What Was The MLK Day Service Project Worth? Try $162,934.08

The MLK Day Service Project is a major undertaking in Decatur, with churches, school groups and civic organizations pitching in on the MLK weekend to clean up yards and repair houses for lower income senior citizens.

Paul Mitchell, the event chairman, came up with some stats for the 2012 service project.

• About 1,300 -- number of volunteers.

• 7,628 -- total number of hours volunteered.

• $162,934.08 -- value of volunteer hours donated.*

• 17 tons -- total amount of yard waste removed.

• 30 tons -- total amount of miscellaneous items, such as broken furniture and household items, removed.

Of course, these numbers only tell a small part of the story, since the project creates good will througout Decatur. For a look back at 2012 MLK Service Project Day, check out the photo gallery that ran last month.

*This is how the MLK project leaders came up with that figure. Independent Sector calculates the hourly wage of volunteer time ($21.36 for 2010) based on the hourly wage for all non-management, non-agriculture workers, as determined by the Bureau of Labor Statistics, with a 12 percent increase to estimate for fringe benefits.