“Life’s most persistent and urgent question is: ‘What are you doing for others?'”
– Martin Luther King, Jr.
Martin Luther King, Jr. Day — “MLK Day” — is coming up here in the United States. Every third Monday in January, our country has a holiday observing Dr. King’s life of service. MLK Day is a national day of service, coined “A Day On, Not a Day Off,” where Americans are called to volunteer and serve others.
I love this day, n0t only because we honor MLK’s life, but because it is a day highlighting service — a core value of mine. Service guides my life, my career, and how I raise my children. I want to raise my children to serve so that they may have a proper, hopefully selfless perspective ā to get their eyes off themselves and to look for ways to show love through service. I want them to always ask, “How can we help? How can we serve? How can we give?”
Volunteering at church by packing stockings for families
An ethos of service starts at home, from small to big moments of service.
Small moments of service can occur when, for example, we ask that our daughters grab water for their sisters when they grab a cup of water for themselves. We also ask our children to fill their sistersā cup before their own to teach them to give their “best and first” to their sister.
Larger moments of service include taking care of the home together. When we are cleaning up the home together, we teach our girls to ask, “How can I help?”
Big moments of service, of course, can occur through family service, like packing foods and gifts, cleaning up beaches together, picking out gifts for families during Christmastime, gathering good toys and unstained, gently used clothing for donations, and meeting other needs we see.
An obvious need to meet is helping out Los Angeles — the city is reeling from the wildfires that swept through the last ten days. Nearly everyone knows someone (by first or second degree) who has lost everything. As we pray for healing and strength to rebuild, we can also put action behind our prayers and serve.
As you think about activities for the upcoming MLK Day of Service, here a few options to help those affected by the Los Angeles Wildfires:
- LA Dream Center, Ā 2301 Bellevue Avenue, Los Angeles, California 90026. You can show up and volunteer on designated days right now. As of today, items that are needed include toilet paper, paper towels, air purifiers, canned goods, non-perishables, individually-wrapped snacks, to-go boxes and cups, large trash bags, work gloves, safety glasses/goggles, protective coveralls, new socks, and new underwear.
- Oasis Church LA, 634 S. Normandie Avenue, Los Angeles, California 90005. You can give to their relief efforts.
- World Vision. You can help with the L.A. Wildfires relief efforts through giving and prayer.
- Habitat for Humanity of Greater Los Angeles, 1071 S. La Brea Avenue, Los Angeles, California 90019. Habitat LA is launching a long-term emergency response campaign to help rebuild homes, help victim relocate to other housing, and providing essential items for those affected by the L.A. Wildfires. You can donate to their campaign to help.
- You can also donate directly to families affected or displaced by the L.A. Wildfires, a directory of which can be found here. Disclaimer: I have not checked the validity of all these pages!
At the core of service is love. As you think about MLKās life on Monday, I hope it pushes you to show love through action by serving.
