Other Make a Difference Day celebs:
Writer Anchee Min on the value of education
Wally Lamb brings the expressiveness of writing to prison inmates
Bestselling author Matthew Klam is enriched by a handicapped child
Robert Putnam, writer of Bowling Alone, is optimistic toward youth
Mitch Albom, author of Tuesdays With Morrie, finds his late teacher's words live on.
Christopher Paul Curtis, author of Bud, Not Buddy, hails a hero he overlooked -- his dad.
Marc Parent, Turning Stones author, makes a difference to a dying woman's cat.
Ana Castillo, poet and author, tells how a gathering replenishes women who make a difference.
Ann Hood, author of Ruby and the upcoming Do Not Go Gentle: My Search for Miracles in a Cynical Time, comforts the spirit by feeding the sad, the lost and the lonely.
Justin Timberlake makes a difference through music
Wish You Well writer David Baldacci, learns a lesson from young writers
Patricia Cornwell, writer of The Last Precinct recalls what a world-renowned evangelist did for a scared little girl

It's a universal idea:

Improve the world

Arthur author Marc Brown makes a difference.

In the kids' book Arthur's Halloween, trick-or-treaters shy away from a run-down house, convinced a witch lives inside. But when the young hero discovers old Mrs. Tibble simply can't keep up her house anymore, he recruits helpers in Make A Difference Day style, promising, "See you next Saturday to rake the leaves!"

Pulling together is a familiar story to the millions involved in helping the elderly, feeding the hungry, teaching children and finding countless other ways to make others' lives better on Make A Difference Day. This year, the nation's largest day of volunteering takes place Saturday, Oct. 28.

Arthur creator Marc Brown believes that, while children must be taught to read, "kids have a natural tendency to want to help others. It's only as we grow up that we start to put roadblocks in front of that inclination." On Make A Difference Day, he and his alter ego, Arthur the aardvark, will join a Boston-based project as part of Pizza Hut's national reading program, "Book It," which urges students to perform good "literacy" deeds that day.

Simultaneously, families, governments and groups across America will make a difference in their communities.

Ohio Gov. Bob Taft and first lady Hope are working to spur at least 500 helping projects across their state. "What better way to get people involved and to realize the benefits to all than through Make A Difference Day! I felt local synergy could be had from tying in with a national event," says Hope Taft, who will tour the busy sites by bus.

Los Angeles Mayor Richard Riordan plans to tour newly cleaned-up neighborhoods by bike as part of his "Make A Difference LA." The event, co-sponsored by the city's Jewish Federation, culminates Sunday, Oct. 29, a date that's kosher for any volunteer with a Saturday religious conflict.

Volunteers in New Jersey and 13 additional states have adopted a tiny, touching project created last year by three kids in Sparks, Nev. Siblings Kristal and Trevor DeRuise and their friend Diana Vaden, whose mother suffers from lupus, painted and decorated little round rocks as ladybugs. By selling the "Lucky Ladybugs for Lupus," the 8- and 10-year-olds have raised $12,500 for lupus research.

Project America, a consultant group, expects to mobilize 150,000 people to renovate homes and act as mentors. "We believe in college students," says executive director Britt Dunaway, recently a student himself. With clients such as Sigma Phi Epsilon, a 14,000-member fraternity on 260 campuses, "we'll help connect young people with their communities."

Make A Difference Day is universal: 30 Klingons will invade West Chicago, Ill., to collect food and clothing for four charities. These Star Trek fans in full makeup and costume "enjoy messing with the public mind," explains Lt. Cmdr. Marstoq, a k a Jim DeJan of Plainfield, Ill., "and in the meantime we are doing some good. If we can shame a couple of Teragnan [humans] into doing the same thing, then we're happy."

-- Terry Byrne