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ALABAMA

Decatur (Ala.) Daily. 1,000-plus volunteers built a 14,000-square-foot community playground.

Dothan Eagle. The Damascus Homemakers Club brought meals to shut-ins, visited a nursing home and taxied elderly neighbors to their medical appointments.

Gadsden Times. Tennessee Valley Family Services and the Youth Advisory Council of Guntersville gave beanbag toys to kids found properly buckled up at police roadblocks.

(Jasper) Daily Mountain Eagle. The Preceptor Alpha Epsilon chapter of Beta Sigma Phi gave $150 to a pregnancy crisis center.

Montgomery Advertiser. The Alpha Xi Zeta chapter of Zeta Phi Beta Sorority sponsored a health fair in Tuskegee to provide black residents free screenings for illness.

Opelika News. 140 volunteers inventoried and sorted some 32,000 books for disadvantaged youngsters.

Selma Times-Journal. The Progressive Culture Club and the Beloit Community Organization helped rake leaves, plant flowers and shrubs, and cut grass at the home of a needy family.

ARIZONA

Casa Grande Dispatch. Volunteers from the St. Michael and All Angels Mission beautified the grounds at the RTA Hospice center and gave each patient a hand-made afghan.

(Douglas) Sunday Dispatch. 110 volunteers beautified four churches by planting flowers, shrubs and trees, repainting exteriors, and even installing a sprinkler system in one yards.

(Flagstaff) Arizona Daily Sun. The Coconino High School ALL STAR Program held a scavenger hunt with special-education students and collected more than 500 toiletry and food items for charity.

Kingman Daily Miner. The youth groups and Sunday school classes at Grace Lutheran Church held a sock drive and collected more than 400 pairs.

(Lake Havasu) Today's News-Herald. Members of Alpha Chi Chi at Mohave Community College, along with a kids' karate class, visited three nursing homes.

Mesa Tribune. 70 members of the Valley of the Sun Chapter of the International Executive Housekeepers Association picked up garbage with the hope that their "random acts of cleanliness" would inspire others.

Prescott Courier. More than 30 volunteers organized a three-on-three" basketball tournament as a constructive activity for fathers and sons. The event attracted some 60 families.

(Scottsdale) Tribune Newspapers. Mountain View Elementary School held a basketball clinic to introduce the game to the school's many immigrant students.

Sierra Vista Herald. Volunteers from Cochise College raised money through a car wash to buy dressers, clothing, toiletries and toys for a children's center. They also landscaped its grounds, painted interior walls and repaired furniture.

Tucson Citizen. The League of United Latin American Citizens organized a health fair to provide immunizations, blood pressure checks, cholesterol tests, vision and hearing checks, and mammograms to more than 500 people.

ARKANSAS

(Blytheville) Courier News. Junior Girl Scout Troop No. 102 visited and entertained nursing home residents, then raked leaves.

(Fort Smith) Southwest Times Record. The Catholic Youth Ministries of St. Benedict's Church in Subiaco raised $1,895 at a rummage sale for a family economically devastated by an illness.

Harrison Daily Times. The Marion County Nursing Home Auxiliary raised $700 for the nursing home.

(Hot Springs) Sentinel-Record. The Ladies Auxiliary of VFW Post 10483 coordinated hospital visitations to relieve family members maintaining a bedside vigil for a relative injured in a car accident.

(Mountain Home) Baxter Bulletin. 30 members of VFW Post 5742 baked pies, bread and cupcakes for sick and aged veterans.

Paragould Daily Press. Employees of City Light, Water & Cable raised more than $3,000 through a garage sale, bake sale and car wash for charities, shelters and a child with cancer.

(Russellville) Courier. Volunteers from Seven Oaks Retirement Inn wrangled more than 60 country music stars to sign squares of cloth, which were made into a quilt that was auctioned off for $2,100 to benefit a shelter.

South Arkansas Sunday News. More than 300 students from El Dorado High School held a social fair for residents of two nursing homes.

