Martin Luther King Jr. once said, “Everyone can be great, because anybody can serve. You only need a heart full of grace and a soul generated by love.”

It is in his honor that the Palo Alto community is invited to celebrate his legacy with a community service event.

Youth Community Service, the City of Palo Alto and the Project Safety Net coalition will co-sponsor the third annual Martin Luther King Day of Service from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Monday, Jan. 21, at Lytton Plaza in downtown Palo Alto.

According to the city’s Youth Community Service coordinator Leif Erickson, people of all ages are invited to participate in service activity tables and visit agency display tables that will help them find ways to serve the community throughout the year.

Palo Alto High School sophomore Michelle Xie, who serves on the Palo Alto Youth Council, said that in attempt to increase community turn out, they are creating a more family-oriented day in which Paly students can also earn community service hours if they sign up by Friday.

“By participating in the MLK day, students at Paly can really show their support for the community even if they don’t earn hours for community service,” Xie said.

After talking to the Palo Alto City Council, the PAYC members said they felt that teens in Palo Alto were out of touch with the Palo Alto community. One of the reasons for hosting a teen-oriented event is to get teens in touch with the rest of the community.

“After talking to the actual city council, they felt that minors, especially teens, were out of sync with the rest of the community, and so one of the goals of PAYC is trying to bring voice and say back to the teens,” Xie said.