THE CITIZEN BLOG

THE CITIZEN BLOG

Events, ATL Community Tim Adkins Events, ATL Community Tim Adkins

The Art of Moving Forward | A look back at the 2022 MLK Days of Service

Dr. King once said, “If you can’t fly then run. If you can’t run then walk. If you can’t walk then crawl. But whatever you do, you have to keep moving forward.”

It’s relentless forward motion, and as we all know, trying to tackle Atlanta’s most pressing needs is never easy. During the 2022 Hands On Atlanta MLK Days of Service, some of us went from flying to crawling in the matter of a few hours.

Dr. King once said, “If you can’t fly then run. If you can’t run then walk. If you can’t walk then crawl. But whatever you do, you have to keep moving forward.”

It’s relentless forward motion, and as we all know, trying to tackle Atlanta’s most pressing needs is never easy. During the 2022 Hands On Atlanta MLK Days of Service presented by The Arthur M. Blank Family Foundation, some of us went from flying to crawling in the matter of a few hours. With a mix of Covid concerns and a winter storm, projects and events that took months to plan were flipped on their head. But Atlanta, you kept moving forward. It took some old fashioned hard work, determination, quick thinking, patience, a little bit of luck and a pure passion to help build Dr. King’s “Beloved Community” that made this year’s King Holiday so meaningful. It’s surely the kind of thing we’ll be talking about for year’s to come.

Together, 1,500 volunteers and participants attended over 200 volunteer projects and events, supporting 60 nonprofits and schools. In addition, thousands of engaged citizens visited the National Center for Civil and Human Rights, the King Center and the Atlanta History Center to learn about Dr. King’s life and legacy and to share their own personal experiences with each other. Morehouse College will continue their King Holiday programming throughout the month.

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 #mlkatl22.

8th annual mlk Sunday Supper

On Sunday, Jan. 16, 2022, close to 200 corporate and community leaders from across metro Atlanta united, virtually, for our 8th annual MLK Sunday Supper presented by The Coca-Cola Company. This year’s event provided guests an intimate, vulnerable, and thought-provoking experience, with guided conversations about What We Teach Our Kids About Race.

The evening featured special guests Brandon Fleming, founder and CEO of the Harvard Diversity Project and Dr. Beverly Tatum, president emerita at Spelman College, as well as 30 Atlanta changemakers as breakout facilitators. Hosted by 11Alive’s Cheryl Preheim, the evening also including moving performances (above) from spoken word poet Ashlee Haze and sensory artist Siana Altiise.

Learn More about this year's event

SERVICE WITH SCALES AT Disco’S POP-UP

Disco, our virtual Saturday enrichment program, had some special guests for our in-person pop-up event on Saturday, Jan. 15! Students from our partners schools got hands on with some critters like snakes, spiders, and even a baby hedgehog! Volunteers from NCR and our AmeriCorps team helped ensure the students (and the animals) had a great atmosphere for learning and discovery.

FEEDING NEIGHBORS WITH EBENEZER BAPTIST CHURCH

There was no better place to honor the legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. than at his home at Ebenezer Baptist Church. In partnership with the Ben Crump Single Parents in Need Feeding Initiative and the hard work of volunteers from the surrounding community and from The Arthur M. Blank Family Foundation, 1,000 meal bags were packed! Volunteers also wrote letters of encouragement that went in each bag of food. The meal bags were then distributed on Dr. King’s birthday, Saturday, Jan. 15.

URBAN FOREST RESTORATION WITH WAWA

Volunteers (including Senator Jon Ossoff pictured above with members of our AmeriCorps team) braved the elements and worked hard to provide actions to maintain stewardship, history, and beautification, as a “Beloved Community” with the West Atlanta Watershed Alliance (WAWA). Volunteers cleared trail paths, marked trails, spread mulch, removed limbs and invasive plants, and more at their Outdoor Activity Center in the historic Oakland City neighborhood.

In addition to this huge, hard working day of service. Hands On Atlanta Civic Leader and dedicated WAWA volunteer, Solomon Seaborn received the January, 17 2022 Points of Light, Daily Point of Light Award.

Learn more about Solomon’s story!

lEARNING IN COLOR MURAL AT THE INTERNATIONAL COMMUNITY SCHOOL

It was all smiles and lots of fun at the International Community School, (an educational haven for refugee students from all over the world) where volunteers from the community and WarnerMedia teamed up to paint and beautify the school with a mural from Learning in Color! The mural represents the core values that the school stands for and the core values that Dr. King dedicated his life for; equity, inclusion, diversity and acceptance of all cultures and ethnicities. The project added aesthetic value and cultural significance to International Community School and as you can see in the video above, the kids love it!

