Make A Difference Day: Businesses make a difference

Five retailers join forces.

Normally fierce competitors, five retailers in Dubuque, Iowa, joined forces for a good cause on Make A Difference Day. Target, Wal-Mart, Kmart, Venture and Tysons raised $1,200 from the sale of root beer floats to benefit a local food pantry. Another $4,000 worth of paper products was collected by Target and Younkers, a local department store.

Five Chicago workers help area residents.

In their second effort for Make A Difference Day, 1,100 Chicago Transit Authority employees united with other city agencies to beautify the city, including picking up six tons of garbage.

Baltimore coalition cleans up.

The Corporate Volunteer Council of Central Maryland and 125 volunteers from Baltimore area companies and organizations joined together for a one-day cleanup project. The entire interior of a local shelter's bedrooms, bathrooms and hallways were painted, repaired and cleaned. Picnic tables and flower boxes were constructed for the shelter courtyard. A collection drive provided linens, children's toys and toiletries for the shelter.

Wal-Mart welcomes volunteers.

Across the U.S., hundreds of Wal-Marts helped volunteers collect money and items for the needy outside their stores. In Tulsa, homeless musician Ed Dixon raised $1,000 at an outdoor concert for a struggling shelter; Southwestern Bell Pioneers distributed free gun locks at the McAlester, Okla. store.

Computer company helps kids.

Hewlett-Packard employees paired up with the U.S. Air Force Academy, Peterson Air Force Base and Fort Carson to help needy kids in Colorado Springs.

Dressing for success.

In Washington, D.C., Jos. A Bank Clothiers teamed up with volunteers from the Washington Hospital Center to give away 200 suits and other new clothes to the needy and out-of-work, and sponsored a job-search boutique as well, taking applications for employment at the hospital.