Volunteers across the nation: Nashville's The Big 98 WSIX big event Hands On Network affiliates work nationwide Ohio's First Lady Frances Strickland kicked off the day South Carolina women's shelter gets help

Millions of volunteers went to work on Make A Difference Day, the largest national day of helping others

By Patricia Kime
USA WEEKEND Magazine

Saturday, millions didn't wait for a transfer of presidential leadership to change America. On Make A Difference Day, the nation's largest single day of volunteerism, more than 3 million people did thousands of charitable acts for others.

In Alexandria, Va., Carrie Price, who is 83 and uses a walker and wheelchair to get around, felt the change as her century-old home was winterized by volunteers from a local apartment community. "When I woke up this morning and looked out the window," she said, "I saw 80 people, white and black, out there. I was so uplifted. Things are different!"

Events across the nation ... In Nashville, Randy Owen, lead singer of the legendary band Alabama, performs a special concert in Hall of Fame Park to thank The Big 98 Make A Difference Day volunteers for their good work. Photo by Michael Krouskop, (C) 2008.

Make A Difference Day, held the fourth Saturday of every October, is a national day of volunteerism created 18 years ago by USA WEEKEND Magazine to encourage service. "We're in a tough economy right now and people are more sensitive to the fact that others are struggling. In this region and across the country, people might not have many dollars to give, but they still want to contribute, and we're seeing volunteer numbers increasing," said Marcia Bullard, USA WEEKEND President and CEO.

To continue the good begun this day, Make A Difference Day volunteers are eligible to receive $100,000 in charitable awards donated by Newman's Own. In addition, a free volunteer vacation will be awarded to the winner of a photo contest sponsored by Travelocity. Awards will be announced in April 2009. For details and to enter, visit Travelocity to submit your photo.

Projects ranged from the small -- like Brenda Michael-Haggard's effort to clean the storm drains in her Tulsa, Okla., neighborhood -- to the large -- as nearly 4,000 volunteers improved 88 Los Angeles County, Calif., neighborhoods.

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A look at Make A Difference Day action:

-- In Nashville, volunteers painted the halls at a middle school, spruced up a homeless shelter and renovated a garden at Cumberland Elementary School. In

Chuck Socma, a Hands On Nashville volunteer, and Randy Owen, lead signer of the legendary group Alabama, sort books available for sale at the ThirftSmart thrift store in Nashville. Photo by Michael Krouskop, (C) 2008.

past years, Cumberland volunteers painted the school's interior, renovated the playground and fixed railings. This year, the volunteers watched torrential rains pass through in time to weed and mulch garden beds. "I appreciate every little bit of help I get," said Cumberland Principal Renita Perkins. The Music City USA volunteers later were treated to a meal in the city's Hall of Fame Park and entertained by country music legend Randy Owen, the former lead singer of Alabama and a lifelong volunteer. Earlier in the day, Owen worked at Safe Haven Family Shelter, swinging a hammer alongside other motivated volunteers. "Some people feel like they should volunteer: I feel the need to do it. It's something that goes back to the very roots of my life, when my mamma and daddy helped others, whether it be bringing in the crops for others or providing food for neighbors in a time of need."

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-- Nationwide, Hands On Network affiliates embraced the day, with projects underway at more than 100 sites. Among those were nearly 50 volunteers

A clean-up in DC at the Marvin Gaye Park included volunteers from Howard University with project support from Washington Parks and People and Greater DC Cares. Photo by Sarah Claxton, USA WEEKEND

in the nation's capital, who braved threatening skies to clean Marvin Gaye Park in an oft-overlooked city quadrant. Across town, on the campus of Gallaudet University -- the nation's only liberal arts university for the deaf -- 400 volunteers, from City Year Washington DC, Gonzaga College High School, the university and others -- painted the interior and built shelves at Kendall Demonstration Elementary School and Model Secondary School for the Deaf, on-campus schools that serve the deaf community from infancy through high school.

Greater DC Cares, HandsOn Network, USA WEEKEND Magazine, First Book, and Washington Parks & People came together for the Marvin Gaye Park beautification project on Make A Difference Day 2008. Photo by Sarah Claxton, USA WEEKEND

-- Across Northern Virginia, the rain couldn't stop volunteers from AvalonBay apartment communities who winterized the homes of seniors and low-income homeowners. This marks the first year AvalonBay has thrown its weight behind Make A Difference Day, urging more than 50,000 residents at 183 apartment communities in 10 states to do a good turn on the day. "The 'Spirit of Caring' is a core value of AvalonBay, and we are happy to contribute to this important day with the strength and goodwill of our communities," said AvalonBay chairman Bryce Blair in a release.

-- Nationally, ServiceNation used the day to urge people to sign its Declaration of Service, a pledge to embrace a lifestyle that includes a pillar of public service. Signatories already include First Lady Laura Bush, Michelle Obama, Cindy McCain and the group's youth chairman, the singer Usher.

