Regional Honorees for projects done Oct. 26, 2002
States N-O-P
States R-S-T
States U-W
Prominent participants
Also:
States A-M
2003 National Awards
Encore Honoree: Repeated excellence with Make A Difference Day
How you, too, can participate

Local heroes

NEBRASKA

Beatrice Daily Sun. Covering 4 communities, the Pioneer Foster Grandparent Program collected 1,652 pounds of staple foods from 9 volunteer stations, enough to feed 500 families.
Columbus Telegram. From Pack 279, 4 1st-grade Tiger Cub Scouts visited and read to residents of Beverly Healthcare nursing home, while 5 2nd-grade Wolf Cub Scouts collected $71 door-to-door in a big plastic baby bottle to buy baby supplies and educational material for Youth of Christ's teen moms mentoring program.
Fremont Tribune. Girl Scouts from Prairie Hills Service Unit 11 donated 130 items to the Low Income Ministry food pantry that they collected the day before as admission to a Harry Potter-themed Halloween party for younger Scouts.
Grand Island Independent. 15 members of the Mormon Church, Grand Island 1st Ward, surprised 5 elderly and disabled homeowners with a "Rake and Run." For 4 hours, they raked and bagged leaves, leaving cards to let their neighbors know someone was looking out for them.
Lincoln Journal Star. 8 clowns from Calliope Clown Alley 40 cheered young and old. They joked around and sang with 45 residents at a county nursing home, with 75 residents of a children's home, and with 25 teens at Lighthouse, an after-school program for at-risk youth, most of whom are just learning English. They also delivered $2,500 in donated merchandise to the 3 facilities: a basketball goal for the youngest kids; bingo prizes for the elderly; and gift, gas and restaurant certificates for the teens.
York News-Times. 6 Fairmont American Legion Auxiliary Unit 21 members rustled up 2,200 pounds of clothes, toys and household goods for the Blue Valley Community Action agency in Geneva, which helps low-income families get by.

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NEVADA

Elko Daily Free Press. 30 Carlin Girl Scouts, representing 5 troops, crafted 125 "Thinking of you" or "Have a nice day" cards for terminally ill patients at Horizon Hospice. The girls decorated their cards with finger paints, sponge stamps, markers or marbling. They also planted 100 tulip bulbs at the Carlin Memorial Flower Patch and at Carlin First Baptist Church, where troop meetings are held.
Las Vegas Review-Journal. 34 Nevada Childhood Cancer Foundation Teen Board members and Holly Walker, founder of Generation Hope, a charity that helps kids with cancer, delivered 200 handmade holiday gift bags to United Airlines for use on its "Fantasy Flights" for sick kids; gave $25,000 worth of toys to hospitals; threw a pizza party for the Humana Children's Hospital pediatric oncology ward, where they passed out 20 talking teddy bears; and provided 380 cash-register collection boxes for the Nevada Childhood Cancer Foundation.
Reno Gazette-Journal. 400 volunteers from Winnemucca churches, schools and Scout troops went door-to-door asking for donations of canned goods for Humboldt County residents hit hard by mine closures and unemployment. Led by the Winnemucca Chapter of the American Red Cross, the volunteers collected enough supplies to nearly fill a tractor-trailer.

NEW HAMPSHIRE

Concord Monitor. In Tilton, Lakes Region Factory Stores rang up $1,095.72 in thoughtful penny donations for The Citizen Santa Fund, a newspaper-sponsored holiday drive for the needy. Employees and shoppers also gathered $500 worth of non-perishables for St. Vincent de Paul Food Pantry. And, in spite of snow and sleet, about 30 free car-seat safety inspections were performed in the parking lot by the Injury Prevention Center of the Dartmouth Hitchcock Medical Center.
(Dover) Foster's Daily Democrat. In Portsmouth, 4 St. Patrick School Builders Club 8th-graders culled wish lists from 8 agencies a month before Make A Difference Day. They divvied up items among 10 classes and dispatched 180 pupils, K-8, on a week-long scavenger hunt for 76 cans of tuna fish, 71 cans of dog food, 57 rolls of paper towels, 54 cans of soup, 40 packages of batteries, 30 cans of beans, 16 rolls of film, 14 bottles of laundry detergent, 12 packages of diapers, etc. On Oct. 25, pupils readied 1,200 items for delivery the next day.
Keene Sentinel. For their annual "Bake and SEWcial," 28 members of FUN 4-H, ages 5-18, met at North Charlestown Community School and, with donated polar fleece, sewed 48 kid-sized hats, 65 adult hats, 75 pairs of mittens, 24 neck warmers and 33 lap robes for welfare agencies, a soup kitchen, senior citizens' homes and David's House, where children stay while undergoing cancer treatments. They also baked 10 dozen treats for David's House guests.
(Lebanon-Hanover) Valley News. Dozens of volunteers from 4 Vermont towns -- Hartland, Windsor, West Windsor (a k a Brownsville) and Weathersfield -- cleaned roadsides, helped elderly neighbors prepare for winter, washed windows, sponsored food drives, and made cards to cheer the lonely and ill throughout the Mount Ascutney area.
(Nashua) Telegraph. In their 2nd year of participation, 20 social science majors at Daniel Webster College assembled 71 "We Care" bags, filled with toiletries and donated 100 bath towels to the Nashua Soup Kitchen and Shelter.

