Hundreds of Volunteers to Beautify Pasadena Elementary School Saturday for MLK Day of Service

Hundreds of AmeriCorps members and community volunteers are expected at a James Madison Elementary School gathering Saturday to beautify the campus as part of the national MLK Day of Service.

The project, organized by City Year Los Angeles, brings corporate sponsors including Los Angeles Football Club, Sony Pictures Entertainment, and The Starbucks Foundation to a Title I school where 90 percent of students come from economically disadvantaged families. Assemblymember John Harabedian, who represents Pasadena in the California State Assembly, and Principal Elisa Perez will participate alongside the volunteers.

City Year Los Angeles is an AmeriCorps program that deploys young adults to schools across the region. More than 260 AmeriCorps members serve as tutors and mentors in Los Angeles schools each year, and the organization has been conducting school beautification projects for nearly two decades.

“Hosting this service day is more than just beautifying a campus — it’s about restoring a sense of belonging and hope,” Sandra Cano, executive director of City Year Los Angeles, has said of similar projects. The organization currently partners with 22 schools across the Los Angeles area.

The event extends Martin Luther King Jr.’s legacy of service beyond the federal holiday, which fell on Monday, January 20. The King Holiday and Service Act, signed by President Bill Clinton in 1994, designated MLK Day as a national day of service — “a day on, not a day off.”

James Madison Elementary, located at 515 East Ashtabula Street, serves approximately 409 students in grades K-5. The school’s main buildings date to the 1930s, when they were rebuilt with funding from the Public Works Administration.

The Starbucks Foundation has partnered with City Year for more than 10 years on MLK Day service projects nationwide, supporting school beautification efforts and youth initiatives.

The project is one of hundreds of MLK Day of Service events happening across California this week, part of what AmeriCorps officials have called an effort to make 2026 the largest year for volunteerism in American history.