Organizers hope to see a big turnout for the 31st annual MLK Jr. March set for Sunday, Jan. 18, in the Twin Cities.
The march begins at 2 p.m. at Mount Olive Missionary Baptist Church, 136 Lincoln Ave., in Crystal City, and proceeds to Buren Chapel A.M.E. Church, 321 S. Adams St., in Festus. A presentation inside Buren Chapel A.M.E. Church will follow the march.
“We normally have between 50 and 60 participate,” said Denise Brown of G.S.B.T.T.C. (Giving Something Back to the Community), which sponsors the event. “We’d like to have a lot more.”
It is free to take part in the march and the program that follows.
“This is for anyone,” Brown said. “For those who can’t walk, they are more than welcome to follow in cars.”
If extreme weather hits, most or all march participants take to vehicles, she said.
“Regardless of the weather, we do the march,” she said. “If the weather is bad, we will all go in cars.”
Brown said the march typically lasts 25 to 30 minutes.
“It’s about a mile route,” Brown said. “It will cross Truman Boulevard, but the route is to be determined.”
She said keeping the memory of King’s life and civil rights work is vital.
“The importance of keeping the march going is we don’t want to go backward,” Brown said. “It’s important for our young kids. He was an icon in the civil rights movement.”
For more information, call 636-937-0575 or visit the Giving Something Back to the Community Facebook page.