Mark MLK Day during these kid-friendly service projects, events

Martin Luther King Jr. Day is Monday. Local groups and non-profits are offering ways for kids and families to celebrate the life of the civil rights leader with kid-friendly activities and service projects.

Posted 1:40 a.m. Jan 16, 2014 — Updated 2:35 p.m. Jan 20, 2014

Here are some ways you can get involved:

NC MomsRising, Northgate Mall, Durham Mothers Club, Carrboro/Chapel Hill Mothers Club, Lango Kids, Kids Voting Durham and MomInChapelHill will host a celebration with a story time, crafts and birthday cake from 10:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m., Monday, at Northgate Mall in Durham. The fourth annual event will focus on school integration this year. Activities are designed for preschoolers to middle school students. They also will be collecting non-perishable food items for the Interfaith Food Shuttle's Backpack Buddies and new children's underwear for the kids at Urban Ministries of Durham. Read this earlier post for more information about this very popular event. Just added: MusicianCorps will offer afternoon performances and demonstrations from 1 p.m. to 6 p.m. Special performances will be at 1 p.m. and 2 p.m. to honor King. Kids and adults will have a chance to try out a number of instruments.
Book Harvest, a Durham-based nonprofit which gives books to low-income children, will host 10,000 Books for Kids from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m., Monday, at Carolina Theatre in Durham. The public is invited to the giant community book drive that will feature Wool E. Bull, the Only Burger food truck, musicians, a pop-up store from Letters Bookshop and local author "celebrity volunteers," including Sarah Dessen, Daniel Wallace, Randall Kenan, Stephanie Greene, John Stanley, j.j. Johnson, Kristyn Kusek Lewis, Frances O’Roark Dowell, and John Claude Bemis.

Book Harvest will be collecting books during the afternoon of service and encourages community members to run their own book drives in advance of the event. According to a press release, more than 20 schools, neighborhoods, book clubs and other groups have signed up to run book drives. For much more about this event and to learn more about starting your own book drive, go to Book Harvest's website.

Marbles Kids Museum, which usually is open only during the morning on Mondays, will be open from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. on MLK Day. From 10 a.m. to 1 p.m., the museum in Raleigh will be celebrating community heroes and collecting food for Backpack Buddies to feed children in need.

The United Way of the Greater Triangle's massive Day of Service runs all day Monday and includes volunteer opportunities for all ages.

More MLK Day events from Out & About

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