The Hands On Atlanta MLK Days of Service serve as a day ON to give back and create equitable change across Atlanta, and this year helped to push us forward in our mission to mobilize the Atlanta community to tackle our city’s most pressing needs!

Throughout January 11-15, 2024, over 3,000 volunteers supported 50 nonprofits. We recently caught up with a few partners (Atlanta BeltLine, Hope Hill Elementary, and Wren’s Nest) to talk about the impact MLK Days of Service 2024 provided for them.

Keep reading to find out what happens after the buzz and excitement of the King holiday slows and these organizations get back to supporting their communities.

WREN’S NEST BEAUTIFICATION

Wren’s nest is a cultural center, house museum, and National Historic Landmark in Atlanta's West End neighborhood. It is also the home of author and journalist Joel Chandler Harris. Their mission is to preserve storytelling traditions, cultivate the next generation of readers and writers, and celebrating self-expression.

“This project made an incredible difference and helped us complete projects that have been sitting on our to do list for a very long time. Our space is nicer for our staff and guests, and we now have more time to focus on other priority projects. Thank you, Hands On Atlanta! “ ”

— Wren's Nest Staff

Wren’s nest set a goal to beautify their campus and organize the museum’s basement. Volunteers helped build benches and a new shed, landscape, install shelving and execute a neighborhood cleanup. With over 150 volunteers from the community, Salesforce, Fiserv, ADP, Alston & Bird, and our AmeriCorps members engaged they were able to reach their goal.

HOPE HILL ELEMENTARY

Hope Hill Elementary is located in the center of a historical community and adjacent to the Martin Luther King, Jr. Center for Social Change. The school’s namesake is Dr. John Hope, who was the first African-American President of Atlanta University and Morehouse College. Their vision is to empower all scholars to cultivate a sense of wonder and to investigate how the universe works, while applying experiential solutions to real world problems.

Their goal was to have the opportunity for their treehouse to be repaired and fixed for students, and for the volunteers to engage with students. 30 volunteers from Analytic Vision spent their day at Hope Hill making a difference.

“Hands on Atlanta was flexible and able to organize the event around the rain, and they also focused on the needs of the school.”

— Hope Hill Elementary Staff

Through this project they have seen an increase in repeat volunteers, students served, and time for staff to focus on other initiatives.

ATLANTA BELTLINE

The Atlanta BeltLine is a network of public parks, multi-use trails, transit, and affordable housing along a historic 22-mile railroad corridor. Their mission is to build a more equitable and inclusive Atlanta and engaging partners by delivering transformative public infrastructure that enhances mobility, fosters culture, and improves connections to economic opportunity.

Through MLK Days of Service, 40 volunteers served at the Atlanta BeltLine Southside Trail removing litter and junk in two hours from a two-mile segment of the trail.

“Through our collaboration, the BeltLine has seen an increased number of volunteers, and impact made in the community. Going forward to our next MLK Day the BeltLine would like to have more site locations and lead volunteers to continue making a difference.” ”

— Atlanta BeltLine Partnership Staff

Through our collaborative efforts of the 2024 MLK Days of Service, our partners have increased their number of volunteers, repeat volunteers, clients served, and overall are on path to more equity across the city.

If your company is interested in creating this kind of lasting impact in our community, we’d love to help! Reach out to our corporate impact team today!

GET INVOLVED IN OUR NEXT DAY OF SERVICE