Greater Bangor Area NAACP and UMaine to Host 2011 Martin Luther King Breakfast Celebration Jan. 17

Contact: Diane Khiel (dkhiel@adelphia.net)

ORONO — The Greater Bangor Area NAACP and the University of Maine will present the 2011 Martin Luther King, Jr. Breakfast Celebration on Monday, Jan. 17, 2011 at UMaine’s Wells Conference Center. The event is scheduled for 8:30-10:30 a.m., with doors opening at 8 a.m.

The UMaine student singing group Renaissance is scheduled to perform from 8-8:30 a.m. and the Destiny Worship Praise Team, a diverse group of gospel singers from the nondenominational Destiny Worship Center, will perform at the close of the program.

Imam Johari Addul-Malik, the director of outreach at the Dar Al Hirjrah Islamic Center in Falls Church, Va., will serve as this year’s keynote speaker.  He is the former Muslim Chaplain at Howard University and was the first Muslim officially installed as a chaplain in higher education there.  He also serves as the head of the National Association of Muslim Chaplains in Higher Education and the chair of government relations for the Muslim Alliance in North America.

In addition, Addul-Malik is president of the Muslim Society of Washington, Inc. and is a founding member of the Muslim Advocacy Commission of Washington, D.C.  Along with Rev. Graylan Hagler, he started the Ramadan Feed-the-Needy Program in Washington, D.C., feeding more than 100 hundred homeless women of all faiths nightly during the holy month of fasting.  Addul-Malik lectures on a variety of subjects that motivate the Muslim community and the community at large to better themselves and their world.  He is known nationally for his fundraising efforts for masjids, schools and relief and support organizations and recently returned from a U.S. State Department outreach trip to Afghanistan.

Tickets for the 2011 Breakfast are $20 for adults, $15 for seniors 65 and over, $10 for high school and college students with ID, and $10 for children 12 and younger. Those interested in attending are encouraged to purchase tickets early by calling (207) 581-1406. Ticket purchases are not refundable.