(Springdale) Morning News of Northwest Arkansas. The Butterfield Trail Village Recyclers, a group of 30 residents from a Fayetteville retirement home, gave a demonstration to encourage other residents to recycle.

CALIFORNIA

(Chico, Calif.) Enterprise-Record. In addition to cleaning up city streets, volunteers held a Make A Difference Day celebration at Citrus Elementary School. In a "pumpkin exchange," children purchased Halloween pumpkins with donated canned goods. A penny carnival raised money to buy trees for city parks.

Contra Costa Times. Members of the Byron Delta Lions collected more than 2 tons of food for the Brentwood Community Chest Emergency Food Bank.

(El Cajon) Daily Californian. 250 volunteers took part in a community-wide cleanup and graffiti paint-out in Chula Vista.

(Fairfield) Daily Republic. Volunteers from the Fairfield First Ward Primary group organized a day of miniature golf for disabled kids and their families.

(Fremont) Argus. More than 400 volunteers cleaned up streets and waterways in Union City. Volunteers also did major yardwork at the Victorian house of a 94-year-old woman.

Glendale News-Press. Erik Corbett, 9, held a garage sale to raise $135 for J.D. Thornbury, his former school crossing guard, who is fighting cancer.

Hanford Sentinel. The Junior Girl Scout Troop of Lemoore baked six dozen dog biscuits and collected 700 pounds of pet food and 300 pounds of cat litter for an animal shelter.

(Hayward) Daily Review. 14 members of the Prospect Neighborhood Association cleared an overgrown lot that had been planned for a park but never developed, filling a dumpster with weeds, vines and garbage.

Hemet News. The Salvation Army Hemet Corps organized a job fair where volunteers gave talks on everything from interviewing to overcoming barriers to employment, and passed out booklets with information on local employment resources and educational opportunities.

Lake County Record-Bee. Volunteers spruced up the Scotts Valley 4-H club building by laying new gravel in the parking lot, raking leaves and picking up trash.

Lompoc Record. Members of the Lompoc United Methodist Church read to children from a low-income area and helped out at a nursing home.

(Los Angeles) Daily News. 23 volunteers from the Sheenway School and Culture Center transformed a vacant building into a bakery for students to operate with the aim of igniting their entrepreneurial spirit.

Marin Independent Journal. More than 950 volunteers helped prepare and deliver meals to homebound AIDS patients, served lunch at a soup kitchen, and painted and landscaped a shelter.

(Marysville) Appeal-Democrat. 100 volunteers from the Marysville Youth and Civic Center installed an irrigation system at a new building that will serve as a place for social events. They also landscaped a 3-mile stretch of highway.

Merced Sun-Star. Marla Weathers and daughter Jessica collected 13 truckloads of women's and children's clothing, toiletries, shoes, coats and toys for four charities.

Napa Valley Register. The Junior League of San Francisco organized a fall carnival complete with pony rides, a petting zoo, pie tastings and a haunted house for 40 kids who do not live at home because their parents are in prison or drug rehab or otherwise are unable to care for them.

(Ontario) Inland Valley Daily Bulletin. 440 volunteers from Toastmaster International clubs collected 700 cans of food, more than 540 clothing items, 163 household items and 236 toys for charity.

Oroville Mercury-Register. 200 students from the Helen Wilcox School collected dog food for a shelter that had just acquired 100 sick or abused dogs.

(Palm Springs) Desert Sun. 75 volunteers from the Yucaipa Teen Center held a food drive, did home repairs for elderly and disabled citizens, and cleaned up parks and roadways.

(Palmdale) Antelope Valley Press. Members of the Catholic Daughters in Tehachapi decorated two bedrooms at a shelter for abused or neglected children with new bedspreads, curtains, decorations and toys.

(Pleasanton) Tri-Valley Herald. More than 230 elementary, middle and senior high school students cleaned up parks and waterways, and beautified public buildings throughout Pleasanton.

