The Ames community is invited to celebrate Martin Luther King Jr.’s work on the day set aside to honor his legacy.

A community celebration will be held Jan. 19 from 6 to 7:30 p.m. at Ames Middle School, 3915 Mortenson Road.

The event will feature cake, skits, songs and speeches from Mel Crippen, host of KASI’s Mel in the Morning and keynote speaker Edna Y. Clinton, president of the Ames Chapter of the National Association of the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP).

People of Ames will also have an opportunity to live in poverty in a simulation as part of Martin Luther King Jr. Day of Service.

Volunteer Center of Story County in partnership with Next Step Adventure is sponsoring these Community Action Poverty Simulations.

The Ames poverty simulation will allow people to play the roles of family members facing poverty. Some simulations include families who are out of work, whose main money contributor left, are homeless, or retired and raising grandchildren.

Volunteers, some of whom have faced poverty themselves, will guide the simulation. They will play the roles of grocers, landlords, police officers, social workers, bankers and employers. Each family is to provide basic necessities and shelter during four 15-minute “weeks.”

The event is from 1 to 4 p.m. at 130 S. Sheldon Ave.