Support Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial by Searching the Internet

Construction recently began on the Martin Luther King Jr. National Memorial, according to The Atlanta Journal Constitution.

(Image: MLK at a press conference. Photo taken by Marion Trikosko in 1964. Credit: Library of Congress)

If all goes as planned, the memorial—slated for placement at the National Mall in D.C.— should be finished in 19 months. It will stand in between the Lincoln and Jefferson Memorials on the Tidal Basin.

(Image: Jefferson Memorial; Credit: kconnors)

You can help to support the project by searching the Internet. Fundraising doesn't get much easier. Searches must go through the MLK toolbar, which can be downloaded here. For each search that you do using the toolbar, $.05 will be donated to the Washington, DC, Martin Luther King Jr. National Memorial Project Foundation.

The non-profit group backing the project, and who created the toolbar, assures that the toolbar is virus, spyware and ad banner free. They additionally say it's free of charge to users. You can also invite friends to use it once the toolbar is on your computer. 

While the toolbar is a relatively new idea, the memorial itself has been decades in the making.

"This is the culmination of 30 years of work and the family is very, very excited about it," Isaac Farris, King's nephew and president and CEO of Atlanta's King Center, told the AJC.

King was assassinated 41 years ago, but his work and teachings have never been forgotten by Americans still shattered by his death. Although so many years have passed, Farris is hopeful that many of King's contemporaries will be able to celebrate the monument's completion.

The timing of this project has actually been fast when compared to that of the other D.C. monuments. The Washington Monument's construction began 55 years after the first U.S. president's death, while the Jefferson Memorial project got underway in 1925, about 100 years after Thomas Jefferson's death. It wasn't dedicated until 1943.

(Image: Washington Monument; Credit: Kevin Rosseel)

Much of the credit for the MLK project goes to Alphi Phi Alphi, the fraternity to which King belonged. It's overseeing the plans, now estimated to have a $120 million price tag. An impressive $108 million has already been raised, however, according to Ed Jackson, the executive architect. Organizers are hoping that the public, including Internet users like you, can help out.

To learn more, please take this virtual video tour.

For additional ways to honor Martin Luther King Jr., please visit this eHow page.