"Heal with Light and Love" Biden Volunteers at Food Bank
Service on Martin Luther King Jr. Day
Continuing the Presidential Service Tradition
![President-elect Joe Biden briefly takes off his hat while volunteering. <br>[Image source=Reuters Yonhap News]](http://www.asiae.co.kr/news/img_view.htm?img=2021011905152932580_1611000929.jpg)
President-elect Joe Biden briefly takes off his hat while volunteering.
[Image source=Reuters Yonhap News]
[Asia Economy New York=Special Correspondent Baek Jong-min] President-elect Joe Biden, two days before his inauguration, volunteered at a food bank. Biden emphasized a message of unity, urging to heal America with light and love.
On January 18 (local time), Martin Luther King Jr. Day, the civil rights activist's memorial day, Biden volunteered at a food bank in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Alongside Biden, his wife Jill and granddaughter also participated in the volunteer work.
![[Image source=AP Yonhap News]](http://www.asiae.co.kr/news/img_view.htm?img=2021011905192932582_1611001168.jpg)
Vice President-elect Kamala Harris volunteered in Washington DC with her husband.
![[Image source=Reuters Yonhap News]](http://www.asiae.co.kr/news/img_view.htm?img=2021011905232832586_1611001407.jpg)
Biden stated, "King taught us that only light and love can drive out darkness and hatred. To overcome the dark season America is experiencing, let us all choose love and light and begin healing."
Martin Luther King Jr. Day is a U.S. public holiday commemorating the birthday (January 15) of King, a Black liberation activist. Biden’s volunteer work on this day follows the tradition of U.S. presidents engaging in volunteer activities or visiting Black communities on this occasion.
President Donald Trump broke with this tradition and stirred controversy by visiting a golf course on Martin Luther King Jr. Day in 2018.
Former President Barack Obama honored King on this day while indirectly criticizing President Donald Trump, who incited the Capitol riot.
On Twitter, Obama said, "If anyone had the right to question whether our democracy was worth saving, it was King. Despite police batons and violence, poll taxes, and literacy tests, he never yielded to violence, raised the flag of rebellion, or gave up on our country."
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Meanwhile, on the same day, First Lady Melania Trump expressed in a farewell video message, "It has been the honor of my lifetime to serve America as First Lady."
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