The 3rd Annual MLK Day of Service Youth Summit

[HURLEYVILLE, NY] The 3rd Annual Martin Luther King Jr. Day of Service Youth Summit was held on Friday, January 12, 2024, at the Hurleyville Performing Arts Centre. This free event was open to Sullivan County youth (grades 11 and 12) to experience the importance of their voice and their ability to act for change. 

The day began with a viewing of Dr. Martin Luther King’s Blueprint for Life Speech; and was followed by a return engagement of the popular and dynamic keynote speaker, Duncan Kirkwood, Director of the Center for Resiliency at Villa Maria College, Army National Guard Master Resilience Trainer and Author of “Rerouting: Resilience Tools and Tactics”.  

The morning program then featured Sullivan County Poet Laureate Sharon Kennedy-Nolle, and Mykenzi Williams, Youth Poet Ambassador  

Participants were guided to create their personal blueprint for life through interactive activities designed to open their minds and hearts to greater service for themselves, their schools, and their communities. They also had the opportunity to interact with several “blueprint facilitators,” volunteers with various backgrounds who shared their own stories and personal journeys. The day culminated with connections to “doors of opportunity” through a variety of community partners. 

The MLK Day of Service Youth Summit is presented by Sullivan 180, Action Toward Independence Inc., Bethel Woods Center for the Arts, Cornell Cooperative Extension Sullivan County, the Hurleyville Performing Arts Centre, MISN CAPP (Maternal Infant Services Network Comprehensive Adolescent Pregnancy Prevention), Rural Migrant Ministries – YEG (Youth Economic Group), SALT (Sullivan Allies Leading Together), the Sullivan County Youth Bureau and the Center for Workforce Development.