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REQUEST FOR COUNCIL ACTION Date: January 4, 2021 Item No.: 5.a Department Approval City Manager Approval Item Description:Proclaiming Martin Luther King Jr. Day 1 B ACKGROUND th 2 The Martin Luther King Jr. holiday on January 16, 2021 marks the 26 anniversary of the day of 3 service that celebrates the Civil Rights leader’s life and legacy. Observed each year on the third 4 Monday in January as “a day on, not a day off”, MLK Day is the only federal holiday designated as 5 a national day of service to encourage all Americans to volunteer to improve their communities. This 6 day of service helps to empower individuals, strengthen communities, bridge barriers, address social 7 problems and move us closer to Dr. King’s vision of a “Beloved Community”. 8 9 Dr. King recognized the power of service. He famously said, "Everyone can be great because 10 everybody can serve." Observing the Martin Luther King, Jr. federal holiday through service honors 11 Dr. King's life and teachings, helps meet community challengesand also brings people together of 12 all ages, backgrounds, and abilities. The MLK Day of Service encourages all types of service, 13 particularly projects that have a lasting impact and connect participants to ongoing service. The most 14 successful projects connect to the life and teaching of Dr. King, meet a pressing community need, 15 and include time to reflect on his teachings. 16 17 For the past several years, the City of Roseville has observed this day of service by partnering with 18 our volunteer force to make improvements in the ecology of the city. Again in 2021, staff is planning 19 to hold an event on MLK day for “A Day On, Not a Day Off” at the Cedarholm Community 20 Building to provide an educational overview of the city’s natural resources renewal efforts and 21 training on how to prevent the spread of invasive species. More information as it relates to safety 22 precautions and details of the event will be determined closer to the date and in line with Minnesota 23 Department of Health guidelines. 24 25 As we look to further integrate the concepts, and ideas of this proclamation into more areas of our 26 community and organization, staff will be developing ideas for 2022 that can expand the volunteer 27 opportunities, and communication efforts. 28 29 P OLICY O BJECTIVE 30 Proclamationsare issued to recognize the importance of a community event, significant 31 achievements by a community member or group, or to increase public awareness of a worthy cause. 32 33 S TAFF R ECOMMENDATION 34 Read and approve the proclamation and proclaim Martin Luther King Jr. Day. 35 Page 1 of 2