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PIC Press
Releases on Activities
PIC 2021,
Inc.
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
January 4, 2021
Presidential Inaugural Committee to Join
National Day of Service on Martin Luther
King Jr. Day
PIC Asks Americans to Commit
to Volunteering in Service to Fellow
Americans, Help Organize Community
Service Events Focused on COVID-19
Relief
WASHINGTON — Today, the Presidential Inaugural Committee (PIC) announced that it will
The PIC will partner with service leaders, community members, and local, state, and national organizations across the country to organize events that unite Americans around service in their communities. Events will focus on COVID-19 relief and address challenges that have been exacerbated by the pandemic, such as poverty, hunger, racial injustice, homelessness, mental health, and educational disparities. The PIC is asking Americans everywhere to participate in community service and urging them to sign up to volunteer at bideninaugural.org/day-of-
“When Dr. King accepted the 1964 Nobel Peace Prize in Oslo, Norway, he underscored our collective responsibility to strive towards the ‘oughtness’ that confronts us as it does today. President-elect Biden and Vice President-elect Harris are empathetic leaders who know the crisis millions of American families are facing. And like Dr. King, they know that we must have a shared commitment — in word and in deed — to bring the nation together in service to others,” said PIC CEO Tony Allen.
Service events will be posted on the Biden Inaugural website in the coming days. Local, state, and national organizations interested in hosting a service event or supportive service efforts can email serve@bideninaugural.org to learn more about how to get involved.
Partners are strongly encouraged to hold virtual events, but some events may include very limited in-person components. The PIC will work with partners and participants to ensure any in-person components include vigorous health and safety protocols and follow public health guidelines from federal, state, and local officials.
The PIC will announce further details about the National Day of Service and other inaugural events in the coming days and weeks, including innovative ways Americans can participate.
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The
Presidential Inaugural Committee (PIC)
2021 is a 501(c)(4) non-profit
organization and separate entity from the
Biden-Harris Transition charged with
planning and executing activities
surrounding the inauguration of
President-elect Joe Biden and Vice
President-elect Kamala Harris.
PIC 2021, Inc.
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
January 4, 2021
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
January 4, 2021
ICYMI:
Presidential Inaugural Committee Participates in National Day of Service Celebrating the Legacy of Martin Luther King Jr.
Yesterday,
the Presidential Inaugural Committee
organized thousands of volunteers
across the country in a National Day
of Service celebrating the legacy of
Martin Luther King Jr. and the
Biden-Harris Administration's
commitment to service. Over 250,000
people came together at 3,200 events
across the country to complete or
commit to over three million hours
of service. PIC partnered with
community leaders and organizations
across the country, including
AmeriCorps, the federal agency that
leads the annual Martin Luther King,
Jr. Day of Service and engages
millions of Americans in service
throughout the year to meet
community needs.
President-elect Joe Biden and Dr. Jill Biden volunteered at Philabundance in South Philadelphia Monday where they helped load canned goods into boxes on a conveyor belt. In Washington, D.C, Vice President-elect Kamala Harris and Doug Emhoff volunteered with youth at Martha’s Table. They were joined in service by officials from across the country, including Attorney General Xavier Becerra, Mayor Pete Buttigieg, Mayor Marty Walsh, Secretary Tom Vilsack, Dr. Miguel Cardona, Denis McDonough, and PIC Co-Chairs Majority Whip James Clyburn, Governor Gretchen Whitmer, and Mayor Eric Garcetti.
President-elect Joe Biden and Dr. Jill Biden volunteer at Philabundance in South Philadelphia
Vice President-elect Kamala Harris and Doug Emhoff volunteer at Martha’s Table
Volunteers in Palmdale, CA fed over 500 people
In New Jersey, volunteers hosted a virtual benefit with live music
The day culminated in an hour-long celebration featuring a diverse array of entertainers and inspiring speakers, including Aloe Blacc, Rev. Dr. Bernice King, Martin Luther King III, Chesca, Rep. Sharice Davids, Rosario Dawson, Andra Day, Yo-Yo Ma, Rev. Al Sharpton, MANÁ, Alejandro Fernández, Sean Patrick Thomas, Diane Warren, Lynn Whitfield, BeBe Winans, and more.
