Theo and Owen work on Valentines as David oversees at the MLK event.
The Third Annual Lynn Community MLK Jr. Service Day got an early start Monday morning, as volunteers gathered at Girls Inc. beginning around 9 a.m. to get their orientation and volunteer assignments and get to work.
Martin Luther King Jr. Service Day was begun by Americorps nearly a decade ago, as a way to encourage community volunteerism among its members and partner organizations.
The Lynn Community Association and other local groups brought the program to Lynn three years ago and attracted some 70 volunteers that first year. The program has been growing each year since.
On Monday, the morning session drew more than 85 volunteers to begin the day at Girls Inc., with another 25-30 volunteers heading right to the service destinations to work until 1 p.m. as volunteers. In the afternoon, organizers were expecting even more volunteers to work the 1 to 4 p.m. shift.
Volunteers who stayed at Girls Inc. worked on a number of projects, including making Valentines Day cards for seniors and veterans in the city.
A short walk away, student leaders and volunteers from the RAW Art Works program volunteered to paint the halls, stairwells and community areas at the Lynn Shelter Association’s facility in the Osmund Building on Liberty Street.
Other volunteers from the Lynn Street Youth Outreach program volunteered at My Brother’s Table and the Grand Army of the Republic, completing service projects to help boith of those organizations as well.