President, First Lady and Members of Administration Take Part in Community Service for Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Day

Photo by Mark Wilson/Getty Images(WASHINGTON) — To honor the late Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., President Barack Obama, first lady Michelle Obama, Vice President Joe Biden, and members of the Cabinet and the administration will take part in numerous community service projects and events on Monday.

According to a release from the White House, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Day of Service “is an opportunity for all Americans to honor Dr. King by coming together to help meet the needs of their communities and re-commit to service throughout the year.” The Obamas are scheduled to attend an event at the Boys & Girls Club of Greater Washington. They will be joined at the event by Senior Advisor Valerie Jarrett, Cabinet Secretary Broderick Johnson and Corporation for National and Community Service CEO Wendy Spencer.

Vice President Biden delivered remarks at the Organization of Minority Women’s 31st Annual Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Breakfast Monday. During that speaking engagement, Biden discussed the need to repair trust between police and the communities they serve. “We have to bridge that separation, in society as a whole, but in particular between police and community that exists in some places,” the vice president said. “There’s no reason on Earth why we can’t repair the breach that we’ve recently seen between law enforcement and minority communities.”

At a wreath laying ceremony at the Martin Luther King, Jr. Memorial in Washington on Monday, Secretary of Homeland Security Jeh Johnson noted that King was “divisive” in his time. “To many, he was a trouble maker. To force the social change we now all celebrate, he challenged the social order of things and pushed people out of their comfort zones.” Still, despite that effort, Johnson noted that “in 2015, hatred, violence and poverty still inhabit our nation and our planet.”

So, Johnson said, “we must rededicate ourselves to a beter world in which god’s children choose to feed the hungry, care for the sick, clothe the naked, choose conciliation over confrontation, brotherhood over hatred and peace over war.”

Numerous other cabinet members, including Secretary of Treasury Jack Lew and Secretary of Labor Thomas Perez will participate in other events around Washington, D.C.

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