Year of Gratitude - Day 19 - Martin Luther King, Jr.

Martin Luther King, Jr. was born on January 15, 1929. He was assassinated April 4, 1968. Today, I will be working with my fellow alumni at one the Detroit Rescue Mission's locations. I am grateful for the opportunity to honor this great man's legacy. Admittedly, I know far less about Dr. King than I should. I also haven't heard or read much of his "I Have a Dream" speech, which I would like to ensure I do this year after my day of service.

Read the speech HERE.

Watch the speech HERE, but might not be available when this posts as the Estate of the King family is now enforcing copyright on the video.

30 Days of Gratitude: Day 29 - Literacy

No humble bragging here - I am happier than heck I can read. While I'm not sure in what context, I had a discussion about how terribly difficult it would be to go through life, especially adult life, without being literate. You can't read fine print. You can't double check your grocery receipt. You can't read signs. You can't order from a menu at a restaurant. There are so many things that are taken from you when one can't read. I'm sure this is why historically religions and political establishments didn't want a reading populous. Reading leads to education, to thinking critically. It takes your mind to another level. 

After long last, I have picked up a few books to read. Strangely enough, one is on statistics and it's pretty good! Written by Charles Wheelan and called Naked Statistics. It's an easy read and if you can manage to slog through a bit of math here and there, the concepts can be grasped by anyone. This is the beauty of reading. I can return to concepts that I didn't understand before and READ through a narrative that helps me wrap my head around mathematics. 

Reading can take you anywhere. When I am ready to start putting in volunteer hours again, I think adult literacy would be my first stop. You can volunteer in the tri-county southeastern Michigan area. Learn more:

• Macomb Literacy Partners: http://www.macombliteracy.org/volunteer-to-be-a-tutor/
• Reading Works: http://www.readingworksdetroit.org/
• Oakland Literacy Council: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Oakland-Literacy-Council/172408729477798

Detroit College Promise - Write a Letter to a Detroit High School Student

A colleague sent this to me a few weeks ago and I wanted to share with as many people as possible. Please consider writing a letter to a kid. It's a really great idea and a meaningful way to get involved.

The Detroit College Promise

The Detroit College Promise provides scholarships to Detroit Public School students, modeled on the Kalamazoo Promise. This year, we are offering scholarships to all graduates at Cody and Douglas High Schools, with a limited number of scholarships at Cass Tech, Central, Pershing and Trombly. Next year, we will offer scholarships to all DPS high school students who meet our simple eligibility criteria. Students apply for our scholarship in the 9th grade by filling out a one-page form. We then give them a scholarship certificate to encourage them to make a commitment to work hard and graduate so that they can go to college. Via our monthly newsletter, we inform students and parents / designated adults about our scholarship, other scholarships, academic support programs, college readiness activities and financial aid. We help students find the information and assistance they need by providing a school liaison and by coordinating with other organizations in the high schools. We provide incentives for good ACT scores, and allow students up to 10 years after they graduate to use our scholarship.

Won't you please take 15 minutes to write a letter of encouragement to a 9th grade Detroit Public School student who is making a commitment to work hard, graduate from high school and go to college?

We need to show these students where they can be in ten years if they go to college. We need you to share your story with them. We need you to tell them how you overcame your own difficulties and challenges to succeed. We need you to tell them what your life is like now, because you went to college. We need you to give them a vision of tomorrow that living in their world - a world of crisis - does not provide. We need you to say, "It can be done! I came from similar circumstances and I did it!" We need you to tell them - "All that hard work really paid off!" We need you to say, "Believe in yourself! Make it happen! Yes, you can! The kind of life you will have depends on it!"
Please believe, and act on the positive! Please write a letter that we can give to a high school freshman when we present them with their scholarship certificate at the end of April.

Maybe they won't read it; maybe it will be discarded. But just maybe, your letter will be kept in a special place, and read over and over again, when things get really tough. Maybe your letter will change a young person's life.
Perhaps 20 years from now, when that individual is accepting an award for an innovation or achievement, they will refer to your letter and say, "I don't know the person who wrote this letter, but their words kept me going and helped me get to where I am today."

Imagine how much of an impact 15 minutes of your time could make.

Please make copies of this request and pass them to your friends, co-workers, and associates. We need 500 letters and are counting on you!

Thank you for your words of encouragement!

Nat Pernick, M.D.
Executive Director
The Detroit College Promise
www.DetroitCollegePromise.org

Send letters to:
The Detroit College Promise
30100 Telegraph Road, Suite 408
Bingham Farms, MI 48025
Telephone: 248/646-3269
FAX: 248/646-3119

Email: DetroitCollegePromise@gmail.com

For additional information, please visit www.DetroitCollegePromise.org.

Meals on Wheels program needs your help!

From Detroit Free Press (11/14/08):

COUNTY-WIDE: Meals on Wheels help is needed

The Detroit Area Agency on Aging Holiday Meals on Wheels program is seeking volunteers to pack, distribute and deliver fresh-cooked meals to homebound seniors in metro Detroit.

Volunteers are needed from 8 a.m. to noon Nov. 26 to assemble the cold portion of the meals, and from 6 to 10 a.m. on Thanksgiving to package the hot portion of the meal for distribution to 11 sites.

Volunteers will work out of Valley Services, 1980 Bagley in Detroit, which is at the corner of Rosa Parks, south of Michigan Avenue near Tiger Stadium.

To volunteer call 313-446-4444, ext. 5857.