WORCESTER, MA – January 15, 2025 – On Monday, January 20, the Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Annual Community Breakfast will celebrate the legacy of Dr. King at Assumption University. Founded in 1985, in part by Dr. George Storms Smith, who worked in education and civil rights activism, Worcester’s MLK Breakfast has been a staple in the city for the past 40 years.
“We are extremely happy to be welcoming Dr. Smith and his wife, Sandra Spooner, to our 40th Anniversary Breakfast. Dr. Smith founded the breakfast to give Worcester an opportunity to celebrate the memory of one of the greatest civil rights leaders of our times. We are most grateful for his leadership,” said Phil Niddrie, co-chair of the MLK Breakfast Committee.
This year’s keynote speaker is Dr. Kellie Carter Jackson, historian, author and educator. Dr. Carter Jackson is the chair of the Africana Studies Department at Wellesley College, authored the award-winning book, “Force & Freedom: Black Abolitionists and the Politics of Violence” and has been featured on numerous news outlets, documentaries and podcasts.
Several students will also be awarded MLK Scholarships, funded through the MLK Breakfast Committee’s scholarship subcommittee and yearly golf tournament, and one scholarship that is funded through Quinsigamond Community College.
The public is welcome to attend the breakfast by purchasing tickets online at QCC.edu/mlkbreakfast by Thursday, January 16, 2025. After this date, contact Anianjolice Oquendo at aoquendo@qcc.mass.edu for tickets. Doors will open at 7:00 a.m. with the program starting at 8:00 a.m.
Those attending the breakfast are asked to bring a new, age-appropriate book (related to MLK or diversity) for second and third-grade students. These will be distributed in Worcester Public Schools for students to take home. Tidepool Bookshop in Worcester is offering a discount on books purchased for this event.
The Worcester Area Mission Society and United Congregational Church (WAMS) are coordinating the book drive and can purchase a book for anyone who prefers to give a cash donation through the WAMS website wamsworks.org/donate.
Community-based organizations will also attend the breakfast to offer information about their work and solicit volunteers.
This year’s event sponsors include Clark University, David Clark, Worcester Polytechnic Institute, Open Sky Community Services, Quinsigamond Community College, Saint Gobain Abrasives, UMass Chan Medical School, UMass Memorial Medical Center and YWCA of Central Massachusetts. The Worcester Regional Transit Authority will be providing a shuttle service for parking at the event.
Additionally, both the YMCA and MLK Community Breakfast Committee are looking for volunteers to assemble kits for foster children on Monday, January 20, 2025, from 1:00 - 3:00 p.m. at the YMCA’s Greendale Family Branch or Central Community Branch. Kits will include pajamas, a toothbrush, and a message from the community. For more information about this volunteer opportunity, contact Christina Puleo at cpuleo@ymcaofcm.org.
To learn more about the MLK Breakfast, or to donate to the Scholarship Fund, call QCC Press, Publications and Events Manager Rose D’Errico at 508-854-2830.