MLK Community Center: Amica Newport Marathon Charitable Partner Spotlight

The Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Community Center (MLK Community Center) serves all of Newport County. Their current clients are in Jamestown, Middletown, Portsmouth, Tiverton, and Newport. The MLK Community Center makes our community stronger by striving to fight hunger, promote health, educate children, support families, and engage seniors. Nearly 4,000people will find help at the MLK Community Center this year.

While the MLK Community Center currently only employs 12 full-time staff members, they have recruited over 650 volunteers who contribute their time to help run the organization. The MLK Community Center is an independent non-profit, and only 3% of their budget comes from local, state, or federal funding. According to the Director of ……Alyson Novick, “that means donations like those from the Newport Marathon sustain us.”

The Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Community Center was founded in 1922, making it nearly 100 years old! Originally the Newport Community Center, it was renamed in commemoration of Dr. King in 1968. The MLK Community Center in Newport lives up to its name does an excellent job of encompassing what Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. was all about, through “nourishing, educating, and supporting the Newport County, Rhode Island residents to improve their economic and social well being.”

The MLK Community Center believes that everyone deserves access to healthy food, which is why they “provide non-perishable food items, frozen meat, fresh produce, bread, and household and personal care items to our Newport County neighbors. All clients are eligible to shop once per month.” The MLK Community Center offers Holiday Food Programs as well.

When it comes to education, the MLK Community Center believes that all children deserve programs that support personal development and academic achievement. Preschool at the MLK is offered as “an affordable licensed educational program for children 3-5 years of age.” The After School Academy at the MLK is another quality program that provides children from kindergarten to 4th grade with nutritious meals, homework help, music and art lessons, and other academic programs at no extra charge. Summer Adventure Camp at the MLK Community Center offers 8 weeks of science and math-based fun for elementary-aged students. This program offers a variety of academic and outdoors based activities and field trips for the children to enjoy.

The MLK Community Center provides support for community individuals through programs that improve their well-being and quality of life. The MLK Community Center offers nutrition education and counseling, community meals, as well as health care and financial counseling. The MLK Community Center even has free fitness classes for community members.

To learn more about the Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Community Center, its impact on the community, and how you can run the Amica Newport Marathon for this deserving organization, visit their website https://www.mlkccenter.org/.

“I have the audacity to believe that peoples everywhere can have three meals a day for their bodies, education and culture of their minds, and dignity, equality, and freedom for their spirits.”

Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.