Students Danyelle Seiders, front, and Mechelle Brewer-Spearman prepare meals for Project Open Hand in Atlanta during Make A Difference Day, one of several community service days sponsored by GPC. (Photo by Bill Roa)

Georgia Perimeter College has expanded its traditional Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Day of Service to a year-long program.

In addition to sponsoring a service day on the MLK holiday each January, the college now is coordinating volunteer efforts on the Sept. 11 National Day of Service and Remembrance, the Oct. 26 national Make a Difference Day and the April 26 Global Youth Service Day.

GPC has named its program “Stand Up and Serve.” The service days are all part of a national effort to connect students to service opportunities in their local communities, says Mary Elizabeth Tyler Boucebci, community-based learning coordinator for the college.

In September, students worked on projects at Stone Mountain Park to commemorate the lives lost on Sept. 11, 2001. On Oct. 26, students, faculty and staff prepared meals for homebound AIDS patients and elderly shut-ins for Project Open Hand.

The next MLK service day will be Jan. 21. The event, during which students, faculty and staff use the holiday to volunteer on community projects around the metro area, has become a tradition at the college.

In previous years, project sites have included  the Clarkston Community Center, the Boys and Girls Club, Cousins Challenge Charter Academy for at-risk youth, Arabia Mountain Nature Preserve, AWARE Wildlife Center, City of Dunwoody Public Works Department, Lyons Farm, Panola Mountain State Park and Special Equestrians of Georgia.