What comes to your mind when you hear “MLK?”

Do you think about the riveting 1963 “I Have A Dream” Speech? What about the iconic photo of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. shaking hands with then president Lyndon B. Johnson after he signed the civil rights act of 1964? Or what about the photo of King walking arm-in-arm with other civil rights leaders Ralph Abernathy, John Lewis, Jesse Foreman and the Rev. Jesse Douglas, in the Selma-to-Montgomery March weeks after Bloody Sunday?

Whatever your images, feelings or beliefs, no one can deny that King was a great orator, motivator and demonstrator of nonviolence.

Though people usually associate King as a spokesperson for the civil rights and voting rights movements, many rarely view him as a devout volunteer in the community.

The famous, “Day On, not a Day Off,” slogan exemplifies King’s message of being a servant in the community at all times. King once said, “life’s most persistent and urgent question is, ‘what are you doing for others?’ What a better way to support King’s vision than to use his birthday, Monday, Jan. 16, as a day of service?

Whether you decide to volunteer at a local animal shelter or a home for the elderly, or you decide to rake someone’s yard or help tutor an area child, do something.

The famous scripture found in Luke 6:38 admonishes us to “give, and it shall be given … good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over, will be poured into your lap.” Nothing is more fulfilling than to touch someone’s life than by giving of yourself; you’ll be doubly blessed in the end for putting yourself on the backburner.

This MLK Day, let’s keep King’s legacy of service and giving alive. You’ll be glad you did.