Make A Difference Day: Families make a difference

Spring cleaning in October

Robert Roche, 16, of Wexford, Pa., cleaned out not only his mother's attic, but also his aunt's. With the clothes he collected from them and neighbors, he and kid brother Danny, 9, delivered a trunk-load of items to the Light of Life Ministries shelter in nearby Pittsburgh.

A game becomes a love match

Kansas high school tennis player Teri Carlino, 15, and mom Robin collected old tennis balls for the Leavenworth County Infirmary to be used on seniors' walkers to stabilize and make them easier to push.

Making beautiful music

In Lewiston, Maine, brother and sister fiddlers Abby and Alex Wilkins, ages 11 and 10, serenaded residents of two nursing homes as well as homebound seniors with folk music from their youth.

Personal experience aids others

Lisa and Bart Burton of Grand Forks, N.D., parents of a now-healthy prematurely born child, made and delivered care packages of clothes, blankets and booties for "preemies" in the neo-natal intensive care units at two hospitals.

Families kick in together

Soccer players and friends Piper Traywick, 8, and Emily Miles, 9, of Tacoma, Wash., raised nearly $2,350 and donations of furniture and bedding for the Tacoma Rescue Mission by going door-to-door with other soccer families and writing letters for donations.