It took many years and lots of hard work before the Martin Luther King, Jr. Day of Service came to be. Following King's assassination in 1968, his fellow Civil Rights leaders introduced a bill proposing a national holiday in his honor.  It took 15 years before President Ronald Reagan, in 1983,  designated the third Monday of January as a federal holiday. It took many more years, until 2000, before all of the states complied.  In 1994, President Bill Clinton proclaimed it a federal holiday but also a day of service. Inspired by King’s life of service, Congressman John Lewis and former Senator Harris Wofford proposed legislation to encourage Americans to find common causes and methods of improving their communities. In honor of Congressman Lewis’ initiative to make the Martin Luther King, Jr. holiday “a day on, not a day off”.

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Learn and Serve Tampa Inc will host a community service event on Saturday, January 18, 2025.  The location and service is TBA. We need partners and sponsors! We encourage and will support any educator that wants to host a Day of Service on their campus during the week before or after the King holiday. 

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Check back here in late September for more news.