West Virginia University is honoring the legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King by planning service projects for students, faculty, and staff to give back. The WVU Center for Civic Engagement is excited to sponsor the day on campus.
Volunteers will be conducting home visits through In Touch and Concerned and working with Rock Forge Neighborhood House to paint and prepare materials at their new home, the Sabraton Community Center. The United Way of Monongalia and Preston Counties is helping coordinate the activities.
WVU will be providing transportation for all those participating. The projects will run from 12:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m.
If you would like to participate or get more information, please visit http://cce.wvu.edu/mlkday. You can sign-up right on the website or get more information about the projects. We will be sure to post pictures and results next week!
Howard Swint said,
January 15, 2009 @ 3:36 pmIn 1968, Dr. King gave his Drum Major Instinct sermon in which he outlined his desire to be remembered for his service to others. A portion follows:
“…And every now and then I think about my own death, and I think about my own funeral. And I don’t think of it in a morbid sense. Every now and then I ask myself, “What is it that I would want said?” And I leave the word to you this morning.
If any of you are around when I have to meet my day, I don’t want a long funeral. And if you get somebody to deliver the eulogy, tell them not to talk too long. Every now and then I wonder what I want them to say. Tell them not to mention that I have a Nobel Peace Prize, that isn’t important. Tell them not to mention that I have three or four hundred other awards, that’s not important. Tell him not to mention where I went to school.
I’d like somebody to mention that day, that Martin Luther King, Jr., tried to give his life serving others. I’d like for somebody to say that day, that Martin Luther King, Jr., tried to love somebody. I want you to say that day, that I tried to be right on the war question. I want you to be able to say that day that I did try to feed the hungry. I want you to be able to say that day that I did try in my life to clothe those who were naked. I want you to say, on that day, that I did try, in my life, to visit those who were in prison. I want you to say that I tried to love and serve humanity.
Yes, if you want to say that I was a drum major, say that I was a drum major for justice; say that I was a drum major for peace; I was a drum major for righteousness. And all of the other shallow things will not matter. I won’t have any money to leave behind. I won’t have the fine and luxurious things of life to leave behind. But I just want to leave a committed life behind. And that’s all I want to say.
We all have the drum major instinct. We all want to be important, to surpass others, to achieve distinction, to lead the parade. … And the great issue of life is to harness the drum major instinct. It is a good instinct if you don’t distort it and pervert it. Don’t give it up. Keep feeling the need for being important. Keep feeling the need for being first. But I want you to be the first in love. I want you to be the first in moral excellence. I want you to be the first in generosity.”
A fitting tribute to a great leader.