In this article: Action around the nation

MAKE A DIFFERENCE DAY A SPECIAL PREVIEW

One day becomes a lasting tradition

We preview April's celebration of volunteering with a salute to our family of long-term participants.

By Patricia Kime

Here at USA WEEKEND Magazine, we're already looking forward to our annual celebration of volunteering -- our April 21-23 Make A Difference Day Awards issue, now in production.

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This year, as in every year, we've received thousands of accounts of the volunteering done on Make A Difference Day, the nation's largest day of service, which last took place Oct. 22, 2005. And, as always, we're impressed with the many individuals and groups who reach out to others year after year.

Volunteerism is addictive, and we have the proof here. We hope you'll be inspired and refreshed by the following tales of caring:

"I wanted to keep doing it"
Take Nicholas Marriam, 13, in Clayton, N.C., and his cousin Shelby McKnew, 12, in Graysonville, Md. Ever since Nicholas was diagnosed with cancer in 1999, the two had wanted to help others. Once Nicholas entered remission, the pair began delivering toys, toiletries and necessities for patients and parents at Children's Hospital in Washington, D.C., where Nicholas was treated. Today, their project has expanded to Duke University and the University of North Carolina, and they plan to do more.

"When I was sick, I thought I'd never want to be involved with anything that had to do with cancer," Nicholas says. "But once I saw the look on kids' faces when we handed out the gifts, I knew I wanted to keep doing it."

At the other end of the age spectrum, Make A Difference Day continues to change the lives of septuagenarians Henry and Maida Apodaca. The couple planned to retire in Santa Fe, where they own land near the majestic Sangre de Cristo Mountains. Instead, they remain in El Paso to tend to their volunteer project: building homes for the desperately poor in Cuidad Juarez, Mexico, a city of 2 million that is divided from the United States by only a narrow lip of the Rio Grande. The couple's efforts, which began with a single house on Make A Difference Day 1997, tethers them to El Paso, keeping them busy in their retirement years. Over time, Make A Difference Day has even become an Apodaca family tradition, a reunion of sorts for extended family.

In Ozark, Ala., the day is a civic event. "What started in one Sunday school class in 1996 has become part of the fabric of the community," says Patty Fenn, a longtime participant from the town's First United Methodist Church.

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Long-term impact
In Danville, Va., the swim teams at George Washington High have been recognized by the local newspaper many times for their caring. The teams, now led by coach Louise Early, have participated for 15 years. They have raised money doing laps in the pool, collected aluminum pop tabs for Ronald McDonald House Charities, lopped off their hair for Locks of Love and provided free swimming lessons to hundreds of elementary school students. "This has had a long-term impact on our community," Early says, "because other projects have now been started by other organizations."

Middle school teacher Michael Willmarth in Napa, Calif., also has used the day to introduce students to a life of giving. For nine years, his kids, especially those in the Redwood Middle School Block R Club, have held a food drive to benefit the Napa Food Bank.

Calene Lucero, 44, of Ogden, Utah, has volunteered on Make A Difference Day for eight years. In 2005, she collected 300 pairs of flip-flops for villagers in the African nation of Ghana. She then traveled 7,000 miles to deliver them. The experience was life-altering: "It was unbelievable. To tell you the truth, I need to go back."

KaBOOM! has participated nationally in Make A Difference Day since Darell Hammond founded the play-space-building non-profit 10 years ago. The day, he says, "is a wonderful way for us to draw attention to the good works that are happening every day and invite new people into the spirit of service." KaBOOM! is coming back for the 11th time this October, restoring hurricane-damaged playgrounds on the Gulf Coast.