“Today, we celebrate the life of a preacher who, more than forty-five years ago, stood on our national mall in the shadow of Lincoln and shared his dream for our nation.  His was a vision that all Americans might share the freedom to make of our lives what we will; that our children might climb higher than we would.” Barack Obama

WASHINGTON (RushPRNews) 01/19/09– On Martin Luther King, Jr. Day, thousands of Americans will respond to President-elect Obama’s call to service, pausing for a moment from their hectic lives to come together in service to their communities.

Hopefully tomorrow will be remembered not only as the day when Americans came together in common purpose, but also as the day when we resolved to make volunteerism more than a once-a-year commitment. January 19th, 2009 will be the day when we, as Americans, commit to making service part of our daily lives.

Be a part of this historic day. Go to USAservice.org to find a service event in your area. More than 10,000 events have been posted to the site.

Recently we went inside the Corporation for National and Community Service – which runs AmeriCorps and Senior Corps – to see what they’d been doing to prepare for the national day of action. According to Sandy Scott, Director of Media Relations at CNS, they have never seen this level of excitement and engagement leading up to Martin Luther King, Jr. Day. “It’s about seeing a need and taking action,“ says Rhonda Taylor, Deputy Director of Corporate Relations at the CNS. Find out how you can take action in your community at USAservice.org.

Photo:Martin Luther King,Jr. at the Lincoln Memorial 28 August 1963 (AFP/Getty Images)