JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — People who live on the First Coast are encouraged to pay it forward. From Jan. 12 to 20, the City of Jacksonville will hold its MLK Week of Service. 

Officials said it is supposed to be the “biggest volunteer effort” in the city’s history. Nearly 1,000 volunteers kicked off their Saturday by participating in neighborhood-based volunteer projects. 

Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. once asked, “What are you doing for others?”

Latheria Smith and her peers painted an older woman’s home on Weare and 3rd Street. Smith, one of the hundreds of volunteers, didn’t have to spend her Saturday morning doing community service. Actually, she said being of service makes her heart feel full.

“This is what his [Dr. King’s] legacy was about and what he wanted us to do. What he wants us to do,” Smith said. 

The City of Jacksonville collaborated with the United Way of North East Florida and Ameri Corp on Saturday, instead of only volunteering on MLK Day. Service events will take place in counties: Duval, Clay and Nassau. The week of projects includes repairing homes, distributing food and promoting better financial health in underserved communities. 

Mayor Donna Deegan also took part in helping volunteers paint the house.

“This is all a wonderful way of bringing attention to the issues that we all know exist,” Mayor Deegan said. “But if you don’t do anything with that then you haven’t accomplished too much.”

To Smith, being of service to others does not stop when the week of service is over.

“If you can, someone should be out doing something. It shouldn’t be one week, one month, one year,” said Smith.