McHenry Times

Rep. Tom Weber (R-Lake Villa) marked the celebration of Martin Luther King Jr. Day Monday, encouraging the public to volunteer in their communities to honor the life of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

In a Facebook post, Weber shared a link to the AmeriCorps MLK Day of Service, allowing users to search for volunteer opportunities available in their area.

“’Everybody can be great, because everybody can serve. … You only need a heart full of grace, a soul generated by love.’  This Monday is MLK Day of Service. Learn more and find volunteer opportunities in your community,” Weber wrote in his Facebook post.

King received a Nobel Peace Prize for his work in the Civil Rights Movement at the age of 35, making him the youngest man to have received the award, the Nobel Prize website reports. With his winnings, King donated over $50,000 in prize money to further advance civil rights. 

According to History, King continued to preach and practice non-violence after surviving an assassination attempt in the fall of 1958. He continued his efforts toward equality in the years following and in 1968, as King traveled to Memphis, Tenn., to support sanitation workers that were on strike, he was assassinated at his hotel at just 39 years of age.

King was a talented orator, known for his “I Have a Dream" speech. He delivered that famous speech  the steps of the Lincoln Memorial in August 1963, NPR reports. In this speech he said, “I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character.”