NEW JERSEY

Press of Atlantic City. For the 3rd year, Amanda Feldman, an 11th-grader at Mainland Regional High and founder of the youth volunteer club Peer Partners, touched off a torrent of caring: In one month, she and a few peers gathered enough crayons, textbooks, school uniforms and cash to send 130 "parcels of hope" to an indigent school in Ghana and supply the school with a water tank. They also collected and sorted 8,000 hygiene and clothing items for the homeless served by the Atlantic City Rescue Mission.
(Bridgewater) Courier News. In a year that Lucent Technologies laid off or bought out 10,000 employees, something else that suffered was its 64-year-old holiday toy drive. 26 Lucent co-workers refused to abandon the 1,200 needy kids it served, so they spent the year raising funds, begging, bargain-shopping and fixing broken toys. On Oct. 26, they matched 400 Santa letters -- many from kids suffering from AIDS, cancer, hemophilia and sickle-cell anemia -- to 400 presents, which they wrapped and packaged for delivery to 5 hospitals and a women's shelter.
(Camden-Cherry Hill) Courier-Post. In a neighborhood choked by pollution from incinerators and devoid of trees, 200-plus volunteers pooled by the Cooper Lanning Civic Association capped off a month's worth of gussying up 4 blocks -- wiping out debris and graffiti -- by planting 60 trees. Residents have taken ownership of the trees, watering them and protecting them from vandalism.
(East Brunswick) Home News Tribune. 800-plus Rutgers University students from the New Brunswick campus fanned out on 7 projects: A campuswide book drive garnered 7,321 books, including 6,500 surplus titles salvaged from North Brunswick public schools, all targeted for Kenyan schoolkids; a benefit concert netted 315 cans of food and $450 for the Middlesex County Food Bank; 10 students removed 300 pounds of garbage from a 12-block area of Belmar Beach; 110 rid a park on the Raritan River of 45 bags of trash; 27 delivered 90 handmade cards to kids at Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital; 9 helped stage a birthday party for a boy at a homeless shelter; and dozens more set up for an Oct. 27 walkathon that raised $3,400 for Global Literacy Project.
(Jersey City) Jersey Journal. More than 200 Irvington residents, including students from 12 schools and Verizon workers, sponsored cleanups, blood drives, book and toy drives, essay contests and readathons. Irvington High students raised enough through a bake sale to buy a wheelchair for a needy elder.
(Morristown) Daily Record. 25 members of the Junior League of Morristown treated 38 kids with cancer and their families to a day at Alstede Farms in Chester to help take their minds off being sick. The kids dressed up in Halloween costumes, fed livestock, enjoyed hayrides and painted pumpkins.
(Neptune) Asbury Park Press. In Holmdel, Rita Lewis, 18, organized a 3-mile walk to raise $4,000 for the Healing Exchange Brain Trust in honor of her dad, who has a brain tumor.
(Newton) New Jersey Herald. Special-ed teacher and high school cross-country coach Brian Cummins of Vernon ran 100 miles in under 23 hours, raising $5,000, with 3rd-graders pitching in their penny jars, for the Make-A-Wish Foundation. Sponsoring neighbors helped him through the night by keeping porch lights on.
(Toms River) Ocean County Observer. 4 9-year-old Cub Scouts of Island Heights -- Brian Bierne, Robert Rizzolo, Mike Shannon and Matthew Strawder -- rounded up 105 bottles of shampoo, 96 bottles of conditioner, 200 bars of soap, 55 bottles of lotion, 48 toothbrushes, 50 tubes of toothpaste, 48 bottles of mouthwash and 24 hand towels to make 24 gift bags for veterans at a Menlo Park nursing home.
(Trenton) Trentonian. To promote early childhood literacy and help serve a growing Hispanic population, the state government workforce, led by New Jersey Secretary of State Regena Thomas, along with businesses and citizens, spent a month collecting 100,000 new books -- many in Spanish -- for kindergartners through 3rd-graders. The books were to go to needy schools, libraries and agencies statewide.

