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Patrick, Walsh Speak At Boston's MLK Breakfast

BOSTON (CBS)- Speaking as he has in years past, this time in front of a group about 800 people, Governor Deval Patrick talked about Dr. Martin Luther King Jr's legacy of service, particularly introducing the concept of love and civil discourse.

WBZ NewsRadio 1030's Karen Twomey reports

Patrick, Walsh Speak At Boston's MLK Breakfast

The governor says he feels like he saw that first hand here this past spring, right after the Marathon bombings. "I saw the spirit of kindness and common cause take hold. I saw us help the stranger and comfort the afflicted. I saw us stay focused on healing each other and our community. I saw us turn to each other when we could have easily turned on each other."

In addition to Patrick, Mayor Marty Walsh also spoke at this morning's breakfast. He pointed out that he has only been on the job for about eleven working days and is still getting used to all of these appearances.

Speaking about Dr. King and his legacy and his leadership, Walsh talked about his predecessor, Mayor Tom Menino and a note the mayor left for him.

"He wrote me a note and left it in my desk, or left it in his desk, which is now my desk. And everyone's wondering what's in the note. And what the note said was 'Be true to yourself; be true to the city; follow your heart; follow the city's heart, and you will be a great mayor.'"

National Day Of Service

Hundreds of people throughout the city of Boston took part in Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.'s National Day of Service. At the Pine Street Inn where a team of volunteers from the Mass Black Lawyers Association got busy making sandwiches for the homeless. "I think to acknowledge the work that Dr. king did and all the activist that worked with him so these are lawyers and law school students and we are cutting up onions," Andrea Campbell of Massachusetts Black Lawyers Association said.

Dozens of kids from Jack & Jill of America are having a "chopathon." "Martin Luther king Jr. means a lot me. I really believe in giving back to the community because they have given so much to me," Gabriella Cramer said.

At the Reggie Lewis Center, more than 400 volunteers took part in Boston Cares annual MLK Day. Volunteers spent the day building beds and making quilts. "When I think about the legacy of Dr. King I think of inclusion, equality and community building and that's exactly what this day does," Patrice Keegan of Boston Cares said.

WBZ-TV's Paul Burton contributed to this report.

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