WASHINGTON — Volunteers can help make the world a better place Monday on the Martin Luther King, Jr. Day of Service.

“It’s a great day to serve with your family, with your friends, with your neighbors. It is a great opportunity to start the new year off right and to honor the life and legacy of Doctor King,” says Amy Cohen, executive director of the Center for Civic Engagement and Public Service at George Washington University.

Cohen says people can use the day “to make social change and to make our community stronger and better and to build partnerships among people.”

In the District of Columbia, volunteer opportunities are based on numbers of options. Searches for projects needing help can be narrowed by selecting an organization such as So Others Might Eat, or by choosing a city quadrant or neighborhood ward.

There are numbers of areas of focus:

• Advocacy and Human Rights
• Animals
• Arts and Culture
• Children and Youth
• Community Development
• Economic Development
• Education and Literacy
• Environment and Sustainability
• Health and Human Needs
• Military and Veterans
• Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness
• Seniors

Find D.C. Day of Service projects here.

Find Martin Luther King, Jr. Day of Service projects by zip code here.