NeighborWorks Blackstone River Valley is thrilled to have been selected by Woonocket’s MLK Community Committee as the first recipient of their new Community Service Award!
Held on Saturday, April 23 at NeighborWorks’ Millrace Kitchen on South Main Street, the 20th Anniversary MLK Scholarship Breakfast served as the celebratory site of this inaugural award. Following breakfast, attendees visited the MLK Sculpture Garden.
“We decided this year as a committee that we would take the time to recognize those individuals and organizations within our community that have served on the Committee,” said MLK Community Committee member Thomas Gray. “We wanted to honor an individual or group that has contributed to the success of the MLK committee for the 20 years we’ve been together. NeighborWorks has been with us since the beginning and we wanted to honor their continued support. It was our honor, to honor them. Their donated time and efforts are from the heart.”
Due to this year’s winter COVID-19 case surge, plans for the annual fundraiser, which typically falls on Martin Luther King Jr.’s birthday weekend in January, were postponed until this April. Each year going forward, the Committee plans to evaluate which individual or group in the community will be the recipient of the Community Service award and honor them at the yearly celebration.
“NeighborWorks was considered for this award because they’ve been partnering with us for many years” said MLK Community Committee member Carol Wilson-Allen. “NeighborWorks Director Joe Garlick and his staff are very dedicated to the City of Woonsocket. We appreciate all they do and have done for the community.”
The MLK Community Committee, which originally began as the Saint James Baptist Church (SJBC) J.W. Hinson Scholarship Ministry, transitioned into the Woonsocket MLK Community Committee in 2002. Pursuing the mission of honoring and celebrating the legacy, life and work of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., the group took on several new goals; including increasing their $1,000 Woonsocket high school senior scholarship and granting seniors of SJBC $500 scholarships each–a practice the church had employed long before the Community Scholarship began. This year, the Committee took pleasure in being able to single out a community partner to celebrate and recognize.
“We would like to thank the community of Woonsocket, our Mayor and government officials for their continued support of the MLK Woonsocket Community Committee,” Carol said. “Especially since this was our 20th Anniversary Celebration!”
We here at NeighborWorks would like to extend our sincere appreciation to the MLK Community Committee for this honor. We truly value our partnership.
