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united Way MLK Weekend of Service Inspires Many
By Bruce Poinsette
Special to The Skanner News
D
espite near freezing temperatures,
volunteers were out in droves to par-
ticipate in last weekend’s United
Way Martin Luther King Jr. Weekend of
Service.
“I’m amazed by the number of people
who choose to volunteer,” says interim sen-
ior communications manager Karen Kane.
“Out of 105 projects we only had ten that
were not completely full.”
In total, 2,874 volunteers participated in
the event.
The United Way held projects in locations
from Ridgefield, Washington to Oregon
City. According to Kane, children as young
as four participated.
She says it was heartening to see how
many people understood the value of serv-
ice and how it furthers Dr. King’s message.
“Some people can donate money but they
actually came out and worked,” says Kane.
Carolee Lee, vice president of marketing
and communications, says the weekend of
service began five years ago. She says the
United Way wanted to have a day that
focused on volunteerism.
The group already has a number of com-
munity care days but Lee says they wanted
to connect their service with Dr. King’s
message.
There were a variety of both indoor and
outdoor activities, which included prepar-
ing food and beautifying schools. The
weekend of service lasted from early Friday
to late in the evening of Martin Luther King
Day.
There were a number of activities that
focused on children’s needs.
This coincided with Dr. King’s focus on
poverty, which has a specifically detrimen-
tal effect on children.
According to a 2011 report by the Oregon
Commission on Children and Families,
about 20 percent of Oregon’s children live
in poverty.
For Oregon’s Black children, that number
is 49.3 percent.
Statistics show that poverty can have neg-
ative effects on things like educational
achievement. According to the OCCF
report, economically disadvantaged chil-
dren graduate at a 14 percent lower rate
than their higher income peers.
In response, volunteers also provided
tools like books and computers for kids.
The computer initiative was held at Free
Geek, where volunteers refurbished com-
puters for students and non-profits.
In addition, volunteers provided other
basic needs for children.
For example, Kane says around 100 peo-
ple participated in the Binky Brigade,
which made blankets for children. She says
30 people brought their own sewing
machines.
The weekend of
service also included
ongoing efforts such
as prisoner outreach
At Centennial, volunteers wrote letters to
ill children to help encourage them.
The weekend of service also included
ongoing efforts such as prisoner outreach.
One of these activities was “Answer Pris-
oner Mail with Partnership for Safety and
Justice”.
“We’ve seen so many people come out
that don’t have the tools they need,” says
Carolee Lee. “Part of this is making sure
they do recover in prison and are able to
turn their lives around and part of that is
making sure they have letters and know that
people care about them.”
Dr. King and the Civil Rights Movement
as a whole put particular emphasis on voter
disenfranchisement and systematic poverty.
Both of these are consequences of mass
incarceration in the United States.
According to Michelle Alexander’s book
“The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in
the Age of Colorblindness”, a higher per-
centage of Black people are incarcerated in
the US today than were locked up in South
African during Apartheid.
Currently, Blacks make up about two per-
cent of Oregon’s population but nearly ten
percent of the prison population.
Having an arrest on your record can bar
you from public housing while a conviction
prevents you from receiving food stamps
and voting, as well as allows employers to
legally discriminate against you in the hir-
ing process.
“By the time they get out a lot of time has
passed and people don’t know how to get
reentry,” says Lee. “Sometimes they just
need a little help and that’s why we’re here.
To help people in the community.”
Kane sees the response from the commu-
nity as evidence that the program has been
a success. She says that she received tele-
phone calls throughout the MLK holiday, as
well as tweets on the United Way twitter
page, that praised the work of volunteers.
Read the rest of this story online at
www.theskanner.com
January 25, 2012 The Portland Skanner Page 9