(Pleasanton) Valley Times. About 30 students from the Athenian School in Danville delivered Halloween bags filled with donated candy and toiletries to more than 100 AIDS patients.

(Porterville) Recorder. The American Legion Auxiliary in Delano held a yard sale to raise money for veterans programs and conducted a canned food drive for needy families.

Sacramento Bee. The Ribota family raised more than $1,000 for victims of last year's hurricane in Acapulco, Mexico, by making more than 80 dozen tamales and selling them to family and friends.

(Salinas) Californian. 200 Girl Scouts from northern Monterey County collected nearly 1,000 winter coats for four shelters and charities.

San Bernardino County Sun. Education First volunteers organized a barbecue, with the help of local businesses, residents and public agencies, for 44 homeless children.

San Mateo County Times. 28 Junior Girl Scouts and Brownies, working with the Retired and Senior Volunteer Program of San Mateo County, visited four senior homes to meet with and entertain the residents.

Santa Cruz County Sentinel. WomenCARE organized a bowling benefit that raised more than $17,000 for programs that help women with cancer.

Santa Maria Times. Members of the Orcutt Lions Club and other volunteers served 1,200 chicken dinners at an all-day community barbecue, raising about $4,000 to help local schoolchildren attend science camp.

(Santa Monica) Outlook. 20 volunteers from the Side By Side community partnership helped a formerly homeless, wheelchair-bound woman renovate her apartment.

(Santa Rosa) Press Democrat. The Welfare League of Santa Rosa created 150 gift packages of toiletries for residents of three facilities serving abused, troubled and mentally disabled women and children.

(Tulare) Advance-Register. The staff at the Wells Fargo Bank in Tulare gave food, clothing and furniture to a poor migrant family with eight children.

Turlock Journal. Ed and Millie Conolley of Hilmar collected and refurbished hundreds of toys for needy children with the help of other family members.

Ukiah Daily Journal. Members of the Relief Society of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints collected some 200 magazines for a shelter, nursing homes and hospitals.

Visalia Times-Delta. Tulare County's first-ever "Citizenship Day" took place on Make A Difference Day. More than 400 volunteers from 50 organizations helped 3,000 immigrants take the first steps toward citizenship.

(Watsonville) Register-Pajaronian. St. Stephen's Merry Menders collected, cleaned and distributed 200 toys to the local police department to use to comfort children in distress.

(Woodland) Daily Democrat. Barbara Grady taught an elderly woman to use an old computer she had been given. The woman plans to use it to write her life history.

COLORADO

Denver Post. More than 400 volunteers and numerous organizations helped HOPE International Outreach and Prison Fellowship/ Angel Tree provide food, clothing, flu shots and car tuneups to some 5,000 needy families in six cities.

Durango Herald. 250 volunteers participated in a seven-day "building blitz" organized by Habitat for Humanity of La Plata County.

Fort Collins Coloradoan. More than 100 volunteers and several businesses helped with an open-house tour of artists' studios sponsored by the Kiwanis Club of Loveland, which raised more than $1,300 for a pediatric trauma program and an emergency medical fund for artists.

Montrose Sunday Press. Members of the International Order of the Rainbow for Girls cleaned library books and crocheted 35 lap robes for nursing home residents.

CONNECTICUT

(Bridgeport) Connecticut Post. The Milford Young Women's Club collected almost 3 tons of used clothing, toys, baby items, food and other items for local and overseas charities.

(Manchester) Journal Inquirer. Participants in the People Empowering People program of Rockville organized volunteers to harvest 1,000 pounds of vegetables from the fields of an agricultural college to benefit a food pantry.

(Meriden-Wallingford) Record-Journal. Students from the Washington Middle School Sign Language Club spent the day visiting and entertaining residents of a nursing home. They also collected $2,000 worth of food for charity.

(New Britain) Herald Press Sunday. The Human Services Student Association of Middlesex Community-Technical College held a food drive for several charities, collected baby items for a family advocacy program, and gathered winter clothes and more than 100 blankets for the homeless.

