Monday (1.15.2024) was The Day of Service on the MLK holiday. The Day of Service is a once-a-year holiday on the MLK holiday encouraging people to voluntarily improve their communities. It can often be confused with the Day of Giving which is the holiday on the Tuesday after Thanksgiving (12.3.2024) which was created to help the giving season of the holidays get started and remind others to give back and do good in their communities.
For the past few years, our staff has been given paid time (4 hours this year) to perform some time of service of their choice. All have chosen to participate. Salient points include the following.
One staffer shown below spent 2 hours with guest ambassador services at WakeMed to assist in greeting visitors and navigating the campus. They also volunteered 2 hours last weekend with Brown Bag Ministry to prepare bag lunches for distribution in Wake and Durham counties to primarily the homeless and poverty populations.
Another staff member shown below spent time walking dogs at an animal rescue facility for surrendered and abandoned dogs and cats that recently reopened after an illness had spread to some of the dogs last year.
And another staff member cleaned about 200 gallons (~1 yd³) of trash and debris from a 176 yard section of Hillsborough Street at the entrance to the University Club. The collected cardboard, paper, plastics, metals, and glass materials were sorted and then sent for recycling, reuse, or disposal.
