The annual MLK Free Community Dinner will take place tonight at the UW Gordon Dining and Event Center. The dinner, now in its 34th year, is one of the many events that the King Coalition plans, organizes and hosts honoring the legacy of Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. for the City of Madison and Dane County.
“The purpose of the event is to just bring the community together to break bread, to sit down, to have a meal and fellowship, and be together in a positive community atmosphere heading into the MLK holiday weekend,” Ed Lee, longtime co-chair of the King Coalition, tells Madison365. “We definitely see it as a great start to a weekend of reflecting on Dr King’s legacy and what it means today.”
Tonight’s MLK Free Community Dinner will kick off numerous events in the Madison area to honor the life and legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. including the annual Madison & Dane County MLK Day Observance, the annual MLK Ecumenical Service, the MLK Youth Day of Service, the MLK I Have a Dream Scholarship Ball, hosted by Women in Focus Inc., the MLK Youth Recognition Breakfast, hosted by Urban League of Greater Madison, and more.
The MLK Free Community Dinner will include tasty entrees and side dishes like fried and baked chicken, mac n’ cheese, mashed potatoes, biscuits and gravy, vegetables, sweet potato pie, and coffee and lemonade,
“It’s intended to be an open-to-the-community event that is as accessible as possible,” Lee says. “So people don’t have to register in advance. No tickets are required. The dinner is served buffet style from 4:30-7 p.m. so people can just arrive anytime they please.”
(Photo by David Dahmer)
Wisconsin Youth Symphony Orchestras (WYSO) Music Makers will perform at the event as they do every year. The Music Makers will take the stage at approximately 6:15 p.m. for a special performance in honor of Martin Luther King Jr. Day.
“The team over there at UW housing does a great job in preparing the food, and we have some wonderful volunteers like the AKAs (Alpha Kappa Alphas) and the AFL-CIO and the South Central Federation of Labor who helped make the event happen and help us keep the event affordable and free,” Lee says. “And we have great community sponsors who underwrite the costs.”
Unfortunately, a big snowstorm canceled last year’s MLK Free Community Dinner event. That won’t be the problem tonight with unseasonably warm weather in the forecast. Lee says that he is glad to have the event back for 2025 as they look to bring people from all walks of life together in the spirit of true brotherhood and sisterhood to commemorate the life of Dr. Martin Luther King.
“The purpose of the event remains the same as it has all of these years – to bring the community together,” Lee says. “It is an event we always look forward to.”
The UW Gordon Dining & Event Center is located at 770 W Dayton St. For more information about this or other MLK events, click here.
