Martin Luther King, Jr., Day

I awoke on the 15th of January at 4:00 am to the sleepy growlings of the garbage trucks and their operators outside my window in Washington Heights in Manhattan. I usually rise a couple hours later, but today was the biggest service day of the year at my job with CityYear. Myself and over 1000 others volunteer at inner city schools all over this city and around the country tutoring and providing mentors for children through a variety of programs. Along with this in-school service, though, we also participate in about 35 service days a year. These days are aimed at beautifying the areas that children learn and play in, and are jammed with painting murals, playgrounds, and basketball courts, building bookshelves and benches, and cleaning up schools and parks. This day, however, was bigger than all the rest, because this day, was Martin Luther King, Jr., Day.

We'd been prepping for a few days before that, making it possible for the 800 volunteers that were showing up to come in, paint and build, and then leave in a few hours without having to setup first. The mayor was there to say a few words as in years past, along with some others, such as Brooklyn Borough President Marty Markowitz, who was his usual fiery self, igniting the crowd after the day with a powerful speech that bordered on sermon. The service was done at a few different locations in Brooklyn, all educational institutions, public and private, and all and all it was a success, even with a lower turn out than was expected.

I was sweaty and tired at the end of the day, we all were - our nails caked with paint and varnish, our fingers bearing the wounds of a hurried hammering or utility knife use, and our feet screaming to remove the Timberland boots, the signature piece of our uniform, which is entirely donated by the company.

As I peeled off my shirt and replaced it with another before heading onto the train that evening I squeezed my eyes shut and rubbed my face a couple times in an attempt to wake up, because even though most businesses consider this day a day off, there are two things in the City that don't stop - the CityYear volunteers and the New York nightlife.

Jake Rotundo