen. Thank you. We have come so far in this country we forget that fact sometimes.  We think about ourselves only and not think of all the work that was done to get us where we are now. Kind of sounds like how we treat our profession too. I like to talk to older MTs to hear about how they did everything manually. But we complain if one computer terminal is down for 5 minutes. I try to be  amentor for those coming behind me. We have  a lot to be grateful for and should never forget to give back. Happy MLK Day.
Pierre L. MT. January 15, 2012 12:28 PM
Philadelphia PA

I am one of the unlucky ones who have to work, but several of my friends have the day off. My daughter is not a CLS but works at a medical office and they are off as well. I have taught all my children to volunteer and to give back. My daughter will be out there doing something I am sure and I am proud of her. Now I have to convince my other friends who have the day off to use it to perform some community service.
Maria Cordoza CLS January 14, 2012 6:13 PM
Decatur GA

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