"Kids for King" Program Launches to Mark Historic March on Washington and 'I Have a Dream' Speech

August 22, 2005, Washington, DC — The Martin Luther King (MLK), Jr. National Memorial Foundation launches the Kids for King…Share your Dream...Buildthe Dream program today to commemorate the 1963 March on Washington . Youth from first through twelfth grades will be asked to help build a memorial to Dr. King on the National Mall.

Program participants will be asked to write an essay about their dream for a better America . Twelve lucky youth will be selected from a random drawing and will be flown to Washington , DC , along with a legal guardian, for the memorial’s groundbreaking ceremony in the Fall of 2006.

“I call on the nation’s youth to carry on Dr. King’s American dream of peace, equality, and justice by helping build the Martin Luther King, Jr. National Memorial,” said Harry E. Johnson, Sr., President of the MLK National Memorial Foundation. “Kids for King” program details are posted on WWW.BUILDTHEDREAM.ORG and are available by calling 888 4 THE DREAM.”

Several national icons will join the MLK Memorial Foundation launch Kids for King including: Hall of Fame player Bill Russell, Co-Founder of Black Entertainment Television and CEO of Salamander Hospitality Sheila C. Johnson, General Motors (GM) Global Group Vice President Gary Cowger, former Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA) President and CEO Jack Valenti, Washington Mystics All-Star player Alana Beard, and veteran broadcast journalist Maureen Bunyan. Youth from the Boys and Girls club will also participate.

“General Motors is proud to serve as the lead sponsor of the Martin Luther King, Jr. National Memorial project,” said GM’s Gary Cowger. “ Keeping Dr. King’s legacy alive will provide our young people with further proof that their hope and dreams matter and that each of us can make a tremendous difference.”