The 6th annual MLK Luminary Project will kick off with a launch event on Thursday, December 5, 7:15 pm at South Orange Library's Children's section. The gathering aims to energize the community to get involved by being neighborhood leads and partners who will help distribute the luminary kits. Luminaries will be created and distributed, and the goals of the project will be discussed. The event is open to anyone who wants to participate and support this effort, which is part of the overall 2020 MLK Observance program on January 20, hosted by the Community Coalition on Race. Attendees are encouraged to bring youth to help create the kits.

About the Luminary Project
Dr. King envisioned the Beloved Community as a society built on justice, equal opportunity and love of one's fellow human beings. In the Beloved Community, poverty, hunger and homelessness will not be tolerated because international standards of human decency will not allow it. Racism and all forms of discrimination and prejudice will be replaced by an all-inclusive spirit of sisterhood and brotherhood. In South Orange and Maplewood, we light our homes with luminaries on MLK Day as a sign of our commitment to building Dr. King's Beloved Community in our two towns. Families are invited to join the MLK Observance on Jan 20 at 2pm in Columbia High School Auditorium, and the lighting ceremony immediately afterwards. At sunset, we all place lighted luminaries outside our homes. Our goal is for 2,000 SOMa homes to be lit up as a sign of hope, peace and solidarity with Dr. King's vision.