New Haven Register. Residents of Guilford filled their mailboxes with more than 6,000 pounds of food and toiletries that their mail carriers delivered to a food bank.

(Norwalk) Hour. More than 800 volunteers in Westport took on 60-plus projects, from holding blood and clothing drives to cleaning up parks and helping elderly residents with chores.

(Norwich) Sunday Bulletin. Girl Scouts from the Nipmuck Service Unit baked goods for a soup kitchen, collected and sorted clothing for charity, and sewed and filled 30 fabric bags with toys, books and stuffed animals for children entering foster care.

(Torrington) Register Citizen. The Center School and community of Litchfield raised $1,700 and collected more than 300 books for a flood-devastated North Dakota elementary school.

DELAWARE

(Wilmington) Sunday News Journal. Volunteers from nearly a dozen area churches and surrounding communities worked two days to replace the rotting roof at the Seaford Revival Center Mission.

DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA

Washington Times. Seven women and five children at Hannah House, a home for women in recovery from substance abuse, raked leaves and picked up eight bags of trash in a park known for loitering and drug deals.

FLORIDA

(Boca Raton, Fla.) News. More than 250 volunteers from Lake Worth cleaned up streets, painted over graffiti and did yardwork, landscaping and painting for dozens of elderly and disabled citizens.

Bradenton Herald. 35 students from the Ringling Art School held an art fair for low-income children, who finger-painted, worked with watercolors and sculpted with clay.

Charlotte Harbor Sun Herald. 92 volunteers from 4-H clubs across Charlotte County brought their musical talents and pets to five nursing homes. Others planted trees for the Bread of Life Mission.

(Crystal River) Citrus County Chronicle. 36 members of the Creative Quilters club sewed 732 wheelchair and walker bags for elderly residents at 26 care facilities.

(Daytona Beach) Sunday News Journal. 100-plus Citrus Council Girl Scouts collected hundreds of canned goods for a food pantry.

Hernando Today. 33 children from The Hillside Estates public housing were treated to a K-mart shopping spree and breakfast by the Junior Service League. The children, ages 5 to 11, earned shopping points by being a part of Camp Read-A-Lot, a program organized by Hernando's Education for Adult Readers in Training, to encourage literacy and help with homework.

(Melbourne) Florida Today. Prior to Make A Difference Day, Christian Lopetz, 7, made a presentation to the women's club at his condo complex asking for food donations. He collected three shopping carts full of food for a homeless shelter.

(Fort Myers) News-Press. 125 students, parents and teachers from Three Oaks Middle School donated toiletries, art supplies, books and clothing to a domestic violence shelter. Eighty other volunteers painted and recarpeted the shelter, did yardwork and repaired its playground.

Key West Citizen. Brownie Troop No. 434 held a food drive, enlisting 65 businesses. The girls collected 2,200 items for a soup kitchen.

(Leesburg) Daily Commercial. The American Legion Auxiliary Unit No. 331 collected six carloads of household items and clothes for a domestic violence shelter and a homeless shelter.

(Panama City) News Herald. The Woman's Club of Panama City collected more than $14,000 worth of clothing, food, household items, books, toys and school supplies for six charities.

Pensacola News Journal. 400 students from Pensacola Catholic High School organized fall festivals at seven elementary schools without active PTAs; 3,000 families attended the events.

(Sebring) Highlands Today. The VFW Post No. 10285 collected more than 250 cans of food and raised $600 for needy families and charities.

St. Augustine Record. The St. Joseph Academy Varsity Cheerleading Squad spent the day painting the outside of a crisis pregnancy center.

GEORGIA

Albany Sunday Herald. Miller Brewing, other businesses and city agencies worked together to offer a tour of a hospital, plant and retail store for 20 welfare recipients, providing information on training and employment opportunities -- and the chance to apply for jobs on the spot.

(Cartersville) Daily Tribune News. After Georgia Power's Plant Bowen in Cartersville donated a trailer to a senior living in substandard housing, employees raised money to move and renovate it. Materials were donated, and plant workers provided the labor.

