I am always inspired by the dedication of college students to service and political action, but some days reaffirm those convictions more than others. This year’s Martin Luther King Day of Service was one of those days. I’ve been really fortunate to do work with the Young Democrats chapter at UNC Chapel Hill, and our volunteers did amazing work today. We led several events throughout the day, to both celebrate and commemorate Dr. King’s commitment to public service and social justice.



I began the day with five other Young Dems volunteers at a trash-pick up at the Planned Parenthood office in Chapel Hill. We cleaned the parking lot and highway that ran near the health center. On our exploration we found some epic trash, including a rusty metal pipe, tires, an orange traffic cone, and a sign advertising White Tiger Tae Kwon Do. We also found the typical beer bottles, fast food wrappers and cigarette butts.

In the afternoon, other members went to a can food drive led by Organizing for America and the Orange County Democratic Party. One of my friends commented that it was an incredibly rewarding volunteer experience. People from across Chapel Hill and Orange County brought bags and bags of food, and our members had the opportunity to collect and sort the food for one of the local social justice centers.

We rounded out our day with a phone-bank to contact voters in Massachusetts about the Senate Race. As I’ve blogged about before, tomorrow’s race means a lot for the future of legislative politics in America. If Martha Coakley loses, her Republican challenger has promised to vote against healthcare reform, and he has a less than stellar record when it comes to issues of sexual health and reproductive justice. While the polls are close, I was inspired by the voters I talked to. One woman commented, “One thing’s for sure, after George Bush, I’m never voting for a Republican again!”



While it’s great that students in Young Democrats and at UNC Chapel Hill felt inspired to perform service on MLK Day, it’s important to remember that service needs to be done year round, and our desire to politically engage and speak in support of candidates who reflect our values should not wait until the day before an election. While it is great that we as a country can commit to performing service on MLK Day, our desire to give back to the communities we live in is hopefully not a once a year occurrence. I’m proud that Young Democrats continues to perform service projects throughout the year, and I hope those of you who volunteered in your community this year will not wait until MLK Day next year to do it again.