Over 200 volunteers, most of whom were NC A&T students, decided to celebrate Dr. Martin Luther King through service last Monday, by coming together to put energy-efficient light bulbs in a historic Warnersville community in Greensboro.

The event is officially titled, Let’s Raise A Million (LRAM).

A student-led, policy-supported, urban ecological project that conducts complete energy efficient light bulbs retrofits and energy audits, free of charge, for residents of modest means while informing recipients of the health, economic and environmental benefits of energy conservation.

The ultimate goal is to exchange 1 million “clean bulbs” within four years following the ongoing pilot phase, now operational in Atlanta, GA and Grambling, LA.

The project was brought to Greensboro by local nonprofit organizations in partnership with LRAM. Its sponsors include Warnersville Historical & Beautification Society, Ignite Greensboro, Campus Progress, City of Greensboro, Beloved Community Center, Democracy at Home, and Face to Face GSO.

 “We worked for six or seven weeks trying to put this together,” said Ignite Greensboro’s founder and coordinating director, Zim Ugochuckwu. “One of the beautiful things about this project is that it is 100 percent run by young people.”

The day started with all the volunteers signing in and splitting up into teams, each with a team leader who had gone through prior training. Volunteers then went through a brief sensitivity training.

A press conference was held outside of the Wernersville community center to inform the crowd about the event and its importance.

Speakers included District 1 representative Diane Bellamy-Smalls. “You are in the oldest planned African-American community in Greensboro, so this is historic.

I’m very proud that you are here today and I hope that you know that you are the future, now,” Bellamy-Smalls told the audience, “And that’s important because you’re going to lead the way.

I come from a time where it was about buying it, using it, and throwing it away. Now it’s all about recycle, reuse and reclaim. I hope our citizens of Warnersville will be receptive.”

After the press conference, each team was given a bag of CFL light bulbs, a step latter, evaluation forms, and gloves.

Each team leader had a map highlighting the street their team was to tackle. Teams then went door-to-door to exchange up to 10 bulbs as well as provide helpful information on the benefits of the upgrade and proper bulb disposal.

It was great; they just needed a second plan for when people don’t come to the door.

Overall it was a great initiative to help save energy and money,” said Avery McKoy, Junior Criminal Justice major.

“I had a positive experience, I’m from Greensboro so I enjoyed being able to give back to my community, ” said Leyonce Moses, Junior Agricultural Economics major.

The event started off with 1500 light bulbs, and 180 residents to reach.

 “We don’t have the final count of how many light bulbs we installed, but if we came anywhere close to our goal, we saved the community over $100,000 in energy costs.

The CFL light bulbs use 75percent  less energy than the incandescent light bulb,” said Anthony Kurr, co-chair of PR for Ignite Greensboro.

LRAM was just one of many community service oppurtunites made available to A&T students via C.A.S.E.

• Sylvia Obell