"MLK Day Volunteers Asking Citizens About Priorities for Mayor and Next Governor"
(Philadelphia, PA) January 17, 2010 – While many individuals and groups will engage in community beautification projects across Philadelphia to celebrate the annual Martin Luther King Day of Service, Public Citizens for Children and Youth will be gathering information meant to impact the future of the city and the state. PCCY’s “Tell Us What You Want” initiative is a survey asking the general public what issues should be the focus of the Mayor Nutter’s and the next governor’s attention.
Clipboards, maps and surveys in hand, t-shirted volunteers meeting at Girard College between 9:00 and 11:00 (the official MLK Day headquarters) will fan out into the surrounding neighborhoods, going door-to-door to ask the citizens their opinions about what they consider most important – education, jobs, child care, etc. – in the lives of them and their children.
Following the holiday, Philadelphia high school students will be enlisted to collect survey responses through the spring, prior to the April gubernatorial primary. PCCY will share the findings of the completed surveys with the gubernatorial candidates for consideration as they develop their 2010 campaign platforms. The results also will be given to City Hall to help the administration shape ongoing policies.
“Martin Luther King believed that everyday citizens have to make their dreams and values known and act on them,” says Shelly Yanoff, PCCY’s Executive Director. “This is one way to find out what people what from government and what we can do to make this a better world.”