Martin Luther King | Lower Raritan Watershed Partnership

An MLK Day invitation to grow through service

January 17, 2019 Heather Fenyk

Martin Luther King Day was established as a National Holiday in 1983. Eleven years later in 1994, Congress added a service component to the holiday. Monday January 21 marks the 25th anniversary of our federally designated National Day of Service, also called the “King Day of Service” or “A Day On, Not a Day Off.”

Through his leadership of the civil rights movement, Dr. Martin Luther King provided tremendous service to our nation. Despite this, media coverage of the service aspect of Martin Luther King Day celebrations is sparse. Especially rare are stories that highlight impacts of volunteering that go beyond economic valuation and personal benefits.

How can we build on Dr. King’s legacy and celebrate volunteering in ways that strengthen our neighborhoods and nation? We can conceive of service as an expression of citizenship, service as an expression of generosity, and service as the opportunity to experience a felt sense of community.

Citizenship. The pressures of our day-to-day political and economic engagement tend to reduce us to “voters” or “consumers.” Through this process we lose sense of ourselves as citizens, and lose connection to our communities. Volunteering allows us to connect deeply with one another as citizens in the craft of working together for the common good.

Generosity. Non-profits, schools and nursing homes do not need “free labor” or “spare time” as much as they need the generosity of spirit that prompts us to engage as volunteers. In sharing our generosity, we are held to a higher standard: the intention to enhance the true well-being of those to whom our generosity is given.

Community. Volunteering is about a felt sense of community. It is about making connections and building resilience. Connections, resilience – these are especially critical assets in these more trying times.

As we recognize 25 years of celebrating service as a national value, let’s reflect on and commit to grow through the broad benefits of volunteerism. Evolving through service in this way can help strengthen our diverse communities and further protect civil rights and civil liberties.

Heather Fenyk, Ph.D. serves as Board President of the 100% volunteer-run Lower Raritan Watershed Partnership based in New Brunswick, NJ.

Listen to your neighbor, Listen to the Land – MLK Day Kick-off

January 11, 2018 Heather Fenyk Comment

Healthy soil is important to stormwater management, and “Healthy Soils” is the research and action theme for the Lower Raritan Watershed Partnership in 2018. The LRWP has planned multiple soil-focused talks, tours and events throughout the year, with a kick-off seed give-away at Kim’s Bike Shop (111 French Street, New Brunswick, NJ) on Monday January 15 (Martin Luther King Day). This is organized in conjunction with unveiling of the “Listen to your Neighbor, Listen to the Land” art installation developed by the LRWP and COLAB ARTS Wonderful Resident Artist Jamie Bruno. Jamie’s work is part of New Brunswick’s “Windows of Understanding” project.

The Lower Raritan Watershed Partnership and Kim’s Bike Shop invite you to join us from 2-4 PM on Monday January 15, 2018 for the unveiling of Jamie Bruno’s “Listen to your neighbor, listen to the land” and for refreshments. This is part of the City of New Brunswick’s “Windows of Understanding” project. We will be outside in front of the store planting milkweed for participants to take home, and handing out seed packets for summer gardens.

COLAB ARTS Executive Director Daniel Swern will lead a tour of the “Windows of Understanding” storefront windows leaving from Kim’s at 2:30 pm.

Background: The LRWP and COLAB ARTS National Endowment for the Arts resident artist Jamie Bruno developed “Listen to your neighbor, listen to the land” – an installation at Kim’s on display from January 15-February 28. “Listen to your neighbor, listen to the land” reflects the way the LRWP hopes to connect to our communities. The installation incorporates shoes filled with soil and plants. The shoes represent people, travel, and change. The soil represents our origins in the land.