HURLEYVILLE, NY — The third annual Martin Luther King Jr. Day of Service Youth Summit was held on January 12 at the Hurleyville Performing Arts Centre. 

The event was open to Sullivan County youth in grades 11 and 12, encouraging them to experience the importance of their voice and their ability to act for change, Sullivan 180 said. 

The day began with a viewing of Dr. Martin Luther King’s Blueprint for Life speech and was followed by keynote speaker Duncan Kirkwood, director of the Center for Resiliency at Villa Maria College. He is also an Army National Guard Master Resilience Trainer. 

Sullivan County poet laureate Sharon Kennedy-Nolle and Mykenzi Williams, youth poet ambassador, followed.

Participants were guided to create their personal blueprints for life through interactive activities designed to open their minds and hearts to greater service for themselves, their schools and their communities. Volunteers shared their own stories and personal journeys. 

The summit was presented by Sullivan 180, Action Toward Independence, Bethel Woods Center for the Arts, Cornell Cooperative Extension Sullivan County, the Hurleyville Performing Arts Centre, the Maternal Infant Services Network Comprehensive Adolescent Pregnancy Prevention group, Rural Migrant Ministries – Youth Economic Group, Sullivan Allies Leading Together (SALT), the Sullivan County Youth Bureau and the Center for Workforce Development.