Obama to take part in Martin Luther King community renovation project

Washington, Jan.19 (ANI): A day after witnessing a thrilling concert held in his honour and adressing the nation from the steps of the Lincoln Memorial here, incoming US President Barack Obama will on Monday take part in a community renovation project in the Washington area to honor civil rights leader Martin Luther King, who was assassinated in April 1968.

Monday is a federal holiday in the United States, the birthday of King, who advocated peaceful resistance and equality among all races.

According to Fox News, vice president-elect Joe Biden is also taking part in volunteer service on Monday. His wife, Jill, and Obama's wife, Michelle, are helping with a service project, too.

Transition aides declined to name the locations or details of the projects.

The run-up to Obama's inauguration on Tuesday has been defined by enormous public enthusiasm, carefully choreographed events and a lofty spirit of unity.

The weekend celebrations began Saturday with Obama's whistle-stop tour, from Philadelphia to Washington, along the path Abraham Lincoln took in 1861. Then came a roaring celebrity-filled concert at the Lincoln Memorial on Sunday, where several hundred thousand people flanked the reflecting pool, hearing actors, singers and then Obama himself rally for national renewal.

The president-elect has a busy Monday evening, too.

He is to attend three private dinners to honour the public service of former Secretary of State Colin Powell; Biden, a longtime senator from Delaware; and Senator John McCain, the 2008 Republican presidential nominee.

Those dinners will be held at the Hilton Washington, National Building Museum and Union Station.

Michelle Obama, the future first lady, is hosting a children's evening concert. (ANI)