Ray LaHood shovels trash; Arne Duncan paints walls

Not exactly what you’d expect the president of the United States and members of his Cabinet to be doing on a Monday morning.

{mosads}But those are just some of the things Obama administration officials volunteered to do, all across the region, in honor of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s National Day of Service.

President Barack Obama and his wife Michelle, daughters Sasha and Malia and first grandmother Marian Robinson all helped serve meals to the hungry at So Others Might Eat. The girls poured coffee while the president served fried chicken.

Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood picked up trash near the Washington Navy Yard, part of a clean-up project on behalf of Living Classrooms.

Education Secretary Arne Duncan and Corporation for National and Community Service acting CEO Nicky Goren helped paint the walls at Ron Brown Middle School, along with participants in the City Year program.

And Nancy Sutley, chairwoman of the Council on Environmental Quality, canvassed the neighborhood, going door-to-door with Weatherize D.C. talking to District residents and making the case for weatherizing their homes.

Also feeding the hungry and homeless Monday were Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner (Washington Hebrew Congregation), Attorney General Eric Holder (Church of the Epiphany), Secretary of Veterans Affairs Eric Shinseki (D.C. Central Kitchen) and Peace Corps director Aaron Williams (Miriam’s Kitchen).

 Interior Secretary Ken Salazar and National Parks Service director John Jarvis helped clean up the D.C. War Memorial on the National Mall, and Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius visited kids with H1N1 flu at the Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial Library.