PHILADELPHIA (WPVI) -- People across the country look at Martin Luther King Day not as a day off but as a day on.
They use the holiday as a chance for community service, and the largest King Day of Service event in the country happens in Philadelphia on the campus of Girard College.
Dozens of tables were filled with people on Monday morning as organizations gave back to the community by completing service projects in the Girard College gymnasium. It's where service projects came to life for the Greater Philadelphia Martin Luther King Day of Service.
"Here at Girard College, we've had about 2,000 volunteers serving in 60 projects," said Todd Bernstein, the director of the Greater Philadelphia King Day of Service and president of Global Citizen.
The company has organized the event for decades.
The day is meant to continue King's legacy of public service. This is the 30th year that Global Citizen has organized the event, which was attended by a number of Philadelphia city dignitaries, including Mayor Cherelle Parker, various Philadelphia city councilmembers and Philadelphia Police Commissioner Kevin Bethel.
"It's just phenomenal," he said. "When I think about Martin Luther King -- as a kid who grew up in West Philadelphia, raised by a single mom of four boys -- and he said you have this dream, and here today I stand as police commissioner."
Volunteers with Independence Blue Cross organized the event's signature project in which they sorted and packed toiletry kits for the needy. A variety of groups attended the event, including one focused on making tiny bonding blankets for babies in hospital NICUs across the country. The little knitted swatches of cloth are meant to keep babies in the NICU connected to their parents by providing each of them with bonding blankets that carry each other's scent. Volunteers with Sisters Interacting Through Stitches organized that effort.
"You're making it for babies. How could you not want to make something for babies," said Frances Conwell as she held one of the tiny cloths.
Another group at the event has a mission of making sure every child has access to books.
"We're giving away 3,000 books today, in partnership with the reading captains working to get books into the hands of as many kids as we can," said Rachelle Ferrelli with Book Trust, which partnered with Scholastic Books for the giveaway.
It's also significant that the MLK Day of Service event happens on the campus of Girard College.
"Dr. King came here on August 3, 1965," said Bernstein.
King protested alongside crowds of Philadelphians and the legendary activist Cecil B. Moore for Girard College to be desegregated. It's a fight that Karen Asper Jordan took on too as a Cecil B. Moore Freedom Fighters. She shared a documentary on the group's journey as part of the MLK Day of Service.
"It makes people think about where we have come, where we're going," said Jordan.
Now, as people of all races and ages gather for the service project, they can't help but reflect on Dr. King's dream. Service, though, doesn't end with Monday's event. Global Citizen has service opportunities throughout the year.
To find one near you, visit:volunteer.globalcitizen365.org/