Alabama Power volunteers honor MLK Day at city of Anniston’s Youth Participation Day
Did you know that Martin Luther King Jr. Day is the only federal holiday that’s also designated as a day of service?
King once said, “Everybody can be great because everybody can serve.” Staying true to the spirit of MLK Day, members from the Eastern Division Chapter of the Alabama Power Service Organization (APSO) spent the morning of Monday, Jan. 20 at the 23rd Annual Martin Luther King Jr. Breakfast and Youth Participation Day in Anniston, helping to serve breakfast at this year’s program.
“Our inspiration to get involved was to honor Dr. Martin Luther King with a day of service instead of just enjoying another day off of work,” said Dana McFarland, community relations specialist of the Eastern Division of Alabama Power. “A part of APSO’s mission is to support projects that promote the core values of Alabama Power, and serving on this day allows us to do that.”
This annual breakfast, hosted by the City of Anniston’s Good Choices Program, honors the legacy of King while also seeking to inspire local youth to continue King’s vision of unity and nonviolence. Each year the program also gives youth a platform for showcasing their talents. This year’s event included dance, music, poetry and more.
The Good Choices program hosts a variety of events and engaging activities throughout the year for youth in the city of Anniston and offers summer employment opportunities with the city to local youth.
Under the leadership of Anniston City Manager Steven Folks, the MLK Day Breakfast and Youth Participation Day began with just a handful of students from the Good Choices program. This year the event brought together around 250 students and adults.
The MLK Breakfast and Youth Participation Day in Anniston is a free event thanks to the support of sponsors and volunteers.
“Dr. King preached that what the good Lord requires of us is all about serving others, and this event really typifies this,” said Anniston Mayor Jack Draper. “I’m so thankful for all the people who put this together, and I trust that this will continue for years now.”
In addition to organizations like APSO, many of the volunteers are members from the nine historically African American Greek letter organizations. Sponsors for this year’s event included Eastman, Calhoun County Commissioner Fred Wilson, state Rep. Barbara A. Boyd, Pandora Art and Social Club, Iota Mu Omega Chapter of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority Inc., the Zeta Mu Sigma (Alumni) Chapter Phi Beta Sigma Fraternity Inc., and the Pan-Hellenic Council of Calhoun County.
“This is one of my favorite events of the year,” Draper said. “It’s always good to be here and it’s so great for these kids to have this opportunity that’ll pay such dividends for them in the future.”
Monday’s event featured a musical selection from Cobb Pre-K students and speeches from Cobb Kindergarten students. A group from Golden Springs Elementary delivered a riveting dance performance to the popular Tasha Cobbs Leonard song “Break Every Chain.” Dancers Amelia Jackson and Tia Wright of The Legacy Club, which seeks to empower young women throughout Calhoun County, brought many audience members to their feet with their heartfelt choreography.
Students in Anniston High School’s new theater program also took the stage.
“This is our first public appearance outside of the school,” said Anniston High School theater instructor Rodney Fomby II. “I feel it’s important for them to do performances outside of school because it is important for them to see they have a community of people that support them. They have people who love them and people who want to see them succeed. To know that they are on your side helps to fortify you.”
The theme of Monday’s event was “Where Do We Go from Here?” and Fomby believes that learning about the past – from events like the MLK Day breakfast – will help students face the future.
“We are living in a time where our history is actively trying to be erased,” he said. “So it is important for them to understand who they are and where they come from, so they know where they can go and what they can be.”
A testament to the power of the Good Choices initiative, many of the adults involved in this year’s event were once student participants in the program. Ralpheal Graves, who served as the master of ceremonies, and Shanika Stringer, who works for the City of Anniston and helped organize the event, both consider themselves products of the Good Choices program.
This year’s guest speaker, Lt. Col. Amber White of the United States Army, also points to Folks as a mentor and worked as a camp director for the Good Choices program years ago. During her talk, White encouraged students to never question their worth and to lift as they climb.
Educational advancement is a core focus area for the Alabama Power Foundation, which is why the Foundation recently partnered with the City of Anniston and the Community Foundation of Northeast Alabama to support the Good Choices Program. These funds will go toward SAIL (Summer Adventures in Learning), an initiative of Good Choices that strives to help students stay engaged with their education throughout the summer.
Furthermore, the Eastern Division Chapter of the Alabama Power Service Organization has volunteered at the MLK Breakfast and Youth Participation Day in Anniston for five years and looks forward to helping out in the future.
“It’s such an honor to volunteer at an event to celebrate the life of the great Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.,” said Julie Couch, president of the Eastern Division of APSO. “Alabama Power always encourages its employees to serve others. I’m proud to serve as a representative for such an amazing company.”
To learn more about the Alabama Power Service Organization, visit powerofgood.com.