More than a thousand volunteers gathered Monday for the City of Cambridge’s Annual Martin Luther King Jr. Day of Service and Learning. The event, in its 16th year, represents a collaboration between several area nonprofits, including Many Helping Hands, My Brother’s Keeper, and the YWCA, to provide material aid for neighbors in need.
The event kicked off with a gathering at the Central Square Church. After a performance of Sam Cooke’s “A Change is Gonna Come,” Senior Pastor Larry Kim gave brief remarks on the significance of the location. “In January of 1960, Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. spoke to 2,000 people here in this space, in this very spot, and his words are as poignant and prophetic today as they were [then].”
After readings from various speeches of King’s by Cambridge-area students, attendees were led by the Good Trouble HONK Band to nearby volunteer stations at City Hall, the Senior Center, the YWCA, and Street Theory Collective.
At City Hall, volunteers helped sort and bag clothes collected by businesses across the city. Other volunteers contributed by making blankets and valentines for local shelters.
Harry Jean started volunteering during high school at Cambridge Rindge and Latin School. After he graduated in 2019, he made a point to keep volunteering. “I want to be here to do voluntary service,” he said. “It’s kind of like a way to see many people come together, to do this kind of stuff helping in this community.”
U.S. Rep. and House Minority Whip Katherine Clark also attended Monday’s day of service. She was found talking to families at the Valentines-making station on the first floor of city hall.
“Every year, MLK, and especially the Day of Service here in Cambridge, is one of inspiration and renewal. But this year, in 2026 we really need it,” Clark said. “It is so good to be in a community that is embracing the spirit of MLK, not just today, but every day, and keeping that fight for equality, peace, and justice that Dr King showed us.”
City Councillor Jivan Sobrinho-Wheeler said the Day of Service and the Commemoration events offer “a great way to celebrate the legacy of service of MLK Jr. and legacy of human rights for all people . . . and really thinking about how we bring our legacy forward here in Cambridge with those values.”
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