THE CITIZEN BLOG
THE CITIZEN BLOG
Honoring a Legacy Through Action — Reflecting on the 2026 MLK Days of Service
This January, Atlanta showed what it means to lead with service. In honor of the life and legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., our community came together not just to reflect, but to act, turning Dr. King’s vision of love in action into meaningful impact across metro Atlanta.
From January 12–19, thousands of volunteers answered the call to serve with compassion and purpose. Neighbors rolled up their sleeves for community cleanups, educational outreach, food distribution, and environmental stewardship, demonstrating the power of collective action when a city moves together.
This January, Atlanta showed what it means to lead with service. In honor of the life and legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., our community came together not just to reflect, but to act, turning Dr. King’s vision of love in action into meaningful impact across metro Atlanta.
From January 12–19, thousands of volunteers answered the call to serve with compassion and purpose. Neighbors rolled up their sleeves for community cleanups, educational outreach, food distribution, and environmental stewardship, demonstrating the power of collective action when a city moves together.
In partnership with more than 50 nonprofits and schools, Hands On Atlanta supported 150+ service projects throughout the region. Across five marquee volunteer activations, volunteers packed 60,000 meals and assembled 4,000 comfort kits for neighbors in need. The week concluded with the MLK Sunday Supper, where nearly 300 civic, community, and corporate leaders gathered for an evening of connection and honest dialogue centered on health equity.
Together, Atlanta honored Dr. King’s legacy the way he intended, through service that strengthens our city and builds a more just, caring future for all.
SUNDAY SUPPER 1/18
12th Annual MLK Sunday Supper presented by Coca-Cola
300 of Atlanta’s most influential community, civic and corporate leaders joined Hands On Atlanta at the Atlanta History Center for an evening of dialogue and discourse on health equity.
Atendee’s received a video welcome from Senator Warnock, and the night’s emcee was Cheryl Preheim, morning anchor at 11Alive. Presenters included Corwin N. Harper, President & CEO of Kaiser Permanente, Niya Randall, Lead Facilitator of Thriving Together Atlanta, Dr. Tabia Henry Akintobi, PhD, MPH, Professor and Chair of Community Health and Preventive Medicine at Morehouse School of Medicine.
Entertainment was provided by award winning Violinist Joy Black, with an incredible performance by Out of Hand Theater, Conditional Care. Conditional Care was written and directed by Nikki Young, starring Markell Williams.
MARQUEE PROJECTS
Comfort Kit Pack @ Legacy Park
200 Volunteers from Salesforce, Piedmont Healthcare, and AT&T joined Hands On Atlanta & Restoring One’s Hope at Legacy Decatur to pack 2000 comfort kits.
Comfort Kit Pack @ Guardian Works
Over 200 volunteers from OneDigital, Atlanta Dream, Fiserv, Midtown Rotary, Delta Dental, 11alive and The Home Depot Foundation joined us at Guardian Works to pack comfort kits and create fleece blankets for our partners at Restoring One’s Hope!
M4K Pack @ Hope-Hill Elementary with Delta.
175 Delta volunteers met us at Hope Hill Elementary to pack 2000 meals for Atlanta Schools! Recipients include Hope Hill Elementary, Usher-Collier Elementary, Peyton Forest Elementary, Scott Elementary, Kindezi at Gideons, and The Ansley School.
Meal Pack @ Monday Night Garage
Over 150 volunteers from Target, Eversheds Sutherland, Alston & Bird, Chick-fil-A, SouthState, and King & Spalding joined us and Meals for Hope to pack 60,000 meals at Monday Night Garage! Recipients include Atlanta Community Food Bank, Restoring One’s Hope Atlanta, Hope Hill Elementary, Usher-Collier Elementary, Peyton Forest Elementary, Scott Elementary, Kindezi at Gideons, and The Ansley School.
THANK YOU TO OUR 2026 SPONSORS
Ready to continue doing something good? Don’t miss LOVE Your Park, February 1 - 28, 2026! Powered in partnership by Park Pride, the City of Atlanta Department of Parks & Recreation, Hands On Atlanta & Trees Atlanta. Join us for this citywide volunteer initiative for hands-on projects to help care for, beautify, and strengthen Atlanta’s parks. Let’s show our parks some love all month long!
