ITHACA, N.Y. (WENY) -- In just two days, the nation will celebrate Martin Luther King Jr. Day. On Saturday, the Greater Ithaca Activities Center began its annual early celebration in Tompkins County to recognize Dr. King's legacy.

The Greater Ithaca Activities Center, also known as GIAC, was filled with dozens of people this morning for performances, educational workshops, social justice awards, and guest speaker New York State Lieutenant Governor Antonio Delgado. All meant to honor the life and legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. 

"It's the largest single community event celebrating Dr. King in Tompkins County and we've been doing it since 1989," said Leslyn McBean-Clairborne, the executive director of the Greater Ithaca Activities Center. "We're pretty excited about it and that's why everyone is here."

Each year, the organization chooses a theme represented by a quote from Dr. King. This year's quote was selected from Dr. King's 1963 Letter from Birmingham Jail and says, "Anyone who lives inside the United States can never be considered an outsider."

That quote from Dr. King inspired GIAC to run this year's theme, immigration in America.

The day began with some opening remarks from GIAC members and community speakers before moving to some dance performances. Attendees were then able to break out for one of three educational workshops. One centered around health and wellness, another discussed the power of words, and the third talked about this year's theme, immigration. 

"We wanted to make sure we addressed that issue as well because those were the things that Dr King did," said McBean-Clairborne. "Whatever the big issues were, he was front and center with those and we wanted to follow those footsteps."

To continue talking about what Dr. King stood for, GIAC welcomed a guest speaker, Lieutenant Governor Antonio Delgado. Delgado shared some of MLK's words along with his own in hopes that people left with one takeaway.

"I think it's important to never lose sight of how committed he was to the power that it was a strong, demanding love, and as long as we hold true to that, that is how we make change in a sustainable way," said Lieutenant Governor Antonio Delgado. "We stay true to who we are as human beings and we work together in a way that can cut across difference, and that, to me, is something that we should never lose sight of and it all starts and ends with love."

For more information on GIAC's upcoming events, you can check out the Facebook page linked here.