HISTORY

The federal holiday marking the observance of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.'s birthday began in 1986, 18 years after his death in 1968. In an effort to encourage a day of turning community concerns into volunteer action, former Pennsylvania U.S. Senator Harris Wofford and Atlanta Congressman John Lewis, both close colleagues of Dr. King's during the civil rights movement, co-authored the King Holiday and Service Act in 1994. President Clinton signed this legislation into law later that year on August 23. What officially started in 1996 as a project in Philadelphia has grown into a national movement that brings diverse groups of Americans together on the King Holiday to actively celebrate Dr. King's life of promoting social justice and helping others.

In January 1996, the first Martin Luther King Day of Service in the nation was launched in Philadelphia, with more than 1,000 volunteers serving in some thirty projects. The following year, the Greater Philadelphia King Day of Service expanded beyond Philadelphia's boundaries into surrounding Bucks, Chester, Delaware and Montgomery Counties.

Following the 1999 project, when 12,000 people volunteered, the Points of Light Foundation in Washington, D.C. honored the Greater Philadelphia Martin Luther King Day of Service with their national Point of Light Award "for the project's work to further the awareness of the ideas of Dr. King and for contributions the project and its volunteers are making toward solving local and national social problems, especially as they relate to young people."

In January 2003, with more than 30,000 participating, the Greater Philadelphia King Day of Service reached beyond southeastern Pennsylvania into Camden County, New Jersey. The following year, Burlington County was added and an estimated 40,000 people volunteered in some 500 projects throughout the seven-county region.

In January 2005, the 10th annual King Day of Service drew a record 45,000 volunteers in nearly 600 service projects, once again making it the nation's largest King Day event for the past ten years.

In January 2006, we expanded again, this time throughout the entire Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and Delaware in what led to be an even larger and more successful effort, with many projects continuing throughout the entire year.

The 2007 Greater Philadelphia King Day of Service was once again the largest Kind Day service event in the nation. Thanks to the more than 55,000 people of all ages and backgrounds throughout the Philadelphia region who volunteered in more than 600 service projects on January 15 in the 12th annual Greater Philadelphia Martin Luther King Day of Service.