-- Globally, the organization Peacejam aims to persuade groups and individuals to perform 1 billion grass-roots volunteer projects in the next 10 years, including a decade of Make A Difference Days. In Stevenson, Md., near Baltimore, Nompumelelo Ngomane, 15, and her classmates rolled up their shirtsleeves at St. Timothy's School and helped inner city kids plant daffodil bulbs -- part of a larger project to create a peace garden and sustainable organic vegetable bed at the facility. Mungi, as she's known, is the granddaughter of Nobel Laureate Desmond Tutu. "We're hoping that what we can teach them will help keep them out of violence and gangs in their area," Mungi said. In Mount Pleasant, Texas, Jessie McDowell, 16, rallied a group of friends to run a food drive, penny drive and bake sale at a local supermarket for food pantries in east Texas. McDowell began collecting pennies in January for local charities, and after hearing about PeaceJam from her principal at Chapel Hill High School, embraced its message and planned her Make A Difference Day project. "I do this because I can relate," McDowell says. "My dad lost his job a couple of years ago and I know what it's like to be the person who is hungry and the cabinets in the kitchen are empty."

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-- In Ohio, aa state with 315 officially registered Make A Difference Day projects, Ohio First Lady Frances Strickland kicked off events on Oct. 24, reading to children at the Hilltop-Cherry Creek YMCA in Columbus and helping them make cards for Nationwide Children's Hospital. Strickland also helped the youngsters make cards Nationwide Children's Hospital. "The thing I liked most about this YMCA program is these children are using their desire to help and matter to other children to boost their own reading skills. What a beautiful thing to see!" Strickland said. In Columbus, Michael Sayre, a professor of emergency medicine at Ohio State University, led a team of trainers in CPR training, defibrillator use and awareness of sudden cardiac arrest. The hour-long training, sponsored by Take Heart America, Medtronic Inc. and the Medtronic Foundation is proven to save lives, Sayre said.

-- In Troy, N.Y., the Rev. Willie D. Bacote and volunteers from Core Church swept clean a mile-long stretch of 5th Avenue. Bacote, who runs a street ministry that provides hot meals to kids three times a week, says the work is symbolic of his larger effort to get guns and violence off the streets. "Mainly, this is about teaching kids responsibility, care, love and concern for each other and their fellow man," he said.

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-- In Columbia, S.C., Army Capt. Candace Hurley mobilized a cadre to help SisterCare Inc., a program that provides services for battered women and their children. Hurley and volunteers delivered funds, toiletries, cleaning supplies and paper goods to the organization.

-- In Owosso, Mich., more than 400 families had food on the table Saturday night thanks to the Mid-Michigan Food Bank, which delivered canned goods, fruits, vegetables and frozen meat to those attending a health fair at Memorial Healthcare Center. Enabled by a new refrigerated truck donated this week to the food bank from the Ford Foundation and Newman's Own, director Dave Karr said the organization is now able to deliver more healthy foods to its rural clients. "We'll be able to give frozen baked goods and meat -- meat is the prize," he said.

-- In Cedar Rapids, Iowa, a group of 250 poured 20,000 pounds of concrete, laid 14 regulation-sized basketball courts worth of safety surfacing and put up a playground to accommodate 7,500 children. The old one was wiped out by floods in June. The new park was made possible by support from Kaboom!, the Chrysler Foundation and local dealers.

-- Online, the NASCAR Foundation Volunteer NetworkedNetworked runs an online auction of driver memorabilia, with proceeds going to drivers' favorite charities. For more, visit nascar.com/foundation. Also online, the Gal To Gal Foundation held a virtual walk across America to raise funds for the families of those suffering from late-stage breast cancer. The walk-a-thon organizers Design-her Gals stationery company and the Gal to Gal Foundation had raised $62,000 by the start of Make A Difference Day and plan to run the event through Oct. 31. More than 3,400 walkers are strutting across cyberspace, many waling in memory of Dorit Shapiro, president of Gal to Gal Foundation, who succumbed to the disease on Oct. 12. For more, visit nascar.com/foundation.

-- Across the Pacific, teacher Lance Kita introduced Make A Difference Day to Japan. A former resident of Hawaii, he had participated back home and wanted to introduce the concept of nationwide service to his junior high school class. In their English class, students pledged to do volunteer works on what they call "My Matsushige Difference Day," in their community of Matsushige on the island of Shikoku. "The idea of just going out and volunteering your time is something that's a bit foreign to our students," Kita wrote. Students cleaned trash at the beach and in the ports, changed paper doors for those in need, and tried to expunge local waters of invasive species by fishing for non-native fish like bluegill, Kita said.

The next Make A Difference Day is Saturday, Oct. 24, 2009.

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