It's already been more than a week since MLK Day 2007! We can't believe it has taken us this long to talk about our favorite holiday. Favorite Holiday?, you ask. But why? Well, it's America's first (and so far only) National Day of Service!

That's right - in 1994 Congress passed the King Holiday and Service Act, designating the King Holiday as a national day of volunteer service. Instead of a day off from work or school, Congress asked Americans of all backgrounds and ages to celebrate Dr. King's legacy by turning community concerns into citizen action.

Of course, no one can make you serve, because this is America, and so the indoor water parks near the MOA were totally crowded with people doing their best not to volunteer. Not that we are judging! We love indoor water parks, too - just not as much as we love organizing service projects.

So on Monday, January 15th, we got together with seniors from the Lyngblomsten community in St. Paul as well as youth groups from the congregations of St. Timothy's Lutheran Church in St. Paul and Incarnation Lutheran Church in Mounds View for an MLK Day Learning & Sharing Brunch. The idea was to combine service (in this case, literally serving a brunch) with a cross-generational dialogue about the work of Dr. King and how it has affected our nation.

Sounds kind of dry when we put it that way, but it was so much fun! The brunch was delicious (non-profit web masters love sausage), and the stories they shared were interesting and uplifting. So interesting, in fact, that we are compiling the notes taken by the youth and making a booklet commemorating the day with highlights from the seniors' stories and reactions from the youth groups. As soon as it's done, we'll have an electronic copy available on our website, so be on the lookout!

Remember this - we are living at a unique moment in history. Alive today we have the generation that was 40 years old when the Civil Rights movement was in full swing along with the generation born 40 years later. We have the opportunity to learn from our elders about the great changes in our society that Dr. King helped bring about - to hear their stories about the challenges and triumphs of the Civil Rights era.

For some of us (like these non-profit web persons) the Civil Rights era seems as distant as the Civil War, but this amazing period of American history is still alive as long as we have community members who saw it happen. Despite what you may have thought while you were sleeping through class in 11th grade, history is interesting and fun. By sitting down to chat with an old friend sometime, you'll probably learn a lot of things you never knew that you didn't know, and they'll probably learn a lot from you, too.

Sometimes, Being The Change is as easy as having a conversation over some eggs and sausage.

Yesterday morning I looked outside, giddy about all the fresh snow, and there was my neighbor Dave, almost finished with shoveling the sidewalk in front of my house.

So I was too late to grab a shovel and do my own civic duty, but not too late to make Dave some tea from the pot I'd just set on to boil. And now we are friends.

Random Acts of Volunteerism! If you see the chance to perform one of these acts, take it! You might get some tea, and a new friend. Even if you don't, people will notice that someone did something awfully nice - and you can be proud to be that someone.

While browsing various search engines to see if our upcoming Hands On Twin Cities Volunteer Expo is the largest in the country (and it is!), I found this interesting little article on Monster.com.

In case you don't want to read the whole thing, here are the highlights:

• Believe it or not, not everyone wants to go straight to the corporate world or graduate school after college.
• Volunteer work is an excellent way to serve your community and gain valuable work skills.
• Working as a paid employee for a nonprofit agency can simultaneously satisfy your desire to be altruistic and your need for adequate income.

That last bullet point was for comic relief. "Adequate income"...I wonder which non-profits they're talking about? Apparently the ones I've never heard of...

Kidding! Anyway, volunteering is a good way to supplement your work experience and pick up valuable refernces. Many non-profits and government agencies have administrative volunteer positions that are perfect for people who want to help out a worthwhile cause while gaining useful experience. It's a win-win situation!

Example: The Tree Trust. Among other programs related conservation and vocational training, the Tree Trust operates a Community Support Program. In this program, single mothers who have been out of the workforce for a number of years are placed in volunteer positions with local non-profits (frequently in an office environment) to help them gain work experience and potential references for their future resumes. The Tree Trust works to ensure that participant's public assistance for childcare and transportation are continued as long as she is active in the program. After a few months of steady volunteer work, Tree Trust participants have drastically improved their chances of securing employment that will enable them to be self-sufficient and provide for their children.

Interesting how volunteering can really improve your life while you're helping others.

January - the most important meal of the day.


Yes, just as a nutritious breakfast fortifies mind and body for the tasks of the day, a January spent wisely fortifies your outlook on the coming year. Right?

Consider - January is National Hot Tea Month and National Oatmeal Month. Smells like breakfast to us.

January is also National Blood Donor Month (to fortify those blood supplies for another year's worth of injuries) and National Braille Literacy Month.

Even lesser known than these other official designations, January is National Mentoring Month. Mentoring, which tends to invoke warm-weather images of mentor/mentee pickup basketball games and graduation ceremonies, is a serious committment. It's really no wonder that the month of New Year's Resolutions (and Oatmeal) is National Mentoring Month - it's an opportunity to look at the coming year and resolve to make a difference in someone else's life by becoming a major part of it.

Here in the Twin Cities there are tons of ways to be a mentor. Numerous mentoring organizations exist to serve the needs of specific issues or places. You've probably heard of Big Brothers Big Sisters of the Greater Twin Cities, one of the oldest and most well-known mentoring organizations. They have a number of mentoring programs including school-based, community-based, and a mentoring program for the children of incarcerated parents.

But have you heard of Kinship of Greater Minneapolis, a faith-based mentoring program serving Hennepin and Anoka counties? Kinship matches individuals, couples, and families with youth ages 5-15 in need of extra guidance. Kids 'n Kinship serves the Dakota county area. Both are members of Kinship, Inc., a national network based right around the corner in Burnsville, Minnesota.

Did you know that the Greater Minneapolis Council of Churches operates a mentoring program for Hennepin County youth on probation?

And it's not just about youth! Third Way Network provides mentors for families as they try to achieve independence and financial self-sufficiency. AMICUS of Minneapolis uses a mentoring program to help ex-offenders make the difficult transition back to living in the community.

There are more, but if we took the time to list them all you'd probably stop reading. The Mentoring Partnership of Minnesota is a great way to find out about the different mentoring programs near you.

So - you, there. With all of the life experience. Always dishing out advice. There are thousands of kids out there who could really use that advice and experience. Mentoring is one of the most challenging ways to volunteer your time, but it can have the most profound and lasting results. Are you up for it?