In this article: You can help others, too jPlease join in Make A Difference Day on Oct. 25 The NASCAR Foundation: Our 2008 teammate 2008 Make A Difference Day articles: NASCAR's Elliott Sadler on his charity work You can help others, too. By Jimmie Johnson. Ashley Judd: "Volunteering is spiritually rewarding." NASCAR's Kyle Petty on his Victory Junction camp and Paul Newman

Make A Difference Day

You can help others, too

By Jimmie Johnson

No matter where I am on the racing circuit, when wildfires break out in California, it hits home. I grew up in El Cajon, where many homes have been damaged, including the one where my family once lived.

To make a difference, on Aug. 26-27, my wife, Chandra, and I will host our second annual Jimmie Johnson Foundation golf tournament, dinner and auction in San Diego to benefit the local Habitat for Humanity. Our goal is to help families in need, including those affected by the wildfires, by providing them with a great place to live. Last year, we raised more than $500,000 to build two homes, the first of which will go to a family displaced by the fires. This year, we hope to do the same.

Like the countless people who volunteer on Make A Difference Day, Chandra and I have tried to do whatever we can since we launched our foundation in 2006. When we were getting started, I asked many of my fellow drivers for advice, good people like Kyle Petty and Jeff Gordon, and they told me that I was fortunate to be a part of NASCAR because there are so many opportunities to make a difference. Our fans are like no other fans in the world. I'll be signing autographs at a fundraising event, and fans will bring me checks as large as $10,000, or they'll just reach into their pockets and ask if it's OK if they give $5 because it's all they have. ("Of course it's OK!" I'll tell them. We appreciate all donations.) Once, our foundation got an envelope in the mail. We opened it up, and all of these coins fell out. It was all the change that an entire fifth-grade class could collect for us.

That sort of memory stays with you forever. It makes you realize why you make the effort. For more information, go to jimmiejohnsonfoundation.org.

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Please join in Make A Difference Day on Oct. 25

One day, millions of good deeds: Each year on the fourth Saturday of October, more than 3 million people help 20 million others. Join the action Oct. 25.

$100,000 for charity: USA WEEKEND and Newman's Own will salute Make A Difference Day volunteers by awarding $10,000 donations to charities selected by 10 national honorees.
Sponsors: USA WEEKEND's Make A Difference Day is in partnership with HandsOn Network.

For more information: Visit makeadifferenceday.com.

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The NASCAR Foundation: Our 2008 teammate

Start your engines!
The NASCAR Foundation Volunteer Network is the official teammate for USA WEEKEND's Make A Difference Day 2008. Through October, you'll read inspirational stories in thismagazine from some of NASCAR's hottest drivers. Stay tuned for Make A Difference Day messages on air, at the racetrack and at NASCAR.com/foundation.

Roll up your sleeves.
On Sept. 11, the NASCARFoundation hosts its third annual Blood & Marrow Drive, presented by Nationwide Insurance, atracetracks across the country. Partnering with the Jimmie Johnson Foundation and Hendrick Marrow Program, NASCAR hopes to surpass last year's collection of more than 3,400 pints of blood and 1,000-plus names added to the National Marrow DonorProgram Registry. To find aparticipating track, go to: NASCAR.com/foundation.