Open Menu Close Menu Open Search Close Search

Monday, January 26-Friday, February 6

Donate an item to the MLK Youth Homelessness Drive. Donations will benefit Youth on Fire, a program of the AIDS Action Committee of MA, that is a drop-in center for homeless and street-involved youth. See poster for items needed and drop-off locations. Click the title to learn more.

Youth Homelessness Drive (Medford/Somerville Campus)- Monday, January 26-Friday, February 6

Tufts MLK Youth Homelessness Drive

We are organizing a campus-wide donation drive for one of our service site locations. Youth on Fire, a program of the AIDS Action Committee of Massachusetts, that is a drop-in center for homeless and street-involved youth in Cambridge, MA. They are in need of small winter clothing items, first aid supplies, and notebooks.

Collection boxes will be placed in the following locations from Monday, January 26-Friday, February 6:

•             Africana Center- 8 Professors Row

•             Asian American Center- 17 Latin Way

•             Carmichael Dining Hall

•             Dewick Dining Hall

•             Goddard Chapel

•             International Center- 20 Sawyer Ave

•             Latino Center and LGBT Center- 226 College Ave

•             Tufts Hillel

•             Women’s Center- 55 Talbot Ave

Contact Zachary Cole with any questions.

Youth Homelessness Drive (Boston Campus) – Monday, February 2-Friday, February 13

Collection boxes will be placed in the following locations from Monday, February 2-Friday, February 13:

•            Tufts University School of Medicine – Sackler Center 4th Floor – Office of Student Affairs

•            Tufts University School of Medicine – Sackler Center 4th Floor – Hirsh Health Sciences Library Reference Desk

Contact Zachary Cole with any questions.

Tufts MLK Day of Service 2015 and Annual Community Celebration

MLK Day of Service

Monday, January 19, Various Times and Locations

Sign up here.

We are working with local community organizations in Cambridge and Boston to organize opportunities for members of the Tufts community to serve, build relationships with local service providers, and put values into action. Important: We will coordinate all registration and transportation logistics for each site. An online sign up form will be available soon! Potential service sites include:

  • Harvard Square Homeless Shelter, Cambridge – The Harvard Square Homeless Shelter (HSHS) first opened its doors to the homeless of Cambridge in 1983 in the basement of University Lutheran Church. Since that time, HSHS has undergone significant growth and transformation. Today, the Shelter provides 24 homeless individuals at a time with a safe, clean, and caring place to stay during the winter months. In addition to temporary shelter, HSHS also provides counseling resources and a transitional program for guests who are employed and committed to saving money towards securing housing. We will need volunteers for the Breakfast, Dinner, and Evening shifts on Monday, January 19.
  • Many Helping Hands 365, Cambridge – The 5th MLK Day of Service event is starting to take shape! Join us for an afternoon of hands on service projects! Make fleece scarves and blankets for homeless children and adults. Make Valentines for elders and veterans. Sort food, winter clothing, books and toiletries for people in need and more! Don’t come empty handed! Bring a can of food, gently used winter clothing or a children’s book for someone in need.
  • Boston Alliance of Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, & Transgender Youth, Boston (BAGLY) –  BAGLY and Youth on Fire invite you to partner with us on a service project benefiting LGBT homeless youth in our greater Boston community and throughout Massachusetts. Please volunteer with us to assemble donated items into care bags that can be distributed to LGBT homeless youth.

Sign up here. We will coordinate all travel arrangements and travel to the sites as a group. A site leader will be in touch with you after you register for a shift. Contact Zachary Cole with questions or concerns.

Annual MLK Community Celebration

Thursday, January 22, 6 pm, Goddard Chapel

5:30 pm – Light Dinner Reception

6:00 pm – Celebration

All are welcome to attend. The event will include musical performances, spoken word, and more as we reflect on what it would mean to undergo a revolution of values.

More Information on This Year’s Program

The Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. is well known for his role in the civil rights movement, but far fewer are aware of his focus on poverty, peace, and power during what would be the final year of his life. Dr. King became an outspoken protester of the Vietnam War, believing war is the “enemy of the poor.” His protest of the war lost him many allies in addition to receiving death threats and becoming bankrupt, but Dr. King maintained that the war in Vietnam was a symptom of the world’s shift towards becoming a thing-oriented society over a person-oriented society.

In his 1967 New York City speech, “Beyond Vietnam,” Dr. King stated “that if we are to get on the right side of the world revolution, we as a nation must undergo a radical revolution of values.”

This year, in honor of Dr. King’s call for a revolution of values, Tufts University is hosting two programs with the theme, “A Revolution of Values: Poverty, Peace, and Power.”

We hope you will join us for these programs as we reflect on our values and consider the ways we can put them into action.

Sponsored by the Office of the President, the University Chaplaincy, the Africana Center, the Multicultural Greek Council, Capen Bible Study, and the Interfaith Student Council.