Martin Luther King Day Archives

Martin Luther King leaning on a lectern. Deutsch: 1964: Martin Luther King Português: Martin Luther King (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Each year the Coro Center for Civic Leadership celebrates Dr. Martin Luther King Jr by hosting the Martin Luther King Jr. Leadership Awards which recognizes Pittsburghers that exemplify values based leadership.

I wanted to share this information for a few reasons. First, its timely. Second, The winners and the nominees for 2014 are people who are doing some impressive things to make Pittsburgh a better place to live. And third, one of my big learnings from my participation in the Millennial Trains Project last summer was the importance of talking about leadership training. One each day of the trip – we had a dedicated session and a leadership curriculum that was developed by Dr. Max Klau, who is the vice president of leadership development for the City Year program. (you can read Dr. Klau’s Huffington Post articles about the Millennial Trains Project here) and The Coro Center for Civic Leadership is just one organization that is working to develop better leaders in Pittsburgh.

What is the Coro Center for Civic Leadership?

A non-profit organization that offers leadership training programs for everyone from recent college graduates to Pittsburghers that are interested in running for public office. The Pittsburgh Coro Center for Civic Leadership was founded in 1999 and is part of a nationwide network of Coro centers with locations in Los Angeles, New York, St. Louis and Kansas.

What are the Martin Luther King Jr. Leadership Awards?

An event hosted each January by the Pittsburgh Coro Center for Leadership to celebrates Martin Luther King Jr.’s values-based leadership.

The 2014 Martin Luther King Jr. Leadership Awards will be held on Friday, January 24, 2014 at the New Hazlett Theater. Tickets are available here. Continue reading →

Looking for 2019 MLK Day in Pittsburgh events? Check out this list on Very Local Pittsburgh.

Earlier this week we were asked a question about where one can volunteer in Pittsburgh.

@iheartpgh thoughts on places to volunteer in #Pittsburgh?

— NewUrbanHipster (@NewUrbanHipster) January 15, 2014

We received a similar question last month and we are happy to connect Pittsburghers who want to volunteer with organizations that need help/.

Martin Luther King Jr. Day offers a great place to start. Pittsburgh Cares is an organization that exists to be a matchmaker between people that want to volunteer and groups the need volunteers.

MLK Day – “a day on, not a day off”

Here is some history on MLK Day as a day of service from MLKday.gov

In 1994, Congress designated the Martin Luther King Jr. Federal Holiday as a national day of service and charged the Corporation for National and Community Service with leading this effort. Taking place each year on the third Monday in January, the MLK Day of Service is the only federal holiday observed as a national day of service – a “day on, not a day off.”

Where to Volunteer in Pittsburgh

Pittsburgh Cares is your go-to website to find ways you can volunteer on MLK Day and every other day of the year.

Pittsburgh Cares is helping to honor the memory of Dr. Martin Luther King, Junior by organizing volunteer service projects on MLK Day, January 20, 2014. This year, our focus will be on intergenerational volunteering. Youth, teens, college students, adults, and seniors will be joining together in a day of service.

There are still MANY projects left that need volunteers on Monday. If you can spare a few hours there are many organizations that can use your help. Here are just a few of the volunteer opportunities:

You can check out a complete list of all of the MLK Day opportunities on Pittsburgh Cares here.