Biden inaugural events to include day of service on Martin Luther King Jr. Day

President-elect Joe Biden’s inaugural committee announced this week that it plans to take part in the national day of service on Martin Luther King Jr. Day later this month in honor of the civil rights icon.

The committee said it will be teaming up with service leaders, community members and local, state and national organizations to “organize events that unite Americans around service in their communities.”

The events, it said, will be focused on COVID-19 relief and addressing challenges such as racial injustice, poverty, hunger and educational disparities — issues the group noted “have been exacerbated” by the ongoing pandemic.

The inaugural committee is also encouraging Americans to volunteer on the Jan. 18 holiday, the only federal holiday that is also designated as a national day of service.

“When Dr. King accepted the 1964 Nobel Peace Prize in Oslo, Norway, he underscored our collective responsibility to strive towards the ‘oughtness’ that confronts us as it does today. President-elect Biden and Vice President-elect Harris are empathetic leaders who know the crisis millions of American families are facing,” Tony Allen, CEO of the committee, said in a statement.

“And like Dr. King, they know that we must have a shared commitment — in word and in deed — to bring the nation together in service to others,” added Allen, who is also president of Delaware State University, a historically Black university. 

The committee said it will release more details about service events in the days ahead online.

It is also encouraging organizers to hold virtual events or those with “very limited in-person components” as public health experts continue to urge Americans to practicing social distancing amid the pandemic.

The committee added it will “will work with partners and participants to ensure any in-person components include vigorous health and safety protocols and follow public health guidelines from federal, state, and local officials.” 

The day of service is just one of a number of events the committee is planning ahead of Biden’s inauguration on Jan 20.

Last week, the committee announced it is planning a lighting ceremony that will held the day before Biden’s inauguration to memorialize those who died this past year from COVID-19.