PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — Wednesday’s preview of Philadelphia’s Martin Luther King Day of Service on Jan. 15 had a special guest: newly inaugurated Mayor Cherelle Parker.
In keeping with the proverbial honeymoon period, the other speakers heaped praise on the mayor, even before she arrived — more than an hour late. Mural Arts Director Jane Golden unveiled a voting rights-themed mural created by area students that included an image of Parker and Joanna McClinton, the first woman to serve as speaker of the Pennsylvania House.
“She’ll be here soon but I just want to say how thrilling and inspiring it is that we have a new mayor,” said Golden.
After she arrived, Parker brought the energy she promised to the Day of Service event. “I want to start by just reminding people because sometimes Philadelphia doesn’t remember how great it is,” she said. “This is the first and the largest King Day celebration in the nation.”
She had the job of presenting the Harris Wofford Citizenship Award to lobbyist Ed Hazzouri, but she also took time to meet the student artists, and she pledged to help them follow their dreams.
“We’re to create access to every opportunity available so that you can have a menu of options of what you want to be and do in the future,” Parker told students, “so I’m super proud and, listen, this is super cool.”
The event was held at Girard College, which also hosts the annual day of service proceedings on Martin Luther King Day, falling this year on King’s birthday of Jan. 15. Volunteers will be packing hygiene kits for gunshot victims who are being released from the hospital, as well as distributing voter information packets in various neighborhoods.
There will also be a rally for peace and justice, a health and wellness fair led by the Black Doctors Consortium, a reading coach training session, CPR training and a free Philadelphia Orchestra concert, conducted by Yannick Nézet-Séguin.