September 10 Is Desmond Meade Day

Sunday, Sept. 10 is Desmond Meade Day, established by Orange County Mayor Jerry Demings in 2019 in honor of the Nobel Prize-nominated activist who helped pass Amendment 4 to restore voting rights to Florida’s formerly convicted felons.

It’s a day of community service. Meade and members of the Florida Rights Restoration Coalition (FRRC) will be serving meals to the homeless at Christian Service Center in downtown Orlando from 7 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. The FRRC is working to have the Christian Service Center designated as a voting location. 

“Community service has been a winning lottery ticket out of a life of addiction and homelessness for me,” Meade said in a Friday press statement. “More than that, it has been a beacon of hope, a testament to the resilience of the human spirit. So after [Amendment 4] became law and the Orange County government designated Sept. 10 as Desmond Meade Day, I knew it should be celebrated each year by building up hope and resilience in others. I envisioned it as a day of service.”

Here are some ways to participate in this day of service: Pick up trash in your community. Donate clothing you no longer wear. Grab groceries for someone who can’t get to the supermarket. Give blood. Start a “pay it forward” chain. Phone bank for a cause. Perform a random act of kindness. Sign up to be a poll worker. Volunteer with nonpartisan organizations that expand voting access, like Equal Ground or League of Women Voters of Orange County. Contribute shelf-stable food and hygiene items to a local food bank. Volunteer with a nonprofit. 

"Anybody can be influential if they commit to giving back to their community and leading with love––that is what Desmond Meade Day is all about,” Meade said.