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PRESS RELEASE:                                         Contact:  Shulanda Johnson, Volunteer Coordinator

                                                                        Volunteer Northwest Mississippi

                                                                        662.449.5002

VOLUNTEER NORTHWEST MISSISSIPPI TO CELEBRATE MLK DAY

Observances will be held to celebrate the 80^th birthday and legacy of the late Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.  The public is invited to attend any of the events hosted by Volunteer Northwest Mississippi, the volunteer center of the Community Foundation of Northwest Mississippi.  The official date of MLK Day is Monday, January 19, but observances will be held leading up to that day. 

• January 15 – Family Night at M. R. Davis Library in Southaven 6:30 p.m.
• January 16 – Youth Rally at the Tunica Recreation Center  2:00 p.m.
• January 17 – Family Feud at the M. R. Davis Library in Southaven  2:00 p.m.

 The series of events includes a lecture-forum, dramatic presentation and a game of Family Feud.  Participants will have the opportunity to hear guest lecturer Marco Robinson at the January 15 and 16 events.  Robinson is a native of Hernando and holds a Bachelor’s and Master’s degree in History from Jackson State University.  He is currently a doctoral candidate and instructor at the University of Mississippi.  Robinson also teaches at Rust College and represented the United States as a Fulbright Scholar to South Africa in 2004.  His research interests include antebellum life and slavery, race relations in the American South during the 1800 and 1900s and the civil rights movement.  Robinson’s Master Thesis dealt with the integration of DeSoto County Schools.  He is married to Tracy Robinson, owner and operator of First Choice Speech Therapy located in Hernando.  They both attend and are associate ministers at Pleasant Hill Baptist Church in Hernando, where Marco Robinson serves as the Superintendent of Christian Education.

 The MLK Day observances are funded in part through a grant from the HandsOn Network generated by the Points of Light Foundation.  To inquire about the MLK Day observances call Volunteer Northwest Mississippi, Shulanda Johnson, at 662.449.5002.  To learn more about Volunteer Northwest Mississippi or to sign on as a volunteer go to www.volunteernwms.org