Holiday lights planned for Martin Luther King Jr. Drive on Chicago's South Side

Efforts are underway to brighten up a major boulevard on the South Side for the holiday season.

Thirty-two blocks will be decorated with a heavy helping of holiday lights.

Nothing can match the lights along the Magnificent Mile during the Holidays. But on this South Side stretch of Martin Luther King Junior Drive, Jahmal Cole is going to try.

“People from this area are the reason why the Magnificent Mile can be so lit up,” Cole said.

Jahmal Cole is the founder of "My Block, My Hood, My City," the community group which hope to light up thirty-two blocks of King Drive with Holiday lights, from 55th Street to 87th.

“Right now we need people to donate as many lights as possible because we want people from Mars to look down and say (expletive), man, King Drive on the South Side of Chicago looks beautiful, instead of what they're saying now. King Drive, on the South Side of Chicago, looks under-resourced,” Cole said.

Cole is asking Chicagoans to donate lights, extension cords and ladders to participating families. For two Saturdays, starting December 1st, volunteers will help those families decorate their homes.

Residents who agree to have their homes decorated will be eligible for a $25-dollar subsidy to cover the electric bills.

Residents in the area, where some stretches are plagued by poverty, seemed enthusiastic about the idea.

People interested in making donations or volunteering can learn more at ForMyBlock.org.