Obama Visits Troops, Pitches In at Homeless Shelter

Barack Obama pitched in at a Washington emergency homeless shelter for teens today, as part of his pitch for greater public service, the AP reports. After touring the facility alongside Martin Luther King III, Obama rolled up the sleeves of his white shirt and helped paint a wall in the center blue. Earlier today he made an unscheduled stop at Walter Reed to visit wounded troops.

As large crowds thronged the capital today, Obama called on Americans to help out in their communities, in honor of Martin Luther King, who led “a life lived in loving service to others,” Obama said in a statement. “Tomorrow we will come together as one people on the same mall where Dr King’s dream echoes still.” (More Barack Obama stories.)