NEW MEXICO

Albuquerque Journal. 2,000 volunteers helped 72 non-profits on 118 projects citywide. They cleaned trails, weatherized seniors' homes, built swings for a domestic violence center and sorted canned goods for a food bank.
Carlsbad Current-Argus. 8 gifted Craft Elementary School pupils collected trash and recyclables in their neighborhoods Oct. 26, then hiked a quarter-mile together Oct. 28 to clear 5 bags of trash, 5 pounds of recyclable aluminum and a half-bag of broken glass.
(Farmington) Daily Times. Oct. 26 was rainy, but 35 members of the Mayor's Teen Advisory Council, which strives to curb teen violence and crime, stood outside Albertson's grocery store to entertain and educate 150 passers-by with games, street theater and 300 free books donated by the Farmington Public Library.
Gallup Independent. 35 students from Red Mesa High School in Teec Nos Pos, Ariz., honored their elders on the Navajo Reservation from dawn till dusk. They painted the house of a medicine man in his 80s, covered a ramp with sanded paper to keep a grandmother from slipping, chopped wood, mended fences, rebuilt a hay house, leveled sheep corrals, hauled coal, cleaned out wood stoves and dug out a 200-foot-long fence buried under 10 feet of dunes.
Las Cruces Sun-News. 18 Knights of Columbus from Council 9527 hosted a chicken cacciatore dinner, raising $3,000 to help a center for the developmentally disabled stay afloat.

NEW YORK

(Binghamton) Press & Sun-Bulletin. The West Corners Girl Scouts Service Unit 615 collected 250 winter coats for Broome County agencies including the YMCA and SOS Shelter, serving victims of domestic violence.
(Dunkirk) Observer. Despite rain, the Westfield Academy and Central School Builders Club and their families raked leaves and weeded the flower bed in Westfield's historic Moore Park.
(Elmira) Star-Gazette. For 2 weeks, Hendy Avenue Elementary pupils collected winter clothing and blankets. On Oct. 26, the school held "Project Bundle-Up" and let families pick what they needed.
(Glens Falls) Post-Star. National Guard Company C2-108 and 427th Medical Unit and Girl Scout Junior Troop 54 parked 2 Humvees outside 2 grocery stores and encouraged the community to fill the trucks with donations -- a total of 989 pounds -- for a food pantry.
Ithaca Journal. The Ministry of Mothers Sharing (MOMS) of St. Catherine of Siena Church teamed up with their children to sponsor a food drive. 23 volunteers stood outside grocery stores collecting donations, then sorted the 1,200 pounds of food for the pantry.
(Jamestown) Post-Journal. Members of the Citizen-Police Coalition collected school supplies for a month, and on Oct. 26 volunteers donated crayons, pens, notebooks, rulers, etc., to all of the Jamestown district schools for students who cannot afford supplies.
(Kingston) Daily Freeman. In Woodstock, 40 religious education students at St. John's Church collected pajamas, socks and stuffed animals for kids at a Kingston shelter. On Oct. 26, students packed up their donations, went to the shelter with baked goods and held a party for the homeless children.
Lockport Union-Sun & Journal. Laurette Clark of Ransomville organized a 4-town clothing drive with 11 groups including Girl Scout troops, Kiwanis Clubs, schools and fire stations. More than 1,700 bags of clothes were given to 9 charities.
(New York) Daily News. 35 Citigroup employees and their families met with students, parents and faculty of the High School of Economics & Finance, a public school focusing on business education. Located near Ground Zero, it had been closed for several months after 9/11 and still needed assistance. Together, volunteers and students cleaned up the school, assembled gym equipment and organized its library.
(Olean) Times Herald. 2nd-graders at Ivers J. Norton Elementary collected 12 bags and 4 boxes of used clothing and children's books for Genesis House homeless shelter.
(Oswego) Palladium-Times. More than half of the 45 clubs in Rotary District 7150 came out to help others. Rotarians worked on a Habitat for Humanity build, planted daffodils, hung smoke detectors, cleaned libraries, and did roadside and trail cleanups.
Poughkeepsie Journal. In Hopewell Junction, Girl Scout Troop 118 collected 1,000-plus soda cans and, with the recycling rebate, purchased crayons, toiletries and other gifts. The 4th- and 5th-grade girls put together shoeboxes with items for Operation Christmas Child, a group that sends presents to children worldwide.
Rochester Democrat and Chronicle. The Sun and Shade Garden Club of Penfield landscaped the yard of a home for disabled men. Volunteers planted hundreds of spring bulbs.
(Saratoga Springs) Saratogian. For the 4th year, Davey Kelley collected coins at mini-marts. The 1st year, Davey collected $100.57; this year, he and his friends collected $1,329.37 for the Saratoga Center for the Family.
(Schenectady) Daily Gazette. In Albany, Victory Christian Church volunteers transformed a dilapidated garage into the new J.C. Club Children's Feeding Center of Albany, where needy children can get hot meals. The group, which held the center's grand opening on Oct. 26, feeds 60-100 kids a day.
(Troy) Record. Andrew's Warriors, youth volunteers from the Andrew Christian Bryce Foundation, entertained kids on the pediatric floor of Albany Medical Center. Volunteers donned Tigger, Arthur and SpongeBob costumes, took photos with kids and put on a puppet show.
(Utica) Observer-Dispatch. 25 Lockheed Martin employees stripped wallpaper, washed curtains and prepped for painting at the YWCA of the Mohawk Valley. Volunteers also weeded, raked leaves and mulched the playground at the Thea Bowman House day-care center.
Watertown Daily Times. The American Association of University Women of St. Lawrence County worked with 20 agencies to stage a "Professional Clothing Fair" at the State University of New York in Canton, where more than 300 people collected 1,000-plus items of career garb.
(White Plains) Journal News. Students at Putnam Valley High School held a "Stay-Awake-a-Thon" and raised $6,500 for kid-related charities such as the Make-A-Wish Foundation. More than 200 students and staff stayed up all night dancing, playing games and singing karaoke, then celebrated with a pancake breakfast.

