SAN DIEGO -- From gathering for breakfast to sharing work, San Diegans Monday celebrated the legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King, amid preparations across the country for the inauguration of Barack Obama as president.

About 25 organizations teamed up to put on the 21st annual "All People's Breakfast" at Golden Hall with a theme of "Why We Can't Wait."

Obama's inauguration as the nation's first black president held added significance for people celebrating the holiday.

"There was a promise made in that that you can be anything that you wanted to be, and I told my children that," Ashley Walker of the San Diego Human Relations Commission told a local TV station. "And tomorrow, it appears that what I told my children was not a lie."

Children will see the promise will become reality when Obama takes office, Walker said.

"It just means that anything is possible and you can reach for the stars," attendee Jennifer Blackmon said. "I could be president one day possibly and we can have a woman black president."

The breakfast included a number of speakers and a gospel choir.

There was also a community breakfast held by the United African American Ministerial Action Council.

Hundreds of people came together to clean a Balboa Park canyon of overgrown brush while Kaiser Permanente employees volunteered at the San Diego Food Bank.

Volunteers with the University of San Diego helped to renovate Hannah's House -- a family shelter in North Park, and San Diego State University held a luncheon for the holiday.

For more events happening Monday, click here.