The Southfield Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Task Force, Inc. will sponsor the second annual ‘Freedom Ride’ for middle and high school students through historical civil rights sites in Tennessee, Georgia, North Carolina and Washington, D.C. this August.

The Southfield MLK Task Force is seeking corporate and individual donations for the 2018 Freedom Ride to offset costs for participating students. Sponsors will receive acknowledgement in marketing and publicity materials and recognition at a future Task Force event for their support. Checks can be made payable to Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Task Force, Inc. and sent to P.O. Box 3189, Southfield, MI 48037. Please indicate ‘Freedom Ride’ on the note line. Donations can also be made online via PayPal at www.mlktaskforcemi.org/programs. All donations are tax deductible and will be used to support the Freedom Ride program. Any additional proceeds will go to the operational budget of the Task Force, which is a recognized 501 (c)(3) non-profit organization.

The Freedom Ride will include 40 middle and high school students and adult chaperones from southeastern Michigan that represent various racial, ethnic, religious and socio-economic backgrounds. The Freedom Ride will depart from Southfield on Friday, August 3 and has planned stops in Memphis, Atlanta, Charlotte and Washington D.C., before returning on Friday, August 10.

The Freedom Ride is open to middle and high school students with a grade point average of 2.0 or above on a 4.0 scale, or the equivalent for home school students. Participating students were required to complete an application and provide a letter of recommendation, an official report card or school transcript, as well as a 100 word essay on “What freedom means to me and why I should be selected to participate in the ‘Freedom Ride.’”

The Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Task Force is an all-volunteer grassroots civic organization, focused on communicating the importance of celebrating the national Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. holiday with the local community. The Task Force was established in 1985, incorporated in 1992 and is comprised of residents, private and public organizations the local government representatives.

For more information, call MLK Freedom Ride Program Chair Roger Goolsby at (248) 635-9599, the MLK Task Force hotline at (248) 924-9MLK or visit www.mlktaskforcemi.org.