NORTH CAROLINA

(Asheboro) Courier-Tribune. To forge friendships and help Spanish-speaking students polish their English, 19 home-schooled students ages 3-14, as members of the SHARE (Serving Hands And Reaching Everyone) 4-H Club, gathered 100 books to share with Hispanic peers at Randleman Elementary School.
Asheville Citizen-Times. Elizabeth Stobbs and 10 fellow knitters/crocheters, members of a club she formed for Make A Difference Day 1999, spent 4 hours on Oct. 26 working on hats for the homeless and preemies, afghans for ill or traumatized kids and baby clothes for single moms. In the past three years, they've delivered 2,700 such items to shelters and hospitals.
(Burlington) Times-News. Kay Brooks, a single mother for 18 years, used donated materials to convert a room at Brookwood Baptist Church into a computer room with 4 workstations to job-train single mothers. Oct. 26 kicked off classes for 3 women; since then, 11 have learned basic touch-typing and computer skills.
(Durham) Herald-Sun. In Prospect Hill, 50 volunteers, led by an adult Sunday school class at Lea Bethel Baptist Church, raised $6,000 at a barbecue chicken dinner for the family of Phil Lankford, 29, who died suddenly in September without life insurance. More than 500 attended, along with his widow and 2 children.
(Eden) Daily News. Dozens of businesses and schools pitched in on a 2-month penny drive, directed by Rockingham County Help for Homeless, that raised $2,304.60 -- including more than $1,000 by Reidsville Intermediate students that was delivered in a car trunk -- kicking off a campaign to create the county's 1st homeless shelter. An Oct. 26 flea market held at Eden Mall raised $1,262.12 more, and the mall donated thrift-store space for ongoing fund-raising. Also, 12 youths and 8 adults from area churches collected 521 pounds of food and $444.36 for the Rockingham County Red Cross.
(Forest City) Daily Courier. Norma Laughter, 56, of Rutherfordton adopted Minnie Rhodes, 86, resident of Fair Haven Home in Forest City. Rhodes, a retired nurse and stroke victim, was lonely from lack of visitors and was known to especially enjoy the company of the facility's communal cats and puppies. Laughter brought treats for the animals so Rhodes could feed them and took photos to make an album for her. The Oct. 26 visit blossomed into a friendship, with the pair regularly working on jigsaw puzzles and tooling around the grounds together.
(Gastonia) Gaston Gazette. Inspired by a story they'd read about a city girl who turned a vacant lot into a garden to improve her neighborhood, 47 W.A. Bess Elementary 4th-graders in Kathy Medl's reading classes researched Make A Difference Day ideas online, seeking to help kids their age. On Oct. 26, they prepared and delivered 35 shoeboxes filled with stuffed toys, craft activities and homemade get-well cards to Gaston Memorial Hospital's pediatric ward.
Goldsboro News-Argus. 14 Northern Lights Extension & Community Association members, mostly retired women, finished sewing 41 corduroy tote bags, filled with donated toiletries, and delivered 10 to The Lighthouse of Wayne County, a shelter for battered women.
(Henderson) Daily Dispatch. 25 middle-schoolers, high-schoolers and adult chaperons collected 35 pieces of luggage, 35 linens, 110 toiletry items and nearly $100 for 50 low-income graduating seniors in Vance County.
Hickory Daily Record. Carolyn Sosebee and 27 of her 5th-graders organized a massive yard sale at Clyde Campbell Elementary School, raising $300 for the Hickory Salvation Army's Homeless Shelter -- a charity Sosebee has supported for 11 years. The students also help tutor the homeless children, ages 6-12, weekly at the Salvation Army Boys and Girls Club.
High Point Enterprise. 100 huffed and puffed through a 2.5-hour aerobathon at Fitness Today in Greensboro to collect $500 in gifts and $200 in shipping costs to send care packages to American troops overseas.
(Jacksonville) Daily News. In honor of Connor Shannon, a classmate with leukemia whose family had stayed at a Ronald McDonald House in Greenville, 17 Jacksonville Commons Elementary kindergartners -- along with Connor; their teachers, Sandra Davis and Fonda Rosage; and 15 siblings and parents -- raised $750 for the Durham facility in a 3.2-mile walkathon.
(Kannapolis) Independent Tribune. In their 3rd year of participation, 35 members of the Henry D. Grimes, John T. Fesperman and John R. Mott Y's service clubs, along with Cannon Memorial YMCA Kannapolis branch, ran a "Say No to Violence" campaign, collecting several hundred cleaning, paper, household and toiletry products for the Cabarrus Victims Assistance Network women's crisis program.
(Kinston) Free Press. In Comfort, 25 Gospel Light Church volunteers made 57 meals for senior citizens and shut-ins, each accompanied by a candy treat bag and prayer card. The Oct. 26 deliveries were so heartwarming, the volunteers extended their "Meals and Ministry" program to the 4th Saturday of each month.
