Students will have the opportunity to give back to the community during the Martin Luther King Jr. Day of Service on Monday.

The MLK Jr. Day of Service is a set of service projects that Eastern hosts in order to not only make a difference in the community, but honor the legacy of Martin Luther King Jr. This event also allows students an opportunity to renew their own personal vows of citizenship through service to others.

Students can check in on Monday at 2:30 p.m. in the University Ballroom of the Martin Luther King Jr. University Union. Service projects, which will be taking place from 3 to 5 p.m., will all take place on campus, outside of a small group going to Standing Stone Donation Center.

Crystal Brown, assistant director of Civic Engagement and Volunteerism, said there will be many projects for students to work on.

“Some of the projects that we will be working on this year include writing postcards to send to prospective Eastern students, making birthday cards and putting together birthday boxes for children at Big Brothers Big Sisters, putting recipe books together for the local food pantries, decorating flower pots for seniors, making ‘love bugs’ for children at St. Jude’s and making fleece blankets for children and families for One Stop Community Christmas,” Brown said.

After the service projects are over, students are encouraged to attend a candlelight vigil at Andrews Hall starting at 5:30 p.m. and then return to the Grand Ballroom for the celebration program of Martin Luther King Jr.

Groups of 10 volunteers or more may sign up by emailing volunteer@eiu.edu with their group name, number of volunteers, names and email addresses.

Students with any questions can call the Civic Engagement and Volunteerism office at 217-581-3967 or email them.

Andrew Paisley can be reached at 581-2812 or abpaisley@eiu.edu.