Official Press Release!

Rowen Elementary School Celebrates

17^TH ANNUAL GREATER PHILADELPHIA MARTIN LUTHER KING DAY OF SERVICE

Philadelphia, PA– Rowen Elementary School, EducationWorks, and Library Build will join together to make significant improvements to the school at the upcoming 17^th annual Greater Philadelphia Martin Luther King Day of Service. This is the first time ROWEN ELEMENTARY has ever been open to celebrate the day.

             Volunteers will be working to revamp Rowen’s School Library, to paint the doors in the building, to clean inside and outside the building, and to add portraits to the school’s “Wall of Achievement”. Under the first-year leadership of Principal James G. Murray, Jr., this year represents a milestone for a school, which has never before participated in the Day of Service. With the involvement of two non-profit agencies, EducationWorks and Library Build, Rowen seeks to establish a new tradition of service in commemorating the day. The Greater Philadelphia King Day of Service includes projects throughout Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and Delaware that includes participants of all ages.

The national King Day of Service was created in 1994 through federal legislation co-authored by former Pennsylvania U.S. Senator Harris Wofford and Atlanta Congressman John Lewis, both veterans of the civil rights movement with Dr. King.

Greater Philadelphia Martin Luther King Day of Service, founder and director Todd Bernstein, who is also president of Global Citizen, announced that a national record 85,000 volunteers are expected to participate in some 1,300 community service projects throughout the region on Monday, January 16^th, King Federal Holiday. This represents an increase of some 10,000 volunteers and one hundred projects from last year’s turnout.