BATON ROUGE — Members of the Gardere Initiative, along with several local organizations, gathered on Monday for a Day of Service in the Gardere neighborhood in honor of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

The event, held at BREC's Hartley/Vey Park, allowed volunteers to participate in various activities designed to uplift and the strenghten the community.

Activities included a community clean-up, a literacy fair, free haircuts in exchange for reading books and a mural painting project. 

"It's going to be a wonderful day," Executive Director for the Gardere Initiative Dr. Murelle Harrison said. "We have athletes from LSU who will be interacting with our children playing basketball, soccer, volleyball and other kinds of recreational activities. Please come out and join us. We always welcome volunteers."

Participating organizations included Line4Line, Keep Tiger Town Beautiful, LSU Athletics, The Walls Project, South Burbank Crime Prevention and Development District and the East Baton Rouge Metro Council District 3.