St Petersburg Metropolitan Section of the National Council of Negro Women, Incorporated partnered with the Martin Luther King, Jr. Day of Service Initiative on Saturday, January 26, 2019. An annual event for our Section which is chairred by our very own Allene Gammage-Ahmed was an outstanding success, This year's theme "A Carousel of Resources: Reducing Barriers to Literacy and Learning" aligned itself to the mission of educating the community by providing essential resources to eradicate illiteracy. The MLK Day of Service empowers individuals, strengthens communities, reduces barriers, creates solutions to social problems, and moves us closer to Dr. King's vision of a "Beloved Community".
Allene and her committee reached out to community based social action organizations who shared the same goal and same level of committment. Some of the participants and partners that highlighted the event included: Dr. Christopher
Warren, SpringZone Youth Empowerment ignited quite a bit of excitement while engaging the children’s imagination during his presentation; District One, St. Petersburg Community Police officers, Master Station Fire Rescue, Buffalo Soldiers, St. Petersburg art professionals, Chantel
Lawrence, author of Our Hero, Our Dad, Rafael Robinson, STEM/Super Sprockets program, Lakewood High 11 th grader and author, Davon Miller’s Mr. Tickety-Tock Clock series, Korey’s Reading Clubhouse, Little Naomi, reading buddy, American Stage Company, All Kidney Patient’s Group, Gulfcoast Legal Services, St. Petersburg Library System, PCSB Book Bus, and Pinellas County Hippy Program along with so many other supporters who helped make this project the super sensational event that it was and for the many ways by which we were able to celebrate the dream of Dr. King. Rev. Robinson, grill master extraordinaire provided hot dogs,
hamburgers and delicious kosher sausage; music by DJ Hurricane and the event mascot, King Young were all excited. Many expressions of thanks are extended to Senator Darryl Rouson who advocated for communities to have a financial opportunity to keep the dream alive through service; to St. Petersburg Junior College MLK Advisory Committee and the St. Petersburg Metropolitan
Section of the National Council of Negro Women MLK Day of Service planning committee who all worked without ceasing to make this year’s dream a super sensational reality.
The mission of the National Council of Negro Women, Incorporated is to lead, advocate for and empower women of African descent, their families and communities. This was a fantastic day, along with supporting and providing services to the community, especially in the education of our children. Yes, for us, it was A Day On, Not A Day Off and “United, we will continue to serve”.
‘ This Project is made possible by a service award from the MLK Day of Service Project