Who We Are
About Us
The Martin Luther King, Jr. CommUNITY of Kennett Square has been bringing people together for over 25 years to honor Dr. King's legacy through celebration, service, and community action.
A Message from the Chair
A Message from the Chair
Carol Black
Chair, MLKCommUNITY of Greater Kennett Area
It is an honor and a privilege to serve as Chair of MLKCommUNITY of Greater Kennett Area and, for the past ten years, to work alongside an extraordinary all-volunteer Board of Directors and Advocates who are committed to keeping the dream and legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. alive in our community.
My involvement with MLKCommUNITY is especially meaningful because I was privileged to know our founder, Mabel Latta Thompson, as a personal friend. Mabel encouraged me to become involved with the organization and to help continue the work she began—bringing people together across racial, cultural, religious, and generational lines to build a stronger and more inclusive community.
Each year, we gather our diverse community to celebrate Dr. King's birthday in Kennett Square and at Lincoln University, lifting up his enduring message of love, peace, harmony, justice, and nonviolent social change. Throughout the year, we seek to put those principles into action.
We award scholarships to outstanding students from area high schools who demonstrate Dr. King's ideals through their commitment to school, community, family, and faith. We provide educational programs and community conversations on issues such as environmental racism, nonviolence, racial understanding, and ways we can work together to improve race relations and strengthen our community. We also respond to the very real needs of our neighbors by helping to feed the hungry, collecting coins and cash to support area food cupboards and the vital work they do for families throughout our community.
Dr. King reminded us that creating the Beloved Community is the work of all of us. It requires more than remembering his words; it calls us to live them through service, understanding, compassion, courage, and action.
I am delighted that you are visiting our website and learning more about MLKCommUNITY of Greater Kennett Area. I invite you to join us each January for our annual MLK Day Celebration, participate in our programs throughout the year, volunteer with us, and support our work generously.
Together, we can continue Dr. King's unfinished work and help build the Beloved Community here in Southern Chester County.
Carol Black
Chair, MLKCommUNITY of Greater Kennett Area
Our Purpose
Mission & Vision
Our Mission
The Mission of the Martin Luther King, Jr., CommUNITY is to revitalize in our community Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King's dream of peace and harmony among all people. It is our vision to create a beloved community in Greater Southern Chester County that provides opportunities for fellowship, service, justice, and the eradication of poverty.
The MLK Advocates
The MLK Advocates are committed to building and promoting relationships based on equality, justice, and peace, to conducting community awareness forums for cross-racial, cross-cultural dialogues and interactions, intervening where necessary to resolve conflict, and ensure that the voices of the excluded and marginalized are heard.
Our Story
A Brief History
In fall 2001, Kennett Square resident Mabel L. Thompson organized a group of community volunteers to help her realize a longstanding dream--the creation of an annual, inspirational event to further the ideals of peace and harmony expressed by Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Dr. King was a friend and colleague of Mrs. Thompson and her late husband, the Rev. James P. Thompson. Mrs. Thompson believed Kennett Square to be a particularly appropriate location for such an event because of its historical significance as a major hub for the Underground Railroad in the mid-nineteenth century and also because of its emergence today as a vibrant, multicultural community.
What began as a modest gathering to mark the federal holiday has grown into one of the region's most anticipated annual events, drawing hundreds of residents, students, faith leaders, and elected officials to celebrate, reflect, and recommit to the work of building a beloved community.
Over more than two decades, the organization has expanded its reach through year-round programs: the MLK Scholarship, which supports local students pursuing higher education; Change for Change, a food and coin drive benefiting neighbors in need; Giving Tuesday, an annual day of generosity; and the 'Be A King' Volunteer Fair, connecting dozens of nonprofits with community volunteers each January.
Through it all, the MLK CommUNITY has remained entirely volunteer-powered — a testament to the enduring belief that ordinary people, working together, can keep an extraordinary dream alive.
25+
Years of Service
26
Annual Celebrations
4
Year-Round Programs
100%
Volunteer-Powered