Wartburg College volunteers will participate in 21 service projects Monday, Jan. 16, to commemorate Martin Luther King Jr. Day.

More than 400 volunteers — a record number for MLK Day service projects — will kick off the various activities throughout the week in honor of the slain civil rights leader. The projects are coordinated by the student-run Volunteer Action Center.

With shortened class periods on the King holiday, Wartburg students, faculty and staff will meet at 1:30 p.m. in Levick Arena (changed from Neumann Auditorium), then head out to three projects on campus and 18 locations throughout the Cedar Valley between 2 and 5 p.m.

Volunteers will register for the projects at the new Volunteer Solutions database (www.wsrunitedway.org) created by the college and the Waverly-Shell Rock Area United Way to match volunteers with service opportunities.

The three on-campus projects include:

  • Blankets of Love — making no-sew fleece blankets for youths at the Bremwood Lutheran Children’s Home
  • Care packages and cards for troops overseas
  • Collecting and sorting grocery sacks for the children’s food program

Fourteen off-campus projects include:

  • Angel House, a multicultural organization in Waterloo that assists the immigrant community — organizing clothing and cleaning its attic
  • ASPIRE therapeutic riding program — cleaning out a barn
  • Bartels Lutheran Retirement Home — putting together marketing materials
  • Boy Scouts — cleaning, rearranging
  • Bremwood — cleaning vehicles
  • Catholic Worker House in Waterloo — cleaning and painting
  • Cedar Falls Lutheran Home — playing games with residents
  • Disaster relief canvassing — distributing flood and fire safety information in Waverly
  • Grout Museum in Waterloo — mailings and cleaning
  • Hospitality House in Waterloo — assisting at the day residence for the homeless
  • Northeast Iowa Food Bank in Waterloo — packing bags, working in the pantry
  • Self-Help International — mailing project
  • World’s Window in Cedar Falls — inventory, organizing fair-trade handcrafted products

In addition, the Wartburg Choir will sing at the Bartels Lutheran Home, the Castle Singers jazz ensemble will entertain at the Waverly Childcare and Preschool, the softball team will assist at the Waverly Health Center and the Infinity a cappella group will be at the Waverly Public Library.

A poverty simulation led by Renee Sedlacek, service-learning coordinator, is scheduled at 2:15 p.m. in Saemann Student Center ballrooms to help portray the struggles of people in poverty. 

More than 50 participants will role-play as low-income families — from single parents caring for their children to senior citizens maintaining self-sufficiency on Social Security. Their task will be to provide food, shelter, and other basic necessities while utilizing community resources.

Dr. Dwight C. Watson, dean of the College of Education at the University of Northern Iowa will address King’s “Service Before Self” at 11:30 a.m. Tuesday, Jan. 17, in McCaskey Lyceum in Saemann Student Center.

A Diversity Dialogue will discuss the passage, “Judged, not only the color of their skin, but by the content of their character,” from King’s “I Have a Dream” speech, at 11:30 a.m. Thursday, Jan. 19, in McCaskey Lyceum.

Other scheduled events during the week include:

Tuesday, Jan. 17

  • An Artist Series concert by the Afro-Latin Project music and dance ensemble, 7:30 p.m., Neumann Auditorium.
  • No Hate Campaign — Sign a banner pledging to erase hate (sponsored by Alliance), lunch and dinner in the Mensa

Wednesday, Jan. 18

  • Dr. Jennifer McBride, assistant professor of religion and Regents Chair in Ethics, “The Legacy of King as a Scholar/Activist,” 10:15 a.m., chapel
  • MLK Eucharist, 9:30 p.m., chapel

Thursday, Jan. 19

  • MLK Showcase — song, dance, poetry and more, 8 p.m., McCaskey Lyceum

Friday, Jan. 20

  • ETK event —Shihan, 8 p.m., McCaskey Lyceum. The winner of the 2004 National Poetry Slam and a three-time finalist.

MLK Day National Food Drive

  • Monday, Jan. 16 — Cheer on the various service groups as they are sent out and bring a canned food item to contribute to the MLK Day National Food Drive.
  •  All Week — Non-perishable canned food items will be collected all week and given to the local food pantry. Bring your items to the Student Center HUB, Center for Community Engagement or Chapel Narthex.

More information on the volunteer activities is available at www.wartburg.edu/vac.