Help restore our forests for MLK Day of Service!
Join us in honoring the legacy of Martin Luther King Jr. by participating in our upcoming volunteer event on MLK Day, January 15! Delridge Neighborhoods Development Association (DNDA) will host a community service event at Pigeon Point Park.
This time of year, our community members always look for opportunities to volunteer for MLK Day — the only federal holiday also designated as a National Day of Service. If that describes you, look no further!
We invite you to make a tangible impact on our local environment as we celebrate the values championed by King, including racial equality, social justice, and the right to live in a healthy world.
Volunteers taking a break from planting to enjoy the scenery during one of DNDA’s past MLK Day of Service events.
DNDA will host volunteers at the main park entrance at 1901 SW Genesee Street starting at 10am on Monday, January 15 — the 95th anniversary of King’s birthday. King visited Seattle once, in 1961, and King County was renamed in his honor in 1986. The county was previously named after former Vice President William R. King, who was a slaveholder and anti-abolitionist.
This year, we will focus on planting native trees and shrubs, continuing a multi-decade effort to restore the West Duwamish Greenbelt, which includes Pigeon Point Park. The greenbelt was neglected for decades following the logging and environmental changes that occurred when the region was colonized. But, thanks to thousands of community members and organizations across the city, the area is slowly welcoming back the conifer-dominated forests that once existed.
New conifer trees and ferns ready to be planted by volunteers at our MLK Day of Service event back in 2015.
This holiday reminds us to acknowledge that we owe our modern concept of environmental justice in large part to King’s work and the Civil Rights Movement, and a recognition that marginalized communities often bear a disproportionate burden of environmental degradation and pollution.
The Duwamish River is a federal Superfund site — a designation reserved for the most polluted sites in the country. Through the forest restoration work facilitated by DNDA and our local partners, volunteers not only contribute to the well-being of our community, but they also foster a greener and healthier future for generations to come.
Join us on MLK Day to nurture a more sustainable and inclusive world! Register at dnda.org/events/mlk-2024.
— Written by DNDA’s Restoration Program Manager Ben Antonius