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About The skanner. (Portland, Or.) 1975-2014 | View Entire Issue (Jan. 11, 2012)
H OnOring D r . M ArTin L uTHer K ing , J r . United continued from page 4 floating holiday to take later in the year. So if you run a cor- poration, a nonprofit or a business, you can do likewise and become a partner in that effort. In 2011 more than 2,000 volunteers contributed 8,000 hours of work, worth about $166,800. Ala Salem was one of those folks, working with a team to spruce up Mt. Pleasant Elementary School in Oregon City. “It was a lot of fun,” he said. “We raked leaves, cleared up play areas and painted an outdoor area. Some students from Lewis and Clark came along and they were able to create a mural for the kids. Hopefully we’ll be able to repeat that process this year.” Salem says volunteering just feels good. “It doesn’t have to be all day; it just takes a couple of hours to make a dif- ference,” he says. “You meet new people, get to know more about what’s going on in your community, and you can offer something back.” Anna Mortsfield, who works at Wells Fargo Bank, has United Way offers more than 50 ways to help others Joining up with the fantastic volunteering nonprofit HandsOn Portland the nonprofit has created opportunities across the Portland- metro region in Clark, Clackamas, Multnomah and Washington counties. Find the project you want to work on and sign up online at the United Way website. Or call Andy Nelson at HandsOn Portland: 503.200.3374 A bonus: if you bring a team of four people or more, you can enter a drawing for a Kindle Fire. Dr. King clearly told us how much community service matters when he said, “Life’s most persistent and urgent question is, ‘What are you doing for others?” And during his life, he practiced what he preached, work- ing tirelessly for the benefit of others, as well as to advance the civil rights movement. United Way is practicing what it preaches too, by asking its employees to volunteer on Jan. 16, and giving them a There is no better way to honor the slain civil rights leader than to make his holiday ‘A Day on Not a Day Off’ plenty of volunteer experience. She volunteers for SOLV, for the KGW Toy drive, Feed the Children and others throughout the year. But this will be her first year volun- teering with the weekend of service. “I just love it,” she says. “I’m excited. It’s wonderful to have the Martin Luther King weekend of service become a new tradition. It’s nice to have a big event that brings so many people out to volunteer. It’s a very important holi- day.” Andy Nelson at HandsOn Portland: 503-200-3374 January 11, 2012 The Portland and Seattle Skanner Martin Luther King Edition Page 5
