For their challenge, this smiling group completed painting in the Green Valley Elementary School Gymnasium during the 2017 MLK Challenge. Photo by Marie Freeman
BOONE, N.C. — Nearly 250 students, faculty, staff and alumni will participate in the MLK Challenge on Saturday, Jan. 20, at Appalachian State University. The annual event, now in its 19th year, is organized by Appalachian and the Community Together (ACT), whose mission is to cultivate responsible citizenship through education and action. The day of service, reflection and education celebrates the life and legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.
In addition to the challenge, Michelle Alexander — a highly acclaimed civil rights lawyer, advocate, legal scholar and author of “The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness” — will speak at the 34th Annual Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Commemoration on Wednesday, Jan. 17, in Appalachian’s Schaefer Center for the Performing Arts. This event is sponsored by the university’s Office of Multicultural Student Development.
The challenge will begin at 8 a.m. in the Parkway Ballroom (Room 420) of the Plemmons Student Union, where participants will be divided into teams and assigned a site leader — an Appalachian faculty or staff member — before receiving a service challenge to be completed for a local organization by day’s end. The event, which engages participants intellectually, socially and physically, will conclude at 5 p.m.
Students may register to participate in the MLK Challenge through AppSync. Registration closes Thursday, Jan. 18, at 11:59 p.m.
Challenges vary, and in previous years have included painting, deep cleaning, repairing fences and cages, stocking food pantries, maintaining trails, building hoop houses, replacing flooring, building picnic tables, throwing a birthday party for residents of a senior living facility, sorting through donations and more.
Longtime partners of Appalachian’s MLK Challenge include the Hospitality House of Boone, Western Youth Network, F.A.R.M. Cafe, the Children’s Council of Watauga, The Children’s Playhouse, Kids with Autism Making Progress in Nature (KAMPN), Mountain Alliance, Blue Ridge Conservancy, Blue Ridge Women in Agriculture, Appalachian Voices, Joy Cove Group Home, Veterans of Foreign Wars, Habitat for Humanity, Hunger and Health Coalition, W.A.M.Y. Community Action and many others.
During last year’s challenge, 200 Appalachian students gave a total of 1,200 combined hours of service — or the monetary equivalent of $28,272 — to 23 local charitable organizations. Additionally, students raised donations of over $450 for the Junaluska Heritage Association and collected more than 1,400 diapers for the Children’s Council of Watauga by completing bonus challenges.
ACT has facilitated students in providing more than $22.5 million of value to the community over the past 10 years — more than 1.1 million hours of service using the $24.24 per hour national standard for volunteer time, plus nearly $631,500 in funds raised.
About Appalachian State University
As a premier public institution, Appalachian State University prepares students to lead purposeful lives. App State is one of 17 campuses in the University of North Carolina System, with a national reputation for innovative teaching and opening access to a high-quality, affordable education for all. The university enrolls more than 21,000 students, has a low student-to-faculty ratio and offers more than 150 undergraduate and 80 graduate majors at its Boone and Hickory campuses and through App State Online. Learn more at https://www.appstate.edu.
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