Planting hope.
Clifton Giddings, 13, and other Goshen teens set out three years ago to make their impoverished farming town more kid-friendly. The community had hundreds of kids, dozens of trash-strewn lots but no playgrounds. The first year, they cleared 40 cubic yards of litter on Make A Difference Day. This year, it took 13 trips to the dump to haul away what 300 volunteers collected: 40 tons of garbage, 1,000 tires and 5,000 pounds of hazardous waste. On a lot once teeming with trash, teens planted 15 trees the start, they hope, of a community park.
Blazing a trail of compassion
Nick Blankenburg, 17, was paralyzed from the chest down in a car accident weeks before Make A Difference Day; his family has no health insurance. The town of Flagstaff, Ariz., responded by organizing outdoor projects to clean up Nick's favorite hiking trails and by raising $17,000 for his medical bills. At the project site, volunteers could give to the community and also to a fund for Nick. Even elementary school children donated funds raised in their "Nickels for Nick" drive.
Giving care to a homeless shelter
Encouraging dreams. Working with the Muldrow, Okla., librarian and local school teachers, Kyle Alderson, then 14, launched a teens-tutoring-kids program dubbed READ (Reading Encourages All Dreams). On Make A Difference Day, 30 struggling readers in grades 1-4 met at the Muldrow Library with Kyle and 27 high school students for their first session. The tutors and their pupils continue to meet weekly, and the teens have become role models and friends to the youngsters.
Restoring a park.
Forty middle school students joined forces with Eagle Scout candidate Preston Campbell to beautify a Fort Myers, Fla., park that had been vandalized by arsonists in August. The students raised $1,400 to install a butterfly garden and planted 143 bushes, flowers and exotic specimens.
Building a playhouse.
Ten Mount Airy, N.C., High School Jayteens brought hammers, nails and saws to the Meadowview Community Center to erect a playhouse for 75-plus Hispanic children who play at the center daily while their parents take language courses.
Connecting generations.
Teens Rachel Wolf and Nicole Noteboom connected seven Bellingham, Wash., elementary school children with six high school seniors in a pen-pal program that began with a potluck on Make A Difference Day. Each month, the kids and seniors exchange letters on a specific topic, such as "My Most Memorable Thanksgiving."
Feeding shut-ins.
Richard Gold, 16, of Congregation Beth El Synagogue in Cherry Hill, N.J., organized 300 volunteers and the cooking of 700 kosher meals for the emergency Kosher Food Bank of Philadelphia, which delivers to shut-ins and the elderly.
Making a homeless shelter homey.
Led by 13-year-old Christi Stoker, four best friends from Blissfield, Mich., recruited 475 volunteers and collected supplies to give a face lift to a homeless shelter. On Make A Difference Day, the entire 45-room Family House was upgraded with loving touches such as new paint jobs, wallpaper and wallpaper borders. At dayΉs end, $300 in donations were left, which the girls used to help a teen and her mom settle into a new apartment.
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