Long Beach residents will have plenty of chances to give back to their community next week to commemorate Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s legacy.
Leadership Long Beach will host its 17th annual MLK Day of Service on Monday, Jan. 19, where hundreds of volunteers will come together to uplift the city, clean, build, and support neighbors.
Since 1989, Leadership Long Beach has aimed to train community members to be civic leaders, which has helped inspire, create and cultivate more than 2,000 community-engaged alumni who give back to Long Beach. Its programs serve the community through education and motivating participants on issues important to the future and sustainability of the city, according to the organization’s website. MLK Day of Service is one of Leadership Long Beach’s biggest events of the year.
This year, there are 16 projects citywide that volunteers can participate in, ranging from beautification and environmental restoration to community care and food support.
Volunteers joined Leadership Long Beach and the City’s Office of Climate Action and Sustainability in restoring Willow Springs Park for MLK Day of Service on Monday, Jan. 20, 2025. (Photo by Christina Merino, Press-Telegram/SCNG)
Volunteers pull weeds at Willow Springs Park during MLK Day of Service in Long Beach on Monday, January 16, 2023. (Photo by Brittany Murray, Press-Telegram/SCNG)
Firefighters serve pancakes to hundreds of MLK day of service volunteers, including James McNamara and his son, Jakob, at Seaside Park in Long Beach on Monday, Jan. 20, 2020. (Photo by Howard Freshman, Contributing Photographer)
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Volunteers joined Leadership Long Beach and the City’s Office of Climate Action and Sustainability in restoring Willow Springs Park for MLK Day of Service on Monday, Jan. 20, 2025. (Photo by Christina Merino, Press-Telegram/SCNG)
Some of the projects include the beautification of MLK Park’s Peace Garden, where volunteers will help beautify the local, public garden to create a peaceful and welcoming atmosphere, or people can also help at LB Community Compost’s Willow Springs Park site to spread compost and mulch around fruit trees in the orchard.
People can also help pack food bags for the Volunteer Center’s Food for Kids program and help stock the local food pantry, and there will also be a neighborhood cleanup in the nearby neighborhood as well. Volunteers can also help clean up debris on the Peninsula at Algalita Beach, or plant trees in West Long Beach at Silverado Park with help from the Long Beach Conservation Corps.
Leadership Long Beach will be hosting a kickoff breakfast before service projects begin at Long Beach City College’s Trades, Technology, and Community Learning Campus, 1305 E. Pacific Coast Highway, from 8 a.m. to 9:30 a.m.
If people can’t make it to the day of service, Leadership Long Beach also encourages community members to donate to help provide supplies, coordinate and support for volunteer projects across Long Beach. Officials say donations help ensure that service reaches every corner of the Long Beach community.
To sign up and learn more about the different service projects available for this year’s MLK Day of Service, visit leadershiplb.org/MLK.