Lenoir News-Topic. 8 youth members of Flemings Chapel Baptist Church AWANA Varsity Club and 4 adult leaders built a wheelchair ramp for the needy family of a 3-year-old girl with cerebral palsy.
(Lumberton) Robesonian. 30 Union Chapel Methodist Church members held a family fun day in Pembroke, where most residents belong to the Lumbee Indian tribe. Highlights: volleyball, crafts, pony and buggy rides, fire safety lessons and a weight-lifting competition. Guests also donated 250 cans of food.
(Monroe) Enquirer-Journal. Hundreds of pupils, parents and staff from 3 elementary schools -- led by the Unionville Elementary PTO and with help from Wingate University and businesses -- filled a school bus with 5,620 pounds of non-perishables after a 2-week drive, complete with drive-through drop-off sites.
(Morganton) News Herald. About 50 Valdese Hospital Volunteer Guild members, East Burke High School students and on-site staff threw a "senior prom" for 30 residents of College Pines Nursing Center. Volunteers started collecting secondhand evening gowns, shawls, men's suits and fancy jewelry in June, made silk flower corsages and boutonnieres, did the seniors' hair and makeup, and chaperoned on Oct. 26. A few ladies were so enchanted, they insisted on sleeping in their dressy gowns.
(New Bern) Sun Journal. In Trenton, 58 residents reflecting the diversity of the area, from teens to late 70s, refurbished Back Street Park, the town's only playground, which had been wrecked by Hurricane Floyd in 1999. The basketball court was cracked, swings were broken, bleachers were rotted, and the baseball diamond had all but disappeared. On Oct. 26, 1,520 pounds of trash, plus a refrigerator and debris that the flood had deposited, were removed, fields were mowed, trees were trimmed, and new signs were erected with the site's new name: Unity Park.
Reidsville Review. 10 Students in Free Enterprise members from Rockingham Community College chatted with 150 elderly residents of Carolina House of Reidsville, bringing them up to date on current events -- 9/11, the Washington, D.C.-area sniper shootings and Social Security issues -- and decorating pumpkins with them.
Salisbury Post. To help bridge the cultural gap in a county where the Hispanic population has grown by 8 times in a decade, 500 Rowan County residents cheered on the Hispanic Team and Team USA in the Rowan County Soccer Cup, co-sponsored by the Hispanic Coalition and Rowan County United Way. Food ranged from hamburgers and hot dogs to rice and beans, while entertainment covered traditional Latin dance and hip-hop. Color commentary and the national anthem were presented in English and Spanish, as was health information.
Sanford Herald. At an all-day children's festival organized by Carol Carlson, 8 Central Carolina Jaycees sold $2 bag lunches, made from donated ingredients and priced so all attendees could afford them, and gave $280 raised to the Haven in Lee County domestic violence shelter.
(Shelby) Star. 35 Elizabeth Baptist Church parishioners tended to 3 projects: At the UCAN Center, a mission for senior adults, they painted 4 rooms, installed a suspended ceiling and lights, and cut a new doorway; did yardwork for a hospice patient and 2 elderly neighbors; and built a wheelchair ramp for a disabled student.
Statesville Record & Landmark. 182 2nd-graders at Lake Norman Elementary School in Mooresville created a library from scratch at My Sister's House, a safe house for abused mothers and children. For 6 weeks, each pupil worked toward earning $2 by doing chores, keeping track of the money themselves, to buy fiction and non-fiction books from Scholastic, which also donated 3 boxes of books. A milk company donated 8 crates to display the books, which were delivered on Oct. 26 to a room where 3 donated computers had been set up.
Washington Daily News. In honor of her father, who was a dialysis patient before he died in 2001, teacher Sharon Cherry rallied 20 of her kindergartners at Pines Elementary School in Plymouth to collect and donate 30 pillows and cases, 15 throws and blankets, 10 cases of bottled water, plus peppermint candy, magazines, broth and snacks, to the new Plymouth Dialysis Center. Wearing Make A Difference Day T-shirts, the children visited 12 patients. And, in honor of the 100th anniversary of the teddy bear, they gathered 30 stuffed bears for the TEDI (Tender Evaluation Diagnostic Intervention) Bear Children's Advocacy Center in Greenville, which serves neglected or abused children in 29 counties.
Wilson Daily Times. In their 3rd year of participation, 50 volunteers led by the Volunteer Action Center of Wilson County and AmeriCorps removed a hazardous crumbling stucco wall and repainted the gym at the Salvation Army Boys and Girls Club -- labor that saved the agency $6,000 -- to make it safe for 250 children to play. They also built desks and reorganized the library, and a few fearless helpers climbed onto the roof to remove debris such as broken glass. Meanwhile, at the Mental Health Association group home in Stantonsburg, a crew reupholstered dining room chairs and repainted rooms.

