More than 2,000 people attend MLK Day breakfast

As the nation honored the legacy of civil rights leader, Martin Luther King Junior, more than 2,000 people in Minneapolis packed the Armory for the annual Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. holiday breakfast.

The 30th annual event was organized by General Mills and United Negro College Fund with the theme "Rise Up: Standing Together for Positive Change."

"It has been phenomenal over the years to see what this community event has grown into," said Nicola Dixon, Executive Director of the General Mills Foundation. "It started 30 years ago with a few hundred people in a room. Now, today, almost 3,000. It's really remarkable so we could not be more thrilled."

The breakfast benefits UNCF in the Twin Cities. The non-profit provides scholarships to students helping them attend college.

"It will allow us to raise funds for scholarships for local Minnesota students who are going away to college, and we are helping them get to and from college with those scholarship dollars, helping them beat those financial barriers that they might encounter," said Laverne McCartney Knighton, the Area Development Director for UNCF.

Eric H. Holder, Jr., the 82nd Attorney General of the United States, served as the keynote speaker Monday. Former President Barack Obama appointed Holder as the nation's first African American Attorney General in 2009.

After the breakfast, the community was invited to participate in a new volunteer event at U.S. Bank Stadium in partnership with the Minnesota Vikings. It benefited students and teachers in the Twin Cities.

---

More from KSTP.com:

Minnesota leaders host 34th annual Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Day celebration

What's open, closed on Martin Luther King Jr. Day

---