Central College will honor Martin Luther King Jr. Day with service and arts events on Thursday, January 19.

Gateway Dance Theatre of Des Moines will lead an 11 a.m. performance in Cox-Snow Recital Hall. Then students, faculty and staff will assemble water sanitation kits from 12–2 p.m.in Maytag Student Center. Guests are welcome at both events. Central College was one of 40 U.S. colleges and universities awarded a grant as part of the MLK Day of Service Community Partnership Project this year. Central’s grant, awarded by Iowa Campus Compact (IACC), will provide the water sanitation kits to be assembled on campus and distributed internationally by Safe Water International Ministries (SWIM). Each kit can serve 2,000 people per day in areas without access to clean drinking water.

This year, Central also marks the 50th anniversary of Martin Luther King Jr.’s speech at Central College. On March 22, 1967, King urged more than 1,300 listeners overflowing from Central’s gymnasium to believe that positive change — and progress toward social equality — can occur through courageous individuals. Central will celebrate this anniversary on March 22, with NAACP Environmental and Climate Justice Program director Jacqui Patterson in residence March 21-22.