(Dalton) Daily Citizen-News. For the fourth year, the Bagley Middle School Beta Club coordinated a food drive; 1,100 items were collected for an American Red Cross pantry.

(Dublin) Courier Herald. Trinity Christian School students collected 200 winter coats for needy families, while the eighth-grade Bible class made treat bags for hospitalized kids.

(Gainesville) Times. Nearly 100 Gainesville students, Cub Scouts, businesses and others helped with a used-frame sale organized by the Purple House Gallery, raising more than $300 for Meals on Wheels.

Griffin Daily News. At Taylor Street Middle School, more than 80 sixth-graders in Shirley Kelley's social studies classes decorated boxes and filled them with toys, toiletries, food and other items they had collected for children at a homeless shelter.

Marietta Daily Journal. Three employees of Power Engineering Associates in Marietta collected clothes, food, toys and other items from colleagues in their office complex. The 500-plus items were donated to three local charities.

(Milledgeville) Union-Recorder. Thousands of residents -- including students, Scouts, businesspeople and veterans -- of Milledgeville and Baldwin County took on more than 100 projects such as blood and food drives, and efforts to help unwed mothers and the homeless.

Rome News-Tribune. As 50 neighbors cleaned a 10-block area, coordinator Lou Hack went door to door with a police officer, giving out safety and crime prevention information.

(Warner Robins) Sunday Sun. More than 600 volunteers pitched in on projects including a health fair, clothing drive, teen center renovation and drug prevention fair.

HAWAII

(Hilo) Hawaii Tribune-Herald. Meka Eastman of Kurtistown asked friends and family to bring non-perishable food items in lieu of gifts to her 50th birthday party, then donated the 207 pounds of food collected to a food bank.

Honolulu Advertiser. At Hickam Air Force Base, 300 service families made badly needed renovations to 23 aging military housing units on the base, saving taxpayers thousands in contracted labor costs. Volunteers also pledged to make it an ongoing project.

(Kailua-Kona) West Hawaii Today. Members of the Aloha Quilting Guild of Kailua-Kona decorated and donated baby quilts to crisis centers, made teddy bears for police officers to give to children during times of crisis, and collected food for a food bank.

(Lihue) Garden Island. 236 youths and adults from a variety of neighborhoods and organizations picked up 500 pounds of trash from 15 beaches around the island of Kaua'i.

IDAHO

(Boise) Idaho Statesman. Members of the K-K 4-H Club in Kuna hosted a day of horseback riding, hayrides, rodeo feats and more for 200 children in the community who are victims of crime or are homeless.

Coeur d'Alene Press. Girl Scout Troop No. 444 collected more than 200 stuffed animals to give to police to comfort children who are victims of accidents, domestic violence or other traumatic events. Toys also were donated to a homeless shelter and a free clinic.

ILLINOIS

(Alton) Telegraph. Members of the Missionary Society at Unity Fellowship Church in Alton collected and delivered hundreds of supplies for 150 needy students.

(Arlington Heights) Daily Herald. Long Grove resident Nancy Burgess organized collection drives yielding 100 boxes and bags of clothing, 5,000 books and 13 bags of toys. She also held an essay contest for kids and raised $425 through a raffle.

(Aurora) Beacon-News. 800 students and teachers from Thompson Middle School in St. Charles collected clothing, toiletries and food for shelters and a food pantry; cleaned up a stretch of the Fox River; cleared parts of a forest preserve; and made 150 craft items and 125 greeting cards for nursing home residents.

Carmi Times. Organized by the Carmi Lions Club, 1,066 volunteers from churches, clubs, youth groups and businesses cleaned 14 miles of highway and city streets; collected food, clothing and blankets for the needy; made holiday baskets for shelter residents; and donated 1,000 books for preschoolers.

(Champaign) News-Gazette. The Volunteer Center of East Central Illinois, with the help of The News-Gazette and other groups in Champaign County, rallied 3,500 people to collect 45,000 items of clothing, furniture, toiletries, books, school supplies, baby necessities and household items for needy clients.

