Ohio towns plan Day of Service for MLK holiday

Staff and wire report

COLUMBUS

Many communities in Ohio — including Youngstown — will take part in Martin Luther King Jr. Day of Service projects today.

In Youngstown, the Youngstown Neighborhood Development Corp. is sponsoring a hands-on project to board up homes and clean debris on vacant properties near Taft School.

Nearly 1,000 volunteers in seven other Ohio communities will conduct MLK Day service projects with state mini-grants of between $700 and $1,000.

The projects today will include one by the Poindexter Foundation in Columbus. The foundation will engage youth volunteers in researching the historic black community Poindexter Village.

A service-project challenge by the four residential quads at Denison University in Granville will address challenges in animal welfare, homelessness, hunger and education. Walsh University students in North Canton will complete projects for local nonprofits..

In Jackson, children plan to make fleece blankets and pillows for the needy. Volunteers in Portsmouth will assemble care kits for the American Red Cross.

Sidney and Toledo volunteers will restore a childcare center and an abandoned school building, respectively.