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What a wonderful day it was! We sent the call out to Central Texans & y’all answered it! We hosted the Austin’s biggest MLK Day of Service with over 700 volunteers honoring the legacy of Dr. King. I was amazed by the number of kids & families that came to the Reflecting on the Dream Breakfast. I think we had 3 bus loads of kids (thanks to our community partner College Forward!) march right into the Huston-Tillotson University campus to get their MLK on! Of course, we couldn’t of done it without our community partners & sponsors including the Austin Area Heritage Council, City of Austin Neighborhood Housing & Community Development, Huston-Tillotson University & Office of State Representative Dawnna Dukes. A big thank you goes out to Dr. Leonard Moore, VP of Diversity & Community Engagment at UT. Talk about an amazing speaker! His message about pursing your passion & being “real” & focused truly connected with the kids & everyone in the room. Everyone was so inspired; they wanted more & his message embodied the dream of Dr. King! Check out the pics from our MLK event. The community truly came together to LIVE UNITED! Well, as you can tell we had a great time! What did you enjoy the most about this MLK Day of Service? Tell us your MLK experience! MandoDirector, Hands On Central Texas

Foundation Communities, partnering with United Way Capital Area”s 2-1-1, expects to return $26 million in tax refunds to Central Texans this year by preparing free tax returns. How?Individuals who make up to $25,000 and households making up to $50,000 call 2-1-1 Texas/United Way for information about this service and nearby locations. Volunteers like you can call 2-1-1 to volunteer as tax mobile casino preparers or visit our Hands On Central Texas website. What the Community Tax Centers Offer• Paper and electronic tax filing• Bilingual and sign-language interpreters• Prior-year tax return preparation• Applications for Individual Taxpayer Identification Numbers A map of the Community Tax Centers

In case you weren”t there, KXAN covered United Way/Hands On Central Texas” annual MLK Day of Service. In honor of Martin Luther King Junior, hundreds took part in the MLK Day of Service in Austin. They volunteered their time through several community improvement projects. They casino online gathered at Huston-Tillotson University to hear speeches and testimonials of the power of Doctor King”s message.

If you haven’t checked out Mando’s guest op-ed column in the Statesman, take a minute to stop what you’re doing, and read it. You’ll be glad you did! For many, the upcoming MLK Day of Service has a particular place in the history of our country. The significance of this day of remembrance and celebration of the life and message of Dr. King, coming just three days before the swearing in of the 44th president of the United States of America, Barack Hussein Obama, cannot be underestimated. It is forty years since the assassination of Dr. King in Memphis, Tennessee. In many ways, the recent election result feels like the end of a long and harrowing journey for our country. The paradox being that at the same time, our incoming presidents’ inauguration is also the start of something new. The start of change. The start of hope. Real hope renewed at a profound level for our citizens’ and our country. Click here to read the rest of the article…

And they keep coming in! Rob Harrell, an East Austin artist & volunteer completely blew us away with his peace bench. He incorporated Dr. King’s message of “I have a dream” & President-elect Barack Obama’s “Yes We Can!” Truly amazing! See for yourselves…. Thank you Rob Harrell for this amazing work of art! Rob’s work can be seen at www.robharrell.com. The MLK Peace Bench Project started a year ago on MLK Day of Service. One hundred MLK Peace Benches are being placed in community centers, schools, nonprofits & churches throughout Austin. MandoDirector, Hands On Central Texas

GivingCity Austin impresses us again with another issue full of great content and amazing graphic design. If you haven’t taken a look at the magazine for philanthropy in Austin, go download the PDF. This month, Texas Monthly editor Evan Smith provides the cover article. United Way’s Mando Rayo also offers some practical suggestions on next steps you can take if you want change in your community.

We just received one of the last MLK Peace Benches we committed to build & distribute throughout Austin & I have to say it is quite inspirational! Jill Brown, one of our volunteers took on this project as a way to “give back to the community and the United Way.” She sent us a thank you letter and I would like to share her inspiration with you… “This last (MLK Peace) bench I wanted to be special, and more of a 3-D sculpture than the previous benches. Martin Luther King, Jr. has been such an influence figure in our history and our souls. The entire bench is wrapped in newspaper clippings, because we (as a society) would not be where we are today without his leadership and dedication. Images of MLK and milestones from his life are layered on top of those clippings to capture and commemorate his guidance and direction. The seat-back of the bench is sky of possibilities, something we can always look forward to.” In behalf of United Way & Hands On, thank you Jill Brown – Volunteer & Artist Extraordinaire! MandoDirector, Hands On Central Texas