(Chicago) Daily Southtown. Led by the Oak Lawn-Hometown Schools PTA Council, 2,000 students collected and donated 1,500 toys and books to the Pediatric Oncology Treasure Chest Foundation to benefit children and teens with cancer.

Chicago Sun-Times. Friends Animal Assisted Therapy volunteers took six youngsters from Rice Center in Evanston, a state-run home for children who are wards of the court, to a Chicago dog care facility to learn and interact with the animals.

(Crystal Lake) Sunday Northwest Herald. In his fourth Make A Difference Day project, Jamie Farmer, 15, recruited 40 volunteers for a candy sale that raised $1,450 for Turning Point, a domestic violence agency in Woodstock.

(Danville) Commercial-News. 100 volunteers from schools, churches, civic groups and businesses in Vermilion County collected $10,000 worth of food for the Danville Area Food Pantry in a community drive sponsored by Danville County Market and The Commercial-News.

(DeKalb) Daily Chronicle. Diane DeMers, joined by her two young children, relatives, friends and neighbors in 17 states, raised $1,400 for air-conditioning units at Williams-Sullivan High School in poverty-stricken Durant, Miss. Students there often suffered temperatures topping 100 degrees.

(Dixon) Telegraph Weekender. Student leaders and volunteers at Rock Falls' East Coloma School led 1,000 students and church members in collecting 3,320 pounds of food for two pantries -- doubling last year's effort.

(Elgin) Courier-News. 200 Cub Scouts, Girl Scouts and student leaders at Ferson Creek Elementary School in St. Charles collected $400 in pennies to help support a Habitat for Humanity home being built in Elgin.

(Galesburg) Register-Mail. Led by the Warren County YMCA, 400 children and adults from Monmouth and surrounding areas renovated a refuge shelter for homeless and abused women and kids; donated food for the needy; picked up litter; painted and insulated a house for Habitat for Humanity; and entertained nursing home residents.

Jacksonville Journal-Courier. 114 members of the Jacksonville High School Student Alliance collected 10 large boxes of food for the Spirit of Faith Church and Soup Kitchen. They also raised $650 to help the church build a gym for a poor community.

(Joliet) Herald-News. Supported by donated materials and funds, 20 volunteers from Helping Hands in the Village of Channahon renovated a woman's badly deteriorated flood-damaged home.

(Kankakee) Sunday Journal. The Gilman Woman's Club raised $352 and collected 3,719 food items for the local G.O.D.'s Food Pantry, which feeds needy families.

(La Salle-Peru) News Tribune. 10 hearing-impaired McKinley preschoolers helped organize a food and clothing drive for a homeless shelter, passing out fliers, painting collection boxes, sorting and delivering items.

(Moline) Dispatch. 40 members of Royal Neighbors of America in Moline and Rock Island helped elderly residents repair and winterize their homes.

Mount Vernon Register-News. The Dahlgren Star Challengers 4-H Club donated 250 backpacks, lunch boxes and school supplies for needy children at Dahlgren School.

Rockford Register Star. St. Mark Lutheran Church's High School Youth Group led 100 children and adults in collecting 1,000 playpens, strollers, car seats and other baby supplies for needy teenage moms who receive counseling and aid at Rockford MELD (Mother's Establishing Life's Direction).

Rock Island Argus. 35 members of Fort Armstrong Camping Club delivered 150 bags of toiletries to a homeless shelter, a safe house for abused women and kids, a home for AIDS patients and two health care facilities.

(Waukegan) News-Sun. 10 high school students and three adult leaders from the youth group of the First United Methodist Church collected 1,875 pounds of clothing, shoes and blankets for needy Oglala Sioux families at Pine Ridge Indian Reservation in Wanblee, S.D.

(West Frankfort) Daily American. Girl Scout Troop No. 2 collected 242 pairs of eyeglasses for the local Lions Club to donate to the needy.