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MLK Weekend of Purpose

"Everybody can be great—because anybody can serve."

This MLK weekend, let us come together as a community to celebrate service and the legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

Weekend of Purpose

In his second to last speech, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. highlighted both the importance of service and the positive impact every individual can have through volunteering. As an organization fueled by the efforts of incredible volunteers, we are honoring this sentiment through a Weekend of Purpose. This year, we encourage you to engage your friends, family, and community through a series of volunteer initiatives that will support us greatly in our fight against Clothing Insecurity. View our schedule below and sign up through our interest form to get you or your group involved.

Weekend of Purpose Overview

During these four days of celebration and service, participants can learn about Clothing Insecurity, collect donations, and volunteer at home. Those who participate in these off-site initiatives will have the opportunity to join us in The Giving Factory for a special volunteer shift* on MLK Day (Monday, January 16, 2023). *Please note that these special volunteer shifts have a limited number of spaces available. 

 

Weekend of Purpose Schedule

Friday, January 13 – Weekend of Purpose kick-off and clean-out

Learn about Clothing Insecurity and how our Army of Empathy helps us ensure that children have the everyday essentials they need to thrive at home, at school, and at play. Use this as inspiration to clean out your own closet of winter coats, clothing, and shoes that you no longer wear to help our cause.

Saturday, January 14 – Engage your community

Use what you learned yesterday to inspire friends, family, classmates and co-workers to get involved in our fight against Clothing Insecurity in one of two ways.

A. Host a collection. Encourage your community to find new and gently-used winter coats, clothing, and shoes to donate to Cradles to Crayons in their own closets and homes. Get creative and have fun with it!

B. Participate in our Coats for Kids fundraiser. Our goal is to distribute 32,000 winter coats to keep children safe and warm this winter. Start a fundraiser through which your friends, family, and community can donate to help us purchase new, quality winter coats for the children we serve–and thanks to our bulk purchasing power, each coat costs us only $13!

Sunday, January 15 – Volunteer @ Home

Help fight Clothing Insecurity at home by participating in guided volunteer activities that mirror what we do in our Giving Factory. These are fun and engaging projects that can be done in a group or as an individual. Here are some examples:

Monday, January 16 – Celebrate MLK Day!

Drop-Off: Visit The Giving Factory located at 281 Newtonville Avenue, Newton MA 02460 to drop-off your completed projects and donations. If you cannot make it to The Giving Factory on January 16, feel free to place any donations and finished projects in any of our donation bins at your earliest convenience. 

Volunteer: We hope you can join us for the special volunteer shifts we will be holding on MLK Day from 10:00 am to 12:00 pm and 1:00 pm to 3:00 pm. A staff member will contact you to place your group on our schedule. Please note that these volunteer shifts will only be available to those who have participated in the off-site Weekend of Purpose initiatives. 

Celebrate! However you choose to participate this weekend, the final step is to celebrate! Take a moment to reflect on Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s incredible legacy of service. 

 

Have any questions?

Contact us at macommunity@cradlestocrayons.org.

 

The Need

1 in 3 children in the United States is at risk of Clothing Insecurity. Clothing Insecure children face a particular set of challenges during the winter months. With inflation and rising costs of living, the families we serve are forced to choose between essentials for their children, and groceries, rent, and heat. An alarming number of families will struggle to secure basic clothing items for their children this winter.  

Our Weekend of Purpose will also contribute to  Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s life-long fight as a leader in the civil rights movement. Last year’s data shows that Black families were over 20% more likely to have to make these hard decisions as an economic recession ushered in inflation that has made it harder than ever for families across Massachusetts to afford the everyday essentials they need to thrive.