Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Annual Holiday of Service

All are welcome: to celebrate and connect, to love, to uplift and teach, to honor, and to remember Together.

Join Sweet Potato Comfort Pie in honoring Martin Luther King’s 95th birthday and our 10 years of Origins. We are looking forward to coming together and sharing stories — uplifting one another through our shared commonalities and differences, all while enjoying a delicious catered meal and a slice of sweet potato comfort pie.

This year’s theme is “Our Origins Travel Onward“. Mark your calendar for this free hybrid event! We recommend registering soon, as seats will fill up fast!

Pre-Program Reception: A pre-program will begin promptly at 1:15 PM with a special poetic tribute during the “Character Values: Upholding Our Beloved Community” photo exhibit, all while you enjoy live music.

The Main Program: the main program will begin at 2:00 PM with the Pie Procession of 95 pies led by community members to honor Dr. King. This simple but powerful act of preparing and sharing sweet potato pie is a revered practice for comforting one another and strengthening our human connection. There will be presentations, awards, and critical racial dialogues among participants — all done in the spirit of Ubuntu to remind us that each of us is who we are because of our beloved community. Our keynote speaker is television news anchor and Emmy-award-winning television news reporter Shayla Reaves. Other entertainment includes Mari Harris, and the Heart and Soul Drum Academy.

Are you interested in volunteering?: If you are interested in volunteering, you will need to register and sign up to volunteer here.

Dr. Martin Luther King Human Rights Contest: Golden Valley’s Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Human Rights Contest has $100 prizes in 4 age categories. It is a creative contest that focuses on a theme and quotations from Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s writings. Students have an opportunity to present the meaning of one of the quotations and what it means to them through art. This contest is open to students in grades K-12 who live in Golden Valley, attend a school in Golden Valley, or attend a Robbinsdale or Hopkins District school. The winners will share their winning piece at the Annual Sweet Potato Comfort Pie MLK event on Sunday, January 14, 2024! Learn more about the contest here.

Thank you to our Partners, Sponsors and Donors for helping to make this event possible.

• Breck School
• City of Golden Valley Human Services Commission
• Flour & Flower Bakery
• King Arthur Baking
• Lunds & Byerly’s
• Metropolitan State University
• Mill City Museum
• Minnesota Historical Society Press

Help support our work. Find out about sponsorship opportunities for this event by emailing development@sweetpotatocomfortpie.org or donating here.

PLEASE NOTE:

• (VIRTUAL ATTENDEES ONLY) You must register for the event, and then you will be sent a ZOOM link to receive a sign-in for the day of the event.

• The pre-program (1:15 – 1:55 PM) will not be live-streamed.

• The 95 pies will be baked on Saturday, January 13th. In addition, pie slices will be offered to all in-person attendees.
• There will be gluten and vegan pies offered.