MLK Center to honor outstanding RI leader at memorial service

Leaders with Rock Island’s Martin Luther King Jr. Community Center now are accepting nominations for the annual Martin Luther King I Have A Dream Award. It is designed to honor a Rock Islander who has made extraordinary contributions to the city.

The winner will be feted when the MLK Center hosts the 41st Annual Memorial Service and Awards Celebration next month in honor of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. The event is from 10:30 a.m. to noon, Monday, Jan. 15. The theme this year is “Walk together; March forward.”

The MLK Center’s I Have a Dream award is presented each year to a Rock Island citizen for exemplary community service and enormous contributions made to the community. According to a news release. Nominations are due no later than Friday, Dec. 22, and the nomination form is available here.

Who will be honored?

Criteria for the award include the following:

• Nominee must be a current or former Rock Island citizen.
• Nominee cannot be currently affiliated with the MLK Center as a staff member or a member of an organization that has been created by the MLK Center.
• Nominee may have a former affiliation with the center if it was terminated at least one year prior to the award date.
• Contributions of the nominee must have benefited City of Rock Island residents.

The annual King Memorial Service and awards presentation will be held at the MLK Center’s Ida Robinson Banquet Room, 630 Ninth St., Rock Island. It also will be live-streamed via YouTube and Facebook. A recording of the event will be available following the service. 

Marisu Canut, a West End Revitalization Steering Committee member, will emcee the event. The program will include a variety of musical and other performances and presentations in honor of the late Rev. King. 

Project NOW Executive Director Dwight Ford will provide the keynote. Awards to be presented include: I Have A Dream, M.L. Lockhart Scholarship, Black Hawk College Commitment to Diversity Scholarship, and Youth Expression Contest Awards.

The MLK Day event is funded, in part, by grants from the Rauch Family Foundation. To find out more about the I Have a Dream Award and the 2024 King Memorial Service, call (309) 732-2999.