BeBe Winans Performs
See below for highlights from the events:
ABC News: Trump-Biden transition live updates
[1/18/21]
The president-elect and his wife, Jill Biden, stopped by Philabundance, the largest hunger relief organization in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, on Monday morning.
The Bidens stopped by the nonprofit food bank to mark the National Day of Service, a holiday that encourages volunteering in your community in honor of Martin Luther King Jr.
The president-elect did not take questions about security risks surrounding Inauguration Day.
They were accompanied by their daughter, Ashley, and granddaughter, Finnegan.
The president-elect posed for selfies outside of the building with some masked supporters before the event began.
Clad in his signature aviators and a Philabundance ball cap, Biden was seen sorting canned goods into food boxes at a conveyer belt set up outside the parking lot. His wife also helped out by adding packages of rice to the boxes.
People: Biden Inauguration Committee Encourages Day of Service on Martin Luther King Jr. Day
[By Benjamin VanHoose, 1/18/21]
The inaugural committee for President-elect Joe Biden is asking Americans to commit to giving back and lending a helping hand.
In time for Martin Luther King Jr. Day on Monday, Jan. 18, the Presidential Inaugural Committee is honoring the National Day of Service by encouraging people around the country to volunteer virtually or in socially distanced opportunities ahead of Wednesday's inauguration of Biden and Vice President-elect Kamala Harris.
The committee has compiled a list of potential community service tasks, as well as a platform to sign up and pledge volunteering commitments for the year to come.
"When Dr. King accepted the 1964 Nobel Peace Prize in Oslo, Norway, he underscored our collective responsibility to strive towards the 'oughtness' that confronts us as it does today," said the committee's CEO Tony Allen in a press release. "President-elect Biden and Vice President-elect Harris are empathetic leaders who know the crisis millions of American families are facing. And like Dr. King, they know that we must have a shared commitment — in word and in deed — to bring the nation together in service to others."
Some virtual ways to be of service, as suggested by the committee, include making cards for patients recovering from COVID-19, knitting items for people who are currently homeless, volunteering for a hotline, doing a virtual read-along for students and more.
Socially distanced ideas include contactless food and clothing donations, as well as community clean-ups or shoveling.
According to a statement sent by the transition team, Biden will spend the National Day of Service volunteering at hunger relief organization Philabundance in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
Harris and her husband, Doug Emhoff, will spend the day volunteering in Washington, D.C.
The Biden inaugural committee also announced it will host a national memorial to remember those lost to the novel coronavirus, to be held Tuesday, one day before the inauguration. Scheduled for Jan. 19 at 5:30 p.m. ET, the event will include a lighting ceremony at the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool and the ringing of church bells, according to a statement put out by the committee.
"On January 19, we will host a memorial to honor those who have died, with the first-ever lighting around the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool," the statement read.
The inaugural committee added that it is asking cities and towns across the country to join the memorial by "illuminating buildings and ringing church bells at 5:30 p.m. ET in a national moment of unity and remembrance."
Organizers have said Biden's Jan. 20 inauguration will be 75 to 80 percent virtual, in an effort to slow the spread of the virus, cases of which are spiking across the country.
NBC10 Philadelphia: President-Elect Biden Volunteers at Philabundance for MLK Day of Service
[1/18/21]
Biden and his wife, future First Lady Dr. Jill Biden, volunteered at Philabundance in South Philadelphia Monday.
They joined an assembly line in Philabundance's parking lot and helped fill about 150 boxes with fresh fruit and non-perishables.
Philabundance provides more than 24 million pounds of food each year to those in need, including providing food to smaller community food banks.
The Bidens were joined in their service project by their daughter, Ashley Biden, their granddaughter Finnegan Biden, and Peter Neal, who is dating another Biden granddaughter.
Meanwhile, Vice President-Elect Kamala Harris and her husband, Doug Emhoff, took part in a National Day of Service event, filling bags with produce and dry goods at Martha’s Table, a food bank in Southeast Washington, D.C.
Philadelphia Inquirer: Biden volunteered in Philly to mark Martin Luther King Jr. Day
[By Jonathan Tamari, 1/18/21]
President-elect Joe Biden volunteered at Philadelphia hunger relief organization Philabundance Monday morning as part of the national day of service for Martin Luther King Jr. Day, visiting the city just two days before he’s sworn into office.
