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MLK Day proceeds to benefit museum

Joshua Brown

ALBANY — The Albany Civil Rights Institute will be the sole beneficiary of the annual King Day Celebration fundraiser this year, officials with the King Day Committee announced Tuesday.

Half of the proceeds will go to the institute for the operating costs of the museum and the other half will go toward an endowment fund for the museum’s expansion, said Dougherty District Attorney Ken Hodges, co-chair for the King Day Committee.

Hodges said King Day board members decided to exclusively fund the institute this year because they wanted to make sure it would have funds to keep the expansion afloat.

“What we don’t want to have happen is to open the doors to this great facility and then not have the money to keep it open,” he said.

Hodges and co-chair Steve Belk said the fundraising goal this year was about $50,000.

In keeping with the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.’s message, the committee also arranged several voting registration drives, which have netted 136 new Dougherty County voters thus far, King Day committee member Sherrell Byrd said.

“It’s important to remember the civil rights movement. It’s important to remember that these are important rights for all of us,” Hodges said. “You always want to remember the past so you don’t make those mistakes again in the future.”

The main celebration will be at 5:30 p.m. Monday at the Albany Civic Center, with guest speakers Atlanta City Councilwoman Lisa Borders and Georgia Supreme Court Justice Robert Benham. A march will begin at 9 a.m. Monday at Ray Charles Plaza and end at the Flint RiverQuarium, Belk said.

Tickets are $20 for an individual for the event and $500 for a table, although arena seating is free.

A voter registration drive will be held 1 p.m.-4 p.m. Thursday at Albany Technical College and the final drive will be held at the Albany Civic Center 1 p.m.-4 p.m. Monday, Bird said.

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