Gray Plant Mooty (GPM) employees celebrated the MLK Holiday early when they gathered for the 26th Annual NAACP Freedom Fund Banquet on January 19, 2009 in St. Cloud. Keynote speaker Mahmoud El-Kati, former history professor at Macalester College, spoke before a full house at the Radisson Suite Hotel. It was an enjoyable evening celebrating with the St. Cloud community and GPM colleagues.

On January 20, many gathered in the Minneapolis office to watch the live, televised presentation of the 19th Annual Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Holiday Breakfast. The theme of the Holiday Breakfast was "Because of His Dream, I can... Lead, Grow, Inspire.” Keynote speaker General Colin L. Powell captured the spirit of this message with his warm, amusing and engaging remarks. 
 
In response to President Obama's encouragement to make the MLK holiday "a day ON rather than a day off," GPM coordinated a children’s book drive. All three of our offices (Washington, DC, St. Cloud, MN and Minneapolis, MN) held the event, which was registered on the USA Service Web site (www.usaservice.org). Over the course of several days, our employees brought in books or made monetary donations which were used to purchase additional books. An unexpected surprise came from people with no connection to GPM who learned of our book drive from the USA Service Web site and stopped in to donate books!  All told, we collected over 400 books—all of which have been donated to Everybody Wins!
 
Background Information on National Day of Service:  initiated by Congress in 1994, King National Day of Service builds on Martin Luther King's legacy by transforming the federal holiday honoring Dr. King into a national day of community service grounded in his teachings of nonviolence and social justice.  The aim is to make the holiday a day ON, where people of all ages and backgrounds come together to improve lives, bridge social barriers, and move our nation closer to the "Beloved Community" that Dr. King envisioned.  President Barack Obama would like to see the National Day of Service truly be a nation-wide effort.  With thousands of projects across the country, the 2009 King National Day of Service on January 19 was the biggest and best ever!