After taking selfies with masked supporters outside the group’s South Philadelphia headquarters, Biden and his wife, Jill Biden, stood along a rolling conveyor belt in the parking lot, helping pack food for those in need. As disco played over loudspeakers, Biden, wearing a face mask, his aviators, and a green Philabundance hat, placed cans of beans, two at a time, into food boxes. Jill Biden added packages of rice. (The boxes also included potatoes, apples, oranges, peppers, butter, and milk, all from Pennsylvania and New Jersey farms and distributors).
The Bidens, along with their daughter, Ashley, and one of their grandchildren, stayed for a little under an hour. Some 150 food boxes were packed at the event, according to a Biden aide.
Loree Jones, Philabundance’s chief executive, said Biden “really appreciated that so many more Americans are finding themselves food insecure and so the Biden administration wants to highlight that issue.” Biden told her he’s planning an announcement soon to address poverty, including aid to food banks, Jones said.
She told him the Philadelphia region has seen a 60% increase in food insecurity since the coronavirus pandemic began, and 40% of that has come from people experiencing that struggle for the first time. “That means our neighbors, everyday Americans ... are making the choice between paying their rent or buying food,” she said.
As many as 890,000 people in the Philadelphia region were food insecure at the end of 2020, Jones said.
“Those percentages they play out across the country,” Jones said. “We’re hoping that we get to work together to end hunger for good.”
Philabundance volunteer Desiree’ La Marr-Murphy, a Philadelphia teacher who runs her own food bank, gave Biden a letter thanking him for his concern for people facing poverty. She described a 2001 fire that left her homeless, and the food aid she received from a local church: “A can each of waxed beans, chickpeas, kidney beans, and some half dead produce.”
“I literally fell on my knees and cried out of frustration. ... Is this what needy people get?,” La Marr-Murphy wrote. “I looked at my children and swore that day that when I am in a better position, I will do better. I will start a food program that provides quality food to those in need.”
She created Murphy’s Giving Market in 2007 and now supports several schools and childcare centers in the city. “Thank you Mr. President for caring about all of us, the sick, the poor, and the hungry. Congratulations on beginning this part of your journey,” she wrote.
Jones said La Marr-Murphy’s story embodies King’s call to service.
The Bidens wrote personal notes on a message board at Philabundance:
“Thank you for giving people in need the most valuable thing that can be given. HOPE. Joe Biden.”
“Philly Strong! Thank you for all you do, — Love, Jill Biden.”
The Biden inaugural team emailed supporters Monday urging them to get involved in their communities.
“Service is a fitting way to start to heal, unite, and rebuild this country we love,” Biden wrote.
Univision: En video: Kamala Harris da comida a los desamparados como parte del Día Nacional de Servicio
[1/18/21]
Mientras el país se prepara para el día de la juramentación este miércoles, la vicepresidenta electa y su esposo participaron como voluntarios en un comedor para dar alimentos a los desamparados.
Op-eds in Support of Service
CNN: Cindy McCain: America is still worth fighting for
[By Cindy McCain, 1/17/21]
The Grio: Why there's no better time to join Biden, Harris through acts of service
[By Rep. Lisa Blunt Rochester, 1/15/21]
La Opinión: “El desafío de la hora” –– Un llamado a servir
[By Mayor Eric Garcetti, 1/15/21]
Michigan Advance: Gov. Gretchen Whitmer: On the National Day of Service, let's come together in the face of adversity
[By Governor Gretchen Whitmer, 1/18/21]
The Capital Times: Rep. Gwen Moore: A day of service to welcome the Biden-Harris administration
[By Rep. Gwen Moore, 1/18/21]
NorthJersey.com: Gov. Murphy: Honor Dr. King's dream through service to your NJ community
[By Governor Phil Murphy, 1/17/21]
Tampa Bay Times Participate in a National Day of Service to honor King’s legacy | Column
[By Rep. Charlie Crist, 1/15/21]
The Advocate: HRC's Alphonso David: Don't Sleep on MLK Day of Service
[By Alphonso David, 1/16/21]
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