Around 40 nonprofits led service projects, such as making sandwiches for soup kitchens, writing cards to soldiers overseas and at Walter Reed Army Medical Center, making ribbons for autism awareness and crafting ornaments for nursing home patients.
In addition to the service projects, the county’s MLK Day celebration also included workshops on conflict resolution and emergency preparedness and a tribute to King at the Music Center at Strathmore.
Jean Dangerfield, of Montgomery Village, said a conflict resolution workshop fit perfectly with the theme of inclusion, forgiveness and equality.
‘‘We talked about how you can see the same things, but the eyes are different,” she said. ‘‘It’s important to talk things out, and that’s what Dr. Martin Luther King preached.”
Rhone said she hoped her grandson Patrick would learn about King’s message through volunteering and that he would be inspired to do more in the future.
‘‘They’re meeting other people with a like interest in community service, and you hope that will keep their interest in doing these things each year.”
Many families have made the annual event a tradition, coming back year after year, including the Johns family of North Potomac.
‘‘My kids look forward to it. Really!” said Lynn Johns. ‘‘To us, this is really one of the premier county events. My kids look forward to it when they have school off.”
County Executive Isiah Leggett (D) said it was evident that the event, now in its 11th year, has become a family tradition.
‘‘You look around and the majority of people here are here with their families,” he said. ‘‘I think it’s inspiring.”
Potomac resident Robert Fisch, 14, said participating in community service honors King’s legacy.
‘‘Dr. King was a political activist who worked to serve everyone,” Fisch said. ‘‘We’re trying to help out people that are in need, too. We’ve been making kits or writing cards to troops and doing things to help people in need of help.”
‘‘This is a perfect event for today,” said Norma Johnson, a teacher at the Melvin J. Berman Hebrew Academy in Aspen Hill. ‘‘I think whenever you can expose the kids to serving their communities or the larger world in some way, it benefits everyone.”
That message of reaching, challenging and recognizing young people carried into a tribute to King at the Music Center at Strathmore.
The program, titled ‘‘Commit to the Dream: The Time is Now,” featured musical and dance performances and speeches from elected officials.
Several county school students received the Children of the Dream Award, which recognizes outstanding community service. The award is given by the county Martin Luther King Jr. Commemorative Committee.
Frederick Richardson, a senior at Watkins Mill High School in Gaithersburg, and Kelly Harper, a senior at John F. Kennedy High School in Silver Spring received the Children of the Dream awards.
Bazyean Selassie, a senior at Winston Churchill High School in Potomac, and Kyra Nicholson, a junior at Col. Zadok Magruder High School in Rockville, received honorable mentions.
‘‘If it weren’t for [King], I wouldn’t be able to receive the outstanding education that I have had,” Selassie said. ‘‘He paved the path for me.”
Harper, who is also a winner of the Girl Scout Gold Award — Girl Scout’s highest honor — said her community service and dedication are based on King’s message of community.
‘‘[King] talked about passion for community, and most of what I do is community based, like my work in Girl Scouts,” she said.
Joshua Sommerville, a junior at Gaithersburg High School, brought the crowd to a standing ovation after a medley of gospel spirituals and tribute to King.
The crowd also applauded Gaithersburg Literary Arts Award winners Yvonne Combs, a fifth-grader at Laytonsville Elementary School, and Northwood High School junior Chantel Le-Shay Broxton and sophomore Rachel Novosad. The girls won the awards for writing the most compelling letters addressed to King if he were still alive.
Following the presentation, people said the youth on stage were a positive sign that King’s message of racial equality had an effect on the country.
‘‘The younger generation, they are the ones to carry on [King’s] message,” said Phyllis Fleming of Washington. ‘‘We’ve marched, and I’ve been there ... but they are the dream.”
