Life is full of broken promises, according to the Rev. Dr. Gregory M. Howard, pastor of First Baptist Church East End in Newport News.

“We have all been promised a piece of the American pie… that never materialized,” said Howard, guest speaker at the Suffolk City-Wide Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Day Celebration on Monday.

An overflowing crowd of about 500 packed Metropolitan Baptist Church for the community church service honoring the slain civil rights leader’s legacy.

King is best remembered for his August 1963 “I Have a Dream” speech, in which he calls for an end to racism and makes the famous reference to his “dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character.” King, winner of the Nobel Peace Prize in 1964, was assassinated in April 1968.

“With broken promises, we are more emboldened to power our own destinies, to take control of our own lives,” Howard said. “We can do great things in spite of our positions, in spite of broken promises.

“…Today, we lift up Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Thank God for that drum major of justice who marched from Selma to Montgomery.”

During Monday’s program, event organizers presented their annual Suffolk Community Service Award to Suffolk native George Lee Richards, a retired government worker.

Organizer Benford Hunter Jr. said Richards — a member of the Suffolk Planning Commission for 25 years — was selected because of his volunteerism in church and community activities.

Richards has been active in First Baptist Church Mahan Street for 81 years, serving as a deacon for 60 years. He is a past Sunday School superintendent and teacher, Hunter said. He is also a former leader of Boy Scout Troop 52 and has served in several community organizations, including the Suffolk chapter of the American Cancer Society and the local chapter of the Sickle Cell Anemia Society. Richards is a lifetime member of the NAACP and an advocate and volunteer for Oak Lawn Cemetery, the city’s oldest cemetery for blacks.

Event organizers also presented their I Have a Dream award to the Suffolk and Vicinity Association of Ministers’ Wives and Ministers’ Widows.

That organization logged more than 300 hours of community service in 2015, including spending time with elderly and transporting patients to medical appointments, organizers stated.