5 Days of Building Dr. King's "Beloved Community"
Thousands of volunteers helped Hands On Atlanta and over 50 of our nonprofit and school partners improve food security and educational equity for families and students, improved the environment and sustainability across metro Atlanta and so much more throughout the 8 days in September - culminating on Sept. 27, 2022, Arthur Blank's 80th birthday.
From January 12-16, 2023, Hands On Atlanta convened over 2,000 volunteers to serve 5,000 hours in support more than 40 nonprofits and schools as part of the 2023 MLK Days of Service!
With the generous support of presenting sponsor, The Coca-Cola Company, volunteers joined more than 100 service projects and events that had a focus on improving educational and housing equity, food security, and the environment.
Check out some of our highlighted projects and events below and don’t forget to share your MLK Days of Service experience with us on our social channels, tagging #mlkatl.
Mega Hope Kit Pack
Thursday, Jan. 12, 2023
We kicked off our 2023 MLK Days of Service from our warehouse at 970 Jefferson with our friends and partners at Ebenezer Baptist Church, Hope Atlanta, Restoring One’s Hope, and MLK Resource Collaborative!
150 Volunteers from OneDigital, Kilpatrick Townsend, the Arthur M. Blank Family Foundation, Change Healthcare and the Atlanta Braves Foundation packed over 2,000 Hygiene Kits, Snack Pack Kits, and Welcome Home Kits with donated items from Brawny, Dixie and Angel Soft!
“It was great event and was great to collaborate with other organizations such as Home Depot. Snapper was a great supervisor and really enjoyed being on his team! ”
Meals4Kids Meal Pack
Friday, Jan. 13, 2023
Food insecure households are often challenged to access nourishing, healthy meals while also covering housing costs on a limited budget.
For Day 2 of our MLK Days of Service, 75 volunteers from Deloitte, the Braves Foundation and Towerpoint joined our partners at Urban Recipe to pack 1,000+ meals (600 meal bags and another 110 food boxes) for families in need across metro Atlanta.
“Very efficient! I was amazed at how much we got done in the amount of time!”
Discovery + House Proud
Saturday, Jan. 14, 2023
We celebrated day 3 on a cold and windy Saturday morning with a couple of service projects and a lot of fun!
50 volunteers from US Bank/Elavon and Morris, Manning and Martin, LLP joined our Discovery program at Parklane Elementary for an educational and engaging morning with students. Georgia Power brought their Learning Power STEAM Truck and volunteers to Belmont Hills Elementary!
We then headed over to the Atlanta Community Toolbank, home of House Proud, where volunteers from Target cleaned and organized their warehouse, painted/branded tools and even built a storage shed!
Photo by Steve Swieter, www.swieterimage.com
9th Annual MLK Sunday Supper
Sunday, Jan. 15, 2023
Thanks to our presenting sponsor, The Coca-Cola Company, 150 corporate and community leaders joined us around the table for an authentic conversation about housing equity at the National Center for Civil & Human Rights.
Featured speakers included Mayor Andre Dickens, Rev. Natosha Reid Rice, and a panel including Renee Lewis Glover and Principal Jovita Wallace, moderated by 11Alive’s Cheryl Preheim.
In partnership with our friends at 11Alive, the evening will air as part of a segment on affordable housing Jan. 21 and 22..
“Now is the time to make real the promises of democracy. Now is the time to open the doors of opportunity to all of God’s children.” That door to opportunity is home ownership — which, for most Americans, is their single most valuable asset.””
Truly Living Well Farm Beautification
Monday, Jan. 16, 2023
Celebrating the King Holiday with our 5th and final day of our 2023 MLK Days of Service at Truly Living Well - an agricultural hub for the West Atlanta community.
400+ volunteers from The Home Depot Foundation, Salesforce, Microsoft, Clark Atlanta University and Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta, AmeriCorps, Most Valuable Kids and Breakthrough Atlanta joined Hands On Atlanta and our partners at Westside Future Fund to protect the farm over winter and into the spring months.
“I have volunteered in various projects for more than 40 years and I have never felt so appreciated. The event was organized, it was fun, it was purposeful. Well done, Hands On Atlanta.”
More ways to celebrate the 2023 MLK Days of Service:
“Great service project - liked that the shift was manageable, the people at Books for Africa were very nice, able to accommodate a large group, and I’ll definitely be back. ”
“Great cause that I’d like to support more in the future. Very relaxing and informative. The time flew by. I can definitely work with this organization again. ”
On Thursday, Jan. 12, volunteers from Kia and the community joined a fun, virtual project from, where they wrote jokes and letters of encouragement to students in our partner schools. The jokes and notes will be placed in their Meals4Kids meal bags that will be sent when school is on break!
