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纪念马丁.路德.金 奥巴马呼吁民众服务社区

Hundreds of thousands of people are expected in Washington to witness President Barack Obama's second inauguration¹. The president will be publicly sworn in on Monday, the national holiday celebrating Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. The inauguration's events begin with a National Day of Service on Saturday January 19 honoring the legacy² of the late civil rights leader. President Obama is asking people to participate in projects that serve their communities.

几十万民众预计会来到美国首都华盛顿，观看奥巴马总统第二任期的就职仪式。奥巴马将于1月21号星期一宣誓就职，这天刚好是纪念马丁.路德.金的全国性假日。一系列总统就职活动从1月19号星期六的全国服务日开始，以表示对已故民权运动领导人马丁.路德.金的敬意。奥巴马总统呼吁全国各地民众参与自己社区的公共项目。

Stephanie Garlick is fighting hunger. She's volunteering at the Capital Area Food Bank in Washington, doing what she can to help the less fortunate.

斯蒂芬尼.加利克正在对付饥饿。她在首都地区膳食救济中心作义工，尽自己所能帮助有需要的人。

"There is so much depression, and so many people are struggling with hard economic times and other issues, and giving of yourself just a little bit of time helping³ other people really lifts your spirit," Garlick said.

加利克：“人们的压抑感很重。许多人因为经济状况不佳和其他原因而挣扎。花点时间帮助别人真的可以振奋精神。”

Stephanie is one of 18,000 volunteers who give their time so the organization can distribute food to 500,000 children, seniors and families with single parents. Volunteers help save the agency more than $2 million in operating costs a year.

斯蒂芬尼和另外1万8千人为这个机构做义工，给50万个儿童、老人和单亲家庭送去食物。义工们的帮助使这个机构每年可以省下两百多万美元开支。

"We work with people every single day of the week whether it is sorting of food that comes in donations that is where we work with most of our volunteers," said. Matt Crawford, who directs the volunteers.

马特.克劳福德是机构的义工事务主管。克劳福德：“我们每天跟义工们一起工作，整理人们捐送的各种食品。大多数义工都在做这件事。”

To mark the federal holiday honoring the late civil rights leader Dr. Martin Luther King Jr, President Obama is asking Americans to participate in service projects.

奥巴马总统呼吁更多的美国人在这个联邦假日参与公共服务项目，表达对马丁.路德.金的敬意。

Before he was assassinated⁴ in 1968, Dr. King was leading what he called the "Poor People's Campaign," an effort to alleviate⁵ poverty and hunger across the country.

金博士在1968年被刺杀前，正领导一个他所说的“穷人运动”，在全国各地努力减轻贫困和饥饿。

"I thank President Obama for his call, and we join proudly in that call. But we absolutely need individuals and civil society to join in the fight because it's a big problem and really when we all pull together that is when we are most likely to be able to end hunger," said Nancy Roman, president of the Capital Area Food Bank.

首都地区膳食救济中心的南茜.罗曼说：“我感谢奥巴马总统发出这样的呼吁，我们自豪地相应他的号召。但是我们绝对需要个人和公民团体的加入，因为这是一个大问题，大家齐心协力才最有可能结束饥饿。”

Members of Delta⁶ Sigma Theta sorority are doing what they can to help people and communities in need. For the last century the 260,000 member public service sorority and the nation's largest African American women's organization has been involved in countless⁷ service projects. Francine Blake from Ohio says community service is a lifetime commitment for this sorority.

德尔塔.西格马.泰塔女生联谊会的会员们也在尽力帮助有需要的人和社区。过去一个世纪以来，这个拥有26万会员的最大非洲裔美国妇女组织参与了无数个服务项目。俄亥俄州会员布莱克说，参与社区服务是这个机构永远要做的事情。

"We serve the community not just on the local level, not just on the national level, but on the international level. We have now given scholarships to millions of young ladies to go to school and also young men," Blake said.

“我们不只服务本社区，也不只服务全国，还参与国际事务。我们现在为几百万青年男女提供奖学金。”

The sorority will be serving others on the MLK holiday.

这个女生联谊会将在马丁.路德.金日服务他人。

Public service organizations hope a national day of service will encourage more people to volunteer in community projects throughout the year.

这些公共服务组织希望全国服务日活动能鼓励更多的人常年参与社区服务。