For years, Fresno State has embodied what Martin Luther King Jr. Day is all about: service.

Fresno State has volunteered 1 million or more community service hours since the 2009-2010 school year.

Martin Luther King Jr. Day is part of President Barack Obama’s United We Serve campaign, the president’s call for Americans to come together and get involved with their communities.

Every year, the Jan & Bud Richter Center for Community Engagement and Service-Learning collects and tallies Fresno State’s community service and service-learning hours. In the 2012-2013 school year, Fresno State volunteered 1,055,257 hours, and the economic impact was estimated to be more than 27 million.

Chris Florentino, the director of the Richter Center, said Fresno State is a national leader in the area of community service.

But he also said, “Numbers aren’t nearly as important as the benefits for the students and community.”

Florentino said the community service and service-learning opportunities benefit students personally, professionally and academically.

“As college students, people are always giving to us as far as knowledge and opportunity. It’s important to take what we’ve gotten from the community and put it back in the community,” said Akyia Westley, vice president of the Black Students United.

The Black Students United volunteers with the Boys & Girls Club of Fresno, the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People and with Zeta Phi Beta Sorority, Inc.

Fresno State will commemorate the holiday in the Peace Garden at noon Tuesday. President Joseph Castro will speak along with Dr. Paulette Fleming from the art and design department.

The Black Students United will participate in that event as well as a community march Monday that begins at 10 a.m. at St. John’s Cathedral on Mariposa Street, which is open to the public.

The march will end at City Hall, where community leaders will speak to commemorate King.