For Immediate Release: Thursday, January 7, 2016 On January 18, in celebration of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.’s birthday, Montgomery County will host Day of Service activities at several sites throughout the County. Locations, times and registration information can be found at http://montgomeryserves.org/mlk-day-service-2016. Continuing efforts by local government, businesses, nonprofits and faith communities to create a “Hunger Free Zone” in Montgomery County, many Day of Service activities will provide food resource information and increase the County’s food supply. Projects will include working with Outreach Program to package 100,000 meals for area food banks (Hundred K in a Day); assembling snow day boxes for Meals on Wheels; and, showcasing local food resource organizations. Food drives to be held at Giant Food stores on the prior weekend will collect nutritious items for Manna Food Center. Montgomery County Volunteer Center will coordinate indoor, family-friendly service projects from 1 to 3 p.m. on the 18th at the Bethesda North Marriott Hotel and Conference Center, 5701 Marinelli Rd. Projects will include packaging meals for area food banks, tying paracord bracelets for members of the military, creating fleece blankets for Montgomery Hospice and children of Syrian refugees, decorating holiday cards for seniors and assembling care kits for foster children. Two other sites will host multiple service projects for all ages. Seneca Creek Community Church, 13 Firstfield Rd., Gaithersburg will have service opportunities from 9 to 11 a.m. And, there will be service opportunities at the Silver Spring Civic Building, One Veterans Place, from 10 a.m. to noon. In addition to volunteering, residents are encouraged to bring non-perishable food items to the service day sites in Bethesda, Silver Spring and Gaithersburg. All food collected will be donated to Manna Food Center. Gently used sleeping bags, blankets and socks will be accepted at the Bethesda and Silver Spring service day locations, for distribution to people who are homeless. All activities are approved for Student Service Learning (SSL) hours through Montgomery County Public Schools. Montgomery County’s celebration will continue with the annual birthday tribute in honor of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., to be held at the Music Center at Strathmore in North Bethesda, beginning at 3:30 p.m. The musical celebration will feature local artists and is free and open to the public; however, tickets are required and may be reserved at www.strathmore.org. For individuals unable to secure advance tickets, a standby line will form outside the music center at 2:30 p.m. on the day of the performance; unclaimed tickets will be released to the public at 3:15 p.m. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Day of Service and Celebration activities are sponsored by Fund for Montgomery (FFM) and the Governor’s Office on Service and Volunteerism (GOSV). For more information, visit www.montgomeryserves.org. # # # Release ID: 16-006 Media Contact: Lorraine Driscoll 240-777-6507

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