Office Meal Pack

Over at the Hands On Atlanta office, 50 highly motivated and energetic volunteers from Coca-Cola, MAPP, Towerpoint and our AmeriCorps team spent MLK Day packing 800 meal bags for students at Love T. Nolan Elementary School! In addition to packing meals, volunteers also wrote notes of encouragement for the kids, and placed finished kits in boxes to deliver to the school later this week.

Beautification at InCommunity

The volunteers that served at InCommunity had a big job on their hands, to improve a day program center that provides educational, creative, and social opportunities for up to 55 adults with disabilities. Community volunteers revitalized the center with tasks like raking leaves, clearing branches, painting, decorating and organizing classroom spaces.

VIRTUAL LEARNING OPPORTUNITIES

EDUCATION EQUITY With DR. CHANIKA PERRY

Throughout our MLK Days of Service, participants from NCR, KaVo Kerr and American Tower spent their lunch hour virtually with Hands On Atlanta's resident education expert, Director of Education Programs, Dr. Chanika Perry, to learn more about education inequities in our country. After a brief issue education presentation and thought starters, attendees participated in a facilitated, curated discussion and thought sharing on how to build a more equitable future for the next generation.

FOOD SECURITY WITH ATLANTA COMMUNITY FOOD BANK

Participants from CRH Americas, Change Healthcare, HOK, Norfolk Southern, OneDigital, and NCR virtually came together for a presentation from Hands On Atlanta and the Atlanta Community Food Bank to learn more about Atlanta's fight against food insecurity. The attendees joined an interactive simulation that put themselves in the shoes of others to experience the realities of food insecurity and economic life choices that need to be made daily. Guests left empowered with resources to advocate and participate in the fight against hunger.

SHARE YOUR MLK DAY EXPERIENCE

Now that you’ve read some of the highlighted moments and projects of our MLK Days of Service, we’d love to know how you celebrated the life and legacy of Dr. King. Share your activity or reflection points with us across our social channels by following @handsonatlanta and using the hashtag #mlkatl22.

If you’re feeling inspired to get involved, there are still several MLK Day related activities throughout the rest of the month. Hop over to mlkatl.org for more info and to find an opportunity to engage.

Read More
Events, News Tim Adkins Events, News Tim Adkins

BUILDING THE “BELOVED COMMUNITY” FOR THE 2021 MLK DAY OF SERVICE

From January 14-18, 2021, Hands On Atlanta, with support from presenting sponsors The Coca-Cola Company and The Home Depot, will host 5 days of service and promote a month of social justice and civic engagement projects and events.

Copy of ENGAGE SERVE Unite (3).png

Local and international social justice institutions partner to unite Atlanta for the King holiday

Atlanta, GA: From January 14-18, 2021, Hands On Atlanta, with support from presenting sponsors The Coca-Cola Company and The Home Depot, will host 5 days of service and promote a month of social justice and civic engagement projects and events.

 “I’m excited to invite and welcome the Atlanta community to unite in service to help bring to life Dr. King’s vision of the ‘Beloved Community’. Thanks to our incredible partnerships with The King Center, The National Center for Civil and Human Rights, Morehouse College, The Carter Center, Points of Light and more than 30 local nonprofits and 25 companies, there will be hundreds of in-person and virtual opportunities for Atlantans to do something good throughout January,” said Jay Cranman, President and CEO of Hands On Atlanta.   

 MLK Day projects and events will range from the traditional to new and innovative ways to make Atlanta a more civically engaged and equitable community. Projects include:

  •  Packing and distributing meals to 800 families with Ebenezer Baptist Church

  • Painting a mural honoring the graduating class of 2020 at Coretta Scott King Young Women’s Leadership Academy with Learning in Color

  • Delivering meals with Open Hand Atlanta

  • Wellness checks for seniors living in the NPU-S community

  • Virtually answering college and career readiness questions for students through CareerVillage.org

  • Attending and host meaningful conversations through Civic Dinners & Equitable Dinners

  • Virtual reading party with Pajama Program

The Home Depot will be hosting a series of virtual projects for their employees including an Issue Education Seminar on Food Insecurity in Atlanta.

"Serving our hometown and local communities across the nation is inherent to our values at The Home Depot,” expressed Shannon Gerber, executive director of The Home Depot Foundation. “We are honored to work alongside Hands On Atlanta, Dr. King’s Beloved Community and the many other forces driving sustainable change across this great city. We stand hopeful that our shared efforts will bring about a meaningful impact."

