ECU honors Martin Luther King Jr. through service, speaker | Eastern NC Now

    Publisher's note: The author of this post, Joy Holster, are contributors to ECU News Services.

    East Carolina University students are encouraged to use their day off from classes on Monday, Jan. 20 to participate in a day of service honoring Martin Luther King Jr.
During a previous year's MLK Jr. Day of Service event, ECU College of Business graduate assistants Heather Clayton and Devang Patel worked together to paint a wall in the Salvation Army's Family Store. (Photo by Cliff Hollis)
    The day's activities are organized by the Volunteer and Service-Learning Center and other campus groups, which have scheduled 10 sites where students can volunteer including the Food Bank of Central & Eastern North Carolina, Third Street Community Center, Jarvis Boys and Girls Club, My Sister's Closet, all in Greenville and A Time for Science in Grifton.

    The day will begin at 8:30 a.m. in Hendrix Theatre, where volunteers will meet for a light breakfast, watch a video clip of King's "I have a dream" speech, hear from community leaders about the importance of service and community engagement, no comma and participate in team-building exercises.

    The students will then travel to their assigned locations, where they might be distributing food or working with youngsters, depending on the site.

    Any student who wishes to join in the day of service can register online through the Volunteer and Service-Learning Center's OrgSync website, https://orgsync.com/79661/chapter. Also involved in The MLK Day of Service are the Ledonia Wright Cultural Center, Alpha Phi Alpha, the Black Student Union and the Council on Family Relations.

    Several other commemorative events are planned for campus, including:

    17th Annual Community Unity Breakfast, Monday, 7:30  -  9 a.m., the Murphy Center at ECU. This is a free event, hosted by the Greenville-Pitt County Chamber of Commerce and the Office of the Mayor, City of Greenville. Dr. Virginia Hardy, ECU vice chancellor for student affairs, will be the featured speaker. The ECU Gospel Choir will perform.

    Humanitarian, actor, author, health and wellness ambassador/educator and philanthropist, Hill Harper will speak on "Visualizing the Dream" to the ECU community, Tuesday, 7 p.m., Wright Auditorium. Free admission, but tickets are required. For ticket information, call 252-328-2466.

    Dr. Allen Mask will be the keynote speaker at the 30th annual Andrew A. Best M.D. Senior Recognition Banquet on Saturday, Jan. 25, for graduating minority medical students at ECU. Mask is the founder and director of Raleigh Urgent Care and the WRAL-TV health team physician. The event begins at 7 p.m. at the East Carolina Heart Institute at East Carolina University at 115 Heart Drive.

    The event is sponsored by the ECU Student National Medical Association. Best was Greenville's first black physician. He died in 2005.

    Tickets are $30 each or $15 for ECU students. Information is available by calling (252) 744-2278 or e-mailing aabestbanquet2014@gmail.com.