We’re collecting jokes and notes through Jan. 21, 2023. Sign up now and get everything you need to join from home.
In partnership with Inclusivv and as part of our MLK Sunday Supper call to action, volunteers stepped up to host their own “conversation that matters” about equitable housing on Sunday, Jan. 15, 2023.
You can find a conversation to join or host your own here!
Morehouse College hosted their Bonner Office of Community Service Day of Service on Monday, Jan. 16 as part of their King Day Commemoration, but they have a ton of events you can join, happening throughout January.
Explore all of their events and join them here.
Atlanta Public Schools challenged thousands of their students, families and staff to “take the day on” and join a family friendly volunteer project on Monday, Jan. 16, 2023.
You can join the challenge all January long by serving with one of these projects appropriate for kids 14+.
Visit www.mlkatl.org for more information and to explore all of the MLK Days of Service projects and events happening throughout January.
Atlanta Unites Over Supper and Service
“And one of the great liabilities of life is that all too many people find themselves living amid a great period of social change, and yet they fail to develop the new attitudes, the new mental responses, that the new situation demands. They end up sleeping through a revolution.”
Reverend Dr. King's passion for service and helping others is at the core of our work. Our mission and values to ignite a passion for service and create life-long community volunteers through civic engagement, diversity and inclusion, community partnerships, and the pursuit of excellence read more like a quote from one of his iconic speeches than something we try to pursue everyday.
To say the MLK Day holiday is important to us is an understatement. Our small, but mighty team, dedicates months of our year to planning and executing a series of events to try and honor his legacy and commitment to service the best we can. Because this year is the 50th Anniversary of his assassination and the MLK Day of service fell on his birthday, we went big and asked you to go big with us. Once again, you stepped up and 1,800 volunteers showed up to serve at 30 projects across metro Atlanta!
Special thank you to all of our sponsors, volunteers, nonprofits, and schools who came together to help make it all happen. Keep reading to view more details and to view photos from our 2018 MLK Day events.
2018 hands on atlanta signature sunday supper
On Sunday, January 14, 2018, nearly 200 corporate and civic leaders came together at The Gathering Spot to break bread and barriers at the Hands On Atlanta Signature Sunday Supper. Hosted by 11Alive's Cheryl Preheim, the evening was full of meaningful dialogue and featured a moving performance from actor Leon Rogers, as he relived portions of Reverend Dr. King's "Remaining Awake Through a Great Revolution."
The focus of the night was a fireside chat with Prosperity Now's Dedrick Asante-Muhammad and Nathaniel Smith of Partnership for Southern Equity. The two shared the stage to explore Reverend Dr. King's "Poor People's Campaign" and take a closer look at the issue of economic inequality then and now. Dedrick brought a national perspective, while Nathaniel held a local lens on the challenges (and work) being done right here in Atlanta. Other speakers included Jay Cranman, Hands On Atlanta President and CEO, V.P. of Community Relations for Coca-Cola North America, Lori George Billingsley, and the CEO of Points of Light, Natalye Paquin.
The diverse room of attendees had a chance to then discuss the issues presented to learn from each other and form some solutions on how to solve the problem of economic inequality.
Watch the Signature Sunday Supper in it's entirety:
The Signature Sunday Supper was complimented by 50 self-hosted Sunday Suppers across metro Atlanta. In partnership with Civic Dinners, changemakers stepped up to host and attend these unique and fun events, sharing dinner and dialogue. Final numbers of attendees are still rolling in, but you can see some of the highlights here.
2018 mlk day of service
To celebrate Reverend Dr. King's birthday, it was back to what we do best: rally ATLiens in service! In total we had 30 projects and almost 1900 volunteers come out from English Ave. all the way up Buford Highway.
It was cold, but that didn't stop volunteers from making their impact felt across the city. Parks, nature preserves and schools hosted several beautification projects, building benches, gardens, painting, and more! Volunteers delivered meals to seniors, planted trees at several cemeteries, packed medical supplies, and more.
The day of service was larger than anticipated, thanks to the incredible support from the 20+ corporate sponsors who came out help us celebrate. A huge thank you and special shout out to our title sponsor The Coca-Cola Company, who's been supporting our MLK Day of Service efforts for almost 30 years!
Inspired to act? Consider making a donation or sign up to volunteer!