Move ahead

"Overcome evil with acts of good," President Bush urges. Here are a few ways to take local action in this national movement.

Picking up the pieces of lives shattered by Sept. 11 is an immense undertaking. That's why John Bridgeland, executive director of President Bush's USA Freedom Corps, wants each American to lend a hand. The new federal program asks for at least 4,000 hours of service from each citizen, or two years of one's life, to foster a culture of compassion. (Go to usafreedomcorps.gov to create a journal to track your progress.) "The hope is to get Americans to pause and ask, 'What's going to be my great service to my community and my country over the course of my lifetime?' " Bridgeland says. "We want to change behavior" to help the nation recover from not only terrorism, but also what the administration calls a 30-year drop in volunteerism.

The belief that any one of us can make a difference is half the battle. For years, USA WEEKEND Magazine has urged readers to give of themselves for the greater good on the fourth Saturday in October. And it was longtime Make A Difference Day participant Bob Van Oosterhout, a 52-year-old psychologist from Harrison, Mich., who took the challenge to heart five days after the Sept. 11 attacks by e-mailing his U.S. senator, Debbie Stabenow, to suggest that Americans join hands to honor each victim. That idea gave rise to the Unity in the Spirit of America Initiative, adopted by Congress in January. Working with the Points of Light Foundation -- brainchild of the elder President Bush -- volunteer centers nationwide are looking for citizens to plan 5,000 projects, each in honor of Sept. 11 victims.

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In honor of the passengers and crew of Flight 93: The entire state of North Carolina is sponsoring volunteer projects on Oct. 26 to commemorate the airliner that went down in Pennsylvania. "We were so impressed by their courage," says one organizer. "They put the world ahead of themselves, which is what Make A Difference Day is all about."

In honor of service-industry workers who died Sept. 11: A 6-mile "Crop Walk" in Round Rock, Texas, on Make A Difference Day aims to raise $10,000 to restock a food pantry and help fund the Church World Service, which gave post-attack counseling and still feeds the hungry in Afghanistan.

In honor of Marjorie Salamone, an Army budget analyst who died in the Pentagon and counted the Girl Scouts among her charities: Delmar, Md., Junior Girl Scout Troop 81 will assemble activity bags for pediatric patients on Oct. 26.