2013 marks the 150th anniversary of Evanston’s founding. In honor of Evanston's legacy of civic engagement, Volunteer Evanston encourages community members to celebrate by taking a pledge to help meet the community's goal of reaching 150,000 volunteer hours in 2013.

The City of Evanston and several community partner organizations have teamed up to kick off Evanston's 150th anniversary year and unveil the yearlong theme of “Volunteer. Celebrate. Engage.” at community events taking place during the Martin Luther King, Jr. Holiday weekend, January 19-21. Participating community partner organizations include Music Institute of Chicago, Northwestern University, Youth Organizations Umbrella (Y.O.U.) and YWCA Evanston/North Shore.

Evanston is a community which is rich with a vast network of non-profit organizations and residents with the true spirit of volunteerism. Volunteer Evanston wants to capitalize on that spirit during this milestone anniversary to give back to the community 150,000 hours of volunteerism. People who live, work, or study in Evanston are invited to take a pledge to help meet the community's goal.

Evanston150 will have members from its Celebrate!2013 working group on hand to sign up volunteers for the Volunteer Evanston initiative at several events during Martin Luther King Day weekend.

Volunteer Evanston is a collaborative effort with the City of Evanston, Northwestern University, Evanston Community Foundation, School District 202 and School District 65. It strives to promote and support community services and programs through volunteerism community-wide.  The mission of Volunteer Evanston is to connect volunteers to opportunities in Evanston and assist local organizations that serve the Evanston community. For more information, please visit www.volunteerevanston.com.