By By GREG KATSKI
Community Editor
The Boys &Girls Club of Beaufort County is keeping the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s legacy of community service alive with the first-ever Dream Keepers’ Challenge.
The competition challenges members of the community, specifically nonprofit organizations and service groups, to perform service projects in honor of King through Wednesday. Participants are asked to pledge and report their hours of community-service efforts to the club by calling its main office in Washington at 252-975-9311 or sending e-mails to dreamkeeperservice@yahoo.com.
“I’d love for us to get a remarkable number of hours; for the e-mail to be flooded with people saying they will do service,” said Alice Mills-Sadler, the club’s director.
The club’s own goal is to clock 250 service hours — provided by its members, staff and board members — by Wednesday.
“We’re looking for 100 percent participation from everyone,” Mills-Sadler said.
About 120 children are members of the Boys &Girls Club of Beaufort County, which has locations in Washington and Belhaven. The children will be working on various community-service projects for several hours to reach the 250-hour goal, Mills-Sadler said.
“We like for them to do things hands-on,” she said, citing volunteer work performed for Lanier’s Pantry. In that project, club members assisted elderly individuals in buying groceries.
Mills-Sadler said such volunteer work reflects the ongoing mission of King’s legacy.
“King was all about serving people, building public servants,” she said. “We have to show what being a public servant looks like.”
Mills-Sadler said she hopes the challenge serves as another life-lesson for club members and the community at large.
“Life is give and take; it can’t always be take,” she said.
Mills-Sadler believes the competition will boost the morale of the community, at the very least.
“It will get their mind off their troubles in these tough economic times,” she said.
“The service possibilities are endless,” she added.
“It’s a great time to go out and help someone outside your family or usual circle of associates maybe even someone of a different culture. If you haven’t done so, you might take the time to write letters to our servicemen at home or abroad. The service possibilities are endless,” she wrote in an e-mail sent to the Daily News and groups being challenged to participate in the event.