CB Cares

Martin Luther King day of service.

By Kimberly Cambra

For the past 14 years CB Cares has invested their energy and resources in helping to build assets in the Central Bucks community. Their work continues to have a profound impact on children, youth and families. As you would expect, the more people who purposely commit to making positive changes in our community, the better the impact will be.

MLK Day of Service is part of a nation-wide effort uniting volunteers from America’s small towns to large cities in honor of Dr. King’s legacy. CB Cares’ MLK Day of Service embodies these beliefs and provides volunteer opportunities on this day. The organization coordinates a majority of the volunteer opportunities within the region. Each year more than 1,500 volunteers come out to support this national initiative for service projects. Their partnership with the inter-faith community allows them to work with several of the local congregations as well. This year’s Martin Luther King Day of Service will take place on Monday, January 18, 2010.

Since 2002 CB Cares has played an active role as the local project coordinator for so many Central Bucks service projects. The role CB Cares plays starts long before the 3^rd Monday in January, actually in about September when the MLK Day of Service headquarters begins contacting organizations to confirm their involvement. Then the task begins of connecting and reconnecting with other groups and organizations to confirm their MLK projects and sites. Fortunately for CB Cares, they have had some of the same partners year after year which certainly makes it easy to identify projects. Volunteers too, come back every year and have made friends in the process through volunteering.

Traditionally, MLK Day begins early on that Monday for CB Cares with the Opening Ceremony in the gymnasium at First Baptist Church in Doylestown around 8:30am. Their host site, First Baptist, generously allows all of the volunteers to come together to honor the dream of Dr. King. The Masons man the kitchen and volunteer their time to set out a continental breakfast for those in attendance. The morning is filled with guest speakers, community leaders and youth performances. But the highlight of this moving ceremony is the choral performance from the Second Baptist Choir from Second Baptist Church of Doylestown and their men’s choral group aka The Back Bench Boys. Most volunteers start their day with the ceremony and then head out to their service projects. MLK service projects are about 2 hours from and start around 10am till 12pm.  A sample of some of this year’s projects are listed below.

MLK Day of Service Set up Committee:

Opening Ceremony. Approximately 20 volunteers will be needed the night before on January 17, 2009. Additionally, they will need volunteers for the breakdown of the ceremony the day of MLK Day. Contact CB Cares to sign up at (215) 489-9120.

St. Paul’s Lutheran Church

Project Breakfast Bags:

Helpers of all ages are needed to assemble rise & shine breakfast bags and create inspiring greetings for our elderly neighbors. Take time to participate in this intergenerational service project. Donations of packaged breakfast items are needed.

Project Lap Robes:

Your nimble fingers can help provide warmth for a homebound person this winter. Join with others as we sew together knitted squares to be assembled into lap robes. Good for families. Yarn is provided but if you wish, bring your own needles or crochet hooks. Contact Diane Alexanderson at (215) 230-3913 for more information.

To learn more about CB Cares’ MLK Day of Service visit www.cb-cares.org.

Kimberly Cambra is Bucks & Montgomery Living Magazine’s Community Relations Coordinator.