This post was written by Hatchet Reporter Michelle Brown

Five hundred students will continue Martin Luther King Jr.’s legacy of compassion and social activism on MLK day by participating in GW’s MLK Day of Service Jan. 18.

The event is now filled to capacity with nearly 30 students on the waitlist, according to the VolunteerMatch Web site, an online service that allows students to sign up for community service events, and log the community service hours they completed for the Michelle Obama service challenge. 

Students will volunteer at Theodore Roosevelt High School in D.C., and will complete numerous projects to refurbish the historic campus, including cleaning, painting and landscaping.

Last year, 240 GW students participated in the MLK Day of Service.

For students looking to volunteer on MLK Day but were shut out of this event, there are other service events to partake in.

Service for Peace offers students a chance to volunteer and help elementary and middle school students in the after school programs with art projects. Twenty volunteers are needed.

Northern Virginia Community College is having a school supply drive, as well as a medical supply drive to aid people living in third world countries.

The Ronald McDonald House of Greater Washington, D.C. offers opportunities to cook breakfast for families, which requires 10 volunteers, and lay tiles in houses, which requires five volunteers.

Arlingtonians for a Clean Environment is having an Adopt-a-Street  and Stream Cleanup on MLK Day for 40 volunteers.

The Arlington Food Assistance Center is holding a food drive on MLK day as well.