(CNN)President-elect Joe Biden's inaugural committee will promote the national day of service on Martin Luther King Jr. Day as part of festivities ahead of the inauguration on January 20.
The President-elect, his wife Jill Biden, Vice President-elect Kamala Harris and her husband Doug Emhoff are expected to participate in the day of service on January 18, a committee official said.
The committee plans to work with organizations on the state, local and national level as well as service leaders and members of various communities to organize events. Organizers said the events will focus on providing Covid-19 relief and addressing issues highlighted by the pandemic, including "poverty, hunger, racial injustice, homelessness, mental health and educational disparities."
"President-elect Biden and Vice President-elect Harris are empathetic leaders who know the crisis millions of American families are facing," Tony Allen, CEO of the inaugural committee, said. "And like Dr. King, they know that we must have a shared commitment — in word and in deed — to bring the nation together in service to others."
Biden's inaugural committee's call to service follows in the footsteps of President Barack Obama's own inaugural committees, which asked Americans to participate in the day of service as part of festivities in 2009 and 2013. President Bill Clinton signed the King Holiday and Service Act in 1994, establishing MLK Day as a national day of service. President George W. Bush and Obama often participated in service projects on the holiday in the years that followed.
The inaugural committee will encourage the majority of events be held in a virtual format, but there may be some limited in-person events, which would follow health and safety protocols because of the pandemic, organizers said.
The committee plans to post service events and urge Americans to sign up for volunteer opportunities through
.