The Coca-Cola Company will engage employees in Atlanta to help paint a mural, deliver meals and is the presenting sponsor of the important conversation at the Hands On Atlanta MLK Sunday Supper. Employees will virtually join 400 community leaders for an evening of dialogue around building Rev. Dr. King’s “Beloved Community,” and will feature a keynote by educator, author, co-founder of Campaign Zero and one of the leading voices in the Black Lives Matter movement, DeRay McKesson.

“The Coca-Cola Company has long recognized the critical importance of advancing civil rights and rallying the strength of our employees, families and friends in service to our hometown of Atlanta, Ga.,” said Valerie Love, Human Resources, The Coca-Cola Company, North America. “We are proud to continue our support for Hands On Atlanta so that together we can help build a better future for all in our ‘Beloved Community.’”

Visit www.mlkatl.org for more information and to explore all of the MLK Day projects and events happening throughout January.

Read More
ATL Community, Events Tim Adkins ATL Community, Events Tim Adkins

MLK Day 2020 in Review

The 2020 edition of the King holiday fell on a pivotal point in our city’s history. 2020 will bring an election, the census, the 100th anniversary of the 19th amendment, and more events that will require us, as a community and as a nation, to unite. For us, while incredibly important, that means more than volunteering and serving others. Knowing we’ve got some of the country’s top civic engagement and social justice organizations right here in our backyard, we partnered with The King Center, The National Center for Civil and Human Rights and Morehouse College to deliver over 2 weeks of events and programming.

Hundreds of volunteers planted 200 trees and 5,000 daffodil bulbs. Volunteers were welcomed by Dunwoody Mayor, Lynn Deutsch.Photo by Paul Ward Photography

Hundreds of volunteers planted 200 trees and 5,000 daffodil bulbs. Volunteers were welcomed by Dunwoody Mayor, Lynn Deutsch.

Photo by Paul Ward Photography

The 2020 edition of the King holiday fell on a pivotal point in our city’s history. This year will bring an election, the census, the 100th anniversary of the 19th amendment, and more events that will require us, as a community and as a nation, to unite. For us, while incredibly important, that means more than volunteering and serving others. Knowing we’ve got some of the country’s top civic engagement and social justice organizations right here in our backyard, we partnered with The King Center, The National Center for Civil and Human Rights and Morehouse College to deliver over 2 weeks of events and programming.

““The ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in moments of comfort and convenience, but where he stands at times of challenge and controversy.””
— - Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

For the King holiday, Atlanta, once again, rose to the occasion and set the standard for how to commemorate the life and legacy of Dr. King. There have been opportunities to learn, to listen, to serve, to engage, to disrupt and to do. Below are some highlights from the MLK Sunday Supper and our annual day of service. To the changemakers, the corporate community, our partners and everyone who participated in an MLK Day event or program - THANK YOU!

MLK SUNDAY SUPPER

Photos by Steve Swieter Photography

For the 6th year in a row, Hands On Atlanta kicked-off the MLK Day of Service with our annual MLK Sunday Supper. What’s become one of our favorite annual events, this year’s conversation centered around THE defining social justice issue of 2020: women’s rights. With the upcoming election and census, we know 2020 will be a pivotal year for everyone, but it will be specifically pivotal for women. There isn’t an issue…from affordable housing to income inequality, that doesn’t’ dis-proportionally affect women in our community.

The evening’s conversations were sparked by vignettes from Andrea Young, Executive Director of ACLU of Georgia, Cheryl Preheim, evening anchor at 11Alive, and Kwame Johnson, President and CEO of Big Brothers Big Sisters of Metro Atlanta. The evening’s program was designed in partnership with Civic Dinners, and facilitated by women leaders from across Atlanta.

Highlights of the evening included two incredibly moving performance from the Atlanta Music Project and a motivational challenge for change by Jill Savitt, the CEO of the National Center for Civil and Human Rights!

Day of Service

On the coldest day of the year, tens of thousands of ATLiens turned out for city wide volunteer projects, church services, the King Center’s annual march, and other MLK Day related events and programs. We tallied over 3,000 changemakers, serving almost 10,000 hours at 20 projects hosted by our corporate, nonprofit and school partners across metro Atlanta. Here’s a snap shot of the day:

  • 400 volunteers turned up at Truly Living Well to assist with winterization for the fruit trees, composting, cleaning a pond and re-mulching pathways. Volunteers spread 800 pounds of mulch, built 5 cold frame/mini greenhouses, installed a new garden bed and more!

  • Our friends at Livable Buckhead hosted about 75 volunteers from Accenture and ADP at Loridians Park, where volunteers helped create a new nature trail and a community education space.

