“What is required of us now is a new era of responsibility — a recognition, on the part of every American, that we have duties to ourselves, our nation, and the world, duties that we do not grudgingly accept but rather seize gladly, firm in the knowledge that there is nothing so satisfying to the spirit, so defining of our character, than giving our all to a difficult task.” –President Obama’s Inaugural Address

Years from now, our grandchildren might ask: “Where were you when the first black man became president?” They’ll want to know what part you took in history that day, where your own memory and our national memory intersect.

Perhaps they might also ask where you were the day before, when thousands of people across the country seized gladly the opportunity to serve their communities: painting walls, planting gardens, and of course, serving food.

701 CKP volunteers logged over 3000 hours of service in their communities as part of the largest turnout ever for an MLK Day of Service.

We’re especially excited about the projects at our brand-new campus Kitchens at Baylor University in Waco, , University of Wisconsin at Eau Claire, Johns Hopkins University, and the University of Florida at Gainesville. They prepared food for community garden volunteers in Texas, deep cleaned a Community Table in Wisconsin, helped job seekers prepare resumes in Baltimore and served their very first CK meals in Florida.

At the University of Vermont, students renovated the dining hall at the local Food Shelf. They repainted the paneling and drew murals on three of the large panels, featuring pictures inspired by the book “Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs.”

Inspired by Obama’s impending inauguration, new volunteers made MLK day at St. Louis University’s Campus Kitchen one to remember.

What better way to honor the 80th birthday of Martin Luther King, Jr. and celebrate the inauguration of our very first African-American president than to answer their call to service? What better way to define our national character than to recycle waste? What better way to satisfy our spirits than to feed the hungry?

Where were you on MLK Day 2009?

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