Thank you to everyone who attended The Minneapolis Park and Recreation Board’s (MPRB) annual Martin Luther King, Jr. Celebration on Monday, January 21 at Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King Recreation Center, 4055 Nicollet Ave. S.
The event was hosted by Newmann Thomas, local youth pastor and Youthline mentor for the Minneapolis Park & Recreation Board. Cobe Williams, a Violence Interrupter for Cease Fire Chicago and subject of the 2011 Award Winning Documentary The Interrupters will gave a keynote presentation. The program also included a tribute to Dr. King as well as performances from the Twin Cities Community Gospel Choir and SteppingStone theatre.
The MPRB will present its “Living the Dream”award to Jimmy Longoria of Mentoring Peace Through Art for his dedication and commitment to our community.
The Celebration marked the conclusion of the 4th Annual “Feeding the Dream” food drive. The food drive took place at recreation centers throughout the city. The community service project was initiated in the fall of 2009 and since then more than 7,000 pounds of donations have been collected. This year, over 2,000 pounds of food was collected and all donations will go to the Groveland Food Shelf in Minneapolis.
This year was the first year that handmade knitted items were also collected in support of the Love Light Project. The Love-Light project supports local teenage victims of commercial sexual exploitation. These items were sold during the celebration and 100 percent of the profits will be used to support adolescent victims of commercial sexual exploitation.
Next year’s celebration will take place on Monday, January 20, 2014.