  • In partnership with Trees Atlanta, 300 volunteers planted 200 trees and 5,000 daffodil bulbs at Brook Run Park! Special guests included Dunwoody Mayor Lynn Deutsch, volunteers from project sponsors Coca-Cola, Newell Brands, and The Home Depot, plus the Atlanta-Dunwoody chapter of Jack and Jill of America, Inc.

  • ATLiens strolling down the Beltline stopped at our “pop up” project and helped build 200 STEM kits for students in our partner Atlanta Public Schools.

  • Volunteers stayed warm by working hard, beautifying 5 partner schools from Atlanta, Dekalb and Fulton County School systems. Projects covered a wide range of needs and included painting, landscaping, bench and picnic table builds, outdoor classrooms, garden beds and more!

  • More than 200 volunteers stopped into City Hall for the City of Atlanta Day of Service making hats and scarves, no sew blankets and more for City of Atlanta Warming Centers (temporary homeless shelters open during frigid temperatures) and several partner nonprofits.

What’s next

Our official King Holiday festivities began back on January 13 and will conclude on Jan. 31. On Thursday, Jan. 23 from 5:30pm-7:30pm catch Stacey Abrams at the Morehouse College Annual MLK Lecture Series and on Friday, Jan. 31 from 8:30am - 10:00am, grab your seat for an uplifting and engaging talk from Dr. Vicki Crawford at Creative Mornings. Dr. Crawford, the director of the Martin Luther King Jr. Collection at Morehouse College and general editor of the Morehouse College King Collection Series on Civil and Human Rights.

As Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. said, “The time is always right, to do what is right.” We’ve got you covered to do what is right, all year round:

THANK YOU SPONSORS!

Please join us and toss a high five to the companies paving the way for a more equitable and civically engaged Atlanta! The support from these leaders made the MLK Sunday Supper and Day of Service possible.

2020+Sunday+Supper+Program+%281%29.jpg
Read More
Events Tim Adkins Events Tim Adkins

Sports and Social Justice: A look back at the 2019 Hands On Atlanta Signature Sunday Supper

On Sunday, January 20, almost 300 corporate and community leaders gathered around the dinner table at the College Football Hall of Fame, for an engaging evening of conversation on the intersection of sport and social justice.

Hands On Atlanta Signature Sunday Supper presented by the Coca-Cola Company

Hands On Atlanta Signature Sunday Supper presented by the Coca-Cola Company

On Sunday, January 20, 300 corporate and community leaders gathered around the dinner table at the College Football Hall of Fame for an engaging conversation about sports and social justice.

Slam poet, Poetix, kicked off the night with an energetic and moving performance that set the tone for the evening. Jay Cranman, Hands On Atlanta President and CEO gave a warm welcome to attendees and Alba Baylin, V.P. Community and Stakeholder Relations at The Coca-Cola Company followed with a moving reminder of the importance of “having tough conversations.”

Guests enjoyed dinner before our panel shared their views and roles on social activism in sports. 11Alive’s Cheryl Preheim moderated the panel that included Nate Boyer, a former Green Beret and professional football player with the Seattle Seahawks. Nate was a catalyst in Colin Kapaernick's decision to take a knee in protest against police brutality. He shared his eye-opening story and challenged us all to have empathy for others. He shared his eye opening story and how important Dr. King’s idea of listening to others and having empathy for others helped his role in the movement. Nzinga Shaw, Chief Diversity & Inclusion Officer of the Atlanta Hawks & State Farm Arena showcased how the NBA and the Atlanta Hawks are solving a set of diversity challenges. It’s safe to say, there isn’t a more transparent and inclusive organization in all of sports. Reverend Dr. Greg Ellison, founder of Fearless Dialogues and Associate Professor of Pastoral Care and Counseling at Emory University, passionately shared the connectedness of Dr. King’s vision to changemakers making a difference in today’s culture. He also dropped helpful tips for having a tough and sometimes uncomfortable conversation.

The panel was a great place setting for the table conversations, the night’s main course. We partnered up with The King Center and Civic Dinners, to create a series of questions built around the Building the Racial Divide civic dinner. Even more important, our Signature Sunday Supper was the official launch of a huge campaign. Our goal is to ignite the  Bridging the Racial Divide conversation, sparking 1,000 Civic Dinners across the country!

Feeling inspired to create change? Join Hands On Atlanta and The King Center by hosting your own Civic Dinner on Bridging the Racial Divide.

Host a Civic Dinner!
Read More
Events, ATL Community Tim Adkins Events, ATL Community Tim Adkins

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. Martin Luther King Jr. from "Remaining Awake Through a Great 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!

Donate
volunteer

 

 

Read More