Martin Luther King Jr. waves to the crowd at the March on Washington in 1963.

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Honoring the Dream

January 20, 2025
By Nicole Tocco

On January 20, Americans will celebrate Martin Luther King Jr. Day. King was a leading voice of the civil rights movement of the 1950s and 1960s. He is known around the world for spreading a message of equality for all people.

Martin Luther King Jr. Day isn’t only a holiday. It’s also a national day of service. A project called Realize the Dream encourages people to volunteer beyond the holiday. The name was inspired by King’s famous “I Have a Dream” speech. The goal is for volunteers to log 100 million hours of community service by the 100th anniversary of King’s birth, in 2029.

Courtesy of Pomona Unified School District

Students from the Pomona Unified School District plant flowers at a local school.

Dreaming Big 

Joe Shim is a sixth-grade teacher at Pantera Elementary School in Diamond Bar, California. He’s been leading student service projects for more than 30 years. When Shim heard about Realize the Dream, he got his school involved. 

He also saw a chance to expand the project in his community. It wasn’t long before the entire Pomona Unified School District, which includes more than 21,000 students, was on board. They’ve done more than 18,000 hours of service in the past year.

“Before, it was smaller pockets of service,” says Shim. “Now we’re uniting the whole school district.”

Courtesy of Teo family

Allison Teo delivers 100 cat toys that she made to a local animal shelter last November.

Twelve-year-old Allison Teo is one of Shim’s students—and one of his top volunteers. She’s done everything from writing thank-you notes to health care workers to collecting hygiene products for people in need. Allison says even small acts of service honor King.

“He spent his entire life making a difference in our world,” she says. “I think he would have really liked to see us continuing his legacy through service.”

Courtesy of Pomona Unified School District

Students from the Pomona Unified School District make care packages to comfort kids in need.

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