When the Sewanee community commits to coming together to build community and do good work, nothing will stop them, not even frigid temperatures of ten degrees with wind chills well below zero!

On Monday, January 20, 2025, over 400 Sewanee students, faculty, staff, and community members gathered with our community partner, Sleep in Heavenly Peace, to build beds and make blankets, pillows, and cards for kids on our local community who otherwise would not have a safe and healthy place to sleep. This was our third annual MLK Day of Service, and as in years’ past, we can’t think of a better way to celebrate the life and legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.  

This incredible community event would not be possible without the support and partnership of so many campus and community partners. The collaborative nature of this event makes it unique and special, and the Office of Civic Engagement could not be any more grateful for its partnership to plan, co-sponsor, and host MLK Day of Service with the Office of Inclusive Excellence. We especially want to thank Sewanee Athletics for providing us a wonderful space for the event each year, the South Cumberland Plateau AmeriCorps Project volunteers, and Monteagle-Sewanee Rotary for providing snacks and volunteer mentors and support.  

Sewanee has also joined the Realize the Dream  movement, which envisions a future shaped by love, compassion, and kindness–one hour of service at a time. The ultimate goal of this movement is to globally reach 100 million hours of service by the anniversary of Dr. King’s 100th birthday, January 20, 2029. The movement is also shaped by three pillars: (1) to make service accessible and actionable for all; (2) to create moments to celebrate and inspire; and (3) to harness the power of storytelling. Our MLK Day of Service was the perfect way to kick off our support for Realize the Dream, when we collectively served and reached over 1,200 hours toward this goal!

We are grateful that the MLK Day of Service has quickly become a beloved Sewanee tradition. Everyone who participated had a wonderful time, with many of them providing positive and encouraging feedback. When asked what they loved most about the event, participants responded with statements like “seeing the community in action and feeling part of a larger project of the 100 for 100 goal” and “I really enjoyed the sense of community and coming together to make a difference. It was inspiring to see so many people dedicated to service and honoring Dr. King’s legacy through action.” If you missed it this year, we hope to see you next year!