NORTH DAKOTA

Grand Forks Herald. The Buffalo Historical Society began cleaning and repairing rooms at 1916 High School in Buffalo, recently added to the state list of historical sites and set to become a library. 22 volunteers cleaned, scraped and readied rooms for painting.
(Wahpeton) Daily News. The Ladies Auxiliary to VFW Post 4324 collected 5 large boxes of winter wear -- jackets, sweaters, shirts, pants and shoes -- for homeless veterans.

OHIO

(Ashtabula) Star-Beacon. American Legion Auxiliary Post 103 adopted the Reos, a family of 4 suffering hardship: Father Vince is disabled, mother Desiree is recovering from surgery related to Crohn's disease, and 2-year-old Maggie is brain-damaged. 15 members raked, mowed and weeded at the family's home, and the post collected $700 to help them with expenses.
Athens Messenger. Inspired by a visiting Botswanan AIDS expert, the 16 members of Aid Association for Lutherans Branch 5857 prepared a feast of African foods attended by 85 people and sold 24 baskets woven by Zimbabwean women to raise $1,741 for the Zienzele Foundation, which supports AIDS orphans. 7 African students at Ohio University helped plan the menu and prepare food. An AAL grant added $800.
Beavercreek News-Current. 15 Dayton teenagers participating in a Wright State University program for academically promising 8th- and 9th-graders prepared lunch and played bingo with seniors at Huffman Place in Dayton.
Bryan Times. Connie and Randy Stadtfeld found slats for a bed frame for a formerly homeless man Connie has been helping since discovering him living