Saturday, February 10th is planned to be a big day for Kern County in celebration and honor of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. named “The Celebration of a King and a Day of Service”. It will be hosted by Stay Focused Ministries and Bakersfield City School District and held at the Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Elementary School. This event is in collaboration with organizations like MLK Community Initiative and Transitional Youth Mobilizing for Change (TYM4Change).
Organizers state that there will be free food, resources for utility bills, entertainment by local groups, prizes, and free items for kids who attend. Including live music and dance performances. There will also be car displays featuring the Show and Shine Car Show.
The event location is 1100 Citadel St, Bakersfield, CA 93307. It is scheduled to last from 11 a.m. to 1:30 p.m.
Some students from Stella Hills Elementary School, McKinley Elementary School, and Emerson Middle School will offer presentations during the event along with other guest speakers.
According to the event flyer, those with questions can directly contact Stay Focused by calling (661) 322-4673. For more information check out StayFocused.org.
Kern Sol News spoke with Jovon Dangerfield, executive director for TYM4Change. Dangerfield explained that the event embodies togetherness and education, which are areas MLK was known to pour value into.
“We need to celebrate each other’s cultures and realign with being on the same team for the same cause. I think that’s really important right now to show unity,” Dangerfield said about the efforts organizers made to make the event possible.
Attendees are encouraged to utilize all the free resources available during the event, including utility bill assistance. Dangerfield mentioned that this service is not widespread knowledge yet, and organizations like TYM4Change have a responsibility to bridge that gap to make sure the right individuals get the necessary help.
“Some people catch up from three to four months worth of being on a back bill, so that has been really significant,” Dangerfield stated.
Another reason to make it to the MLK event is to meet new people in your community.
“Together is the starting point for all things…During the Civil Rights Movement, it started off by people being together, talking together, thinking together, and moving together,” Dangerfield continued.
“It’s really about trying to get people to really learn how to love again and honor each other, and if we can do that we wouldn’t even have a lot of the problems that we have.”