Day of Service, Concert heralds Inauguration activities

Washington, DC – The First Family kicked off Inauguration weekend by participating in the National Day of Service, helping out with some school improvement projects at Burrville Elementary in Washington, DC.

President Obama asked Americans around the country to take part in the National Day of Service to honor the life and legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., whose birthday falls on Inauguration Day this year. The President and First Lady asked that we all remember the importance of giving back and looking out for others – both central to Dr. King’s work – as we celebrate this weekend.

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President and Mrs. Obama participating during the National Day of Service

“This is really what America is about,” President Obama said. “This is what we celebrate.” He said that this Inauguration is “a symbol of how our democracy works and how we peacefully transfer power, but it should also be an affirmation that we’re all in this together and that we’ve got to look out for each other and work hard on behalf of each other.”

Vice President Biden and Dr. Biden also took part in service events, helping other volunteers at the DC Armory assemble care packages for troops.

The festivities are only a part what will be a national day of events. Across the country, non-profit groups are organizing hundreds of service projects for Martin Luther King Jr. weekend.

Volunteers are gathered for an all-day marathon of community service projects–and maybe also to catch a glimpse of actress Eva Longoria and former First Daughter Chelsea Clinton.

The American Legion teamed up with the Dept. of Veterans Affairs by providing cards for people to write support letters to wounded soldiers in hospitals throughout the country.

A physicist from the Department of Energy has set up a bicycle to a row of light bulbs, displaying to visitors how difficult it is to peddle electricity into old fashioned light bulbs. Others waited in line for autographs from NASA astronauts Kjell Lindgren and Serena Auñón.

The first and second ladies, Michele Obama and Jill Biden, later attended the Kids’ Inaugural Concert at the Washington, D.C. convention center.

Trendy Africa is an officially accredited media to the 57th Presidential Inauguration.

source: White House

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