MANCHESTER, N.H. – In addition to the music, discussion panels and honors to be awarded at the New Hampshire Martin Luther King Jr. Coalition Community Celebration being held once again on the birthday of the civil rights leader, this year’s community celebration will also hold a day of service mirroring the values King held during his life.
The day of service gathering began four years ago on the seacoast as a project of the Business Alliance for People of Color or BAPOC. This year marks the first year that the day of service and the community celebration will be held jointly in one location, as volunteers gather to put together hygiene kits, blankets and other items for those in need.
In its first year, the event drew approximately 10 volunteers and last year it drew 60 volunteers according to BAPOC Vice Chair Lionel Loveless. This year, Loveless expects 80 people to show up at the event.
“MLK Jr. Day is a day of service, not just a day off,” says Loveless. “(This) honors his legacy because he believed all people deserved respect and dignity. In this current climate we’re living in, people don’t see dignity in the unhoused or people that don’t look like them.”
New Hampshire Center for Justice and Equity Director of Projects Grace Kindeke shares a similar view of the initiative.
“Martin Luther King Jr. Day is not just a day of remembrance—it is a day of collective action. By gathering with friends, neighbors, loved ones, and fellow change makers to serve the communities most directly impacted by injustice and inequity, we honor Dr. King’s call for collective responsibility and solidarity rooted in reciprocity,” she says. “Working together to make blankets, build hygiene kits, and collect care items is a living expression of Dr. King’s vision of the Beloved Community. This day of service and celebration reminds us that true justice is rooted in care, and that real change happens when we show up for one another—demonstrating that compassion, when practiced together, becomes a powerful force for good in our world.”
The day of service is expected to begin early during the community celebration, which will last from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Monday Jan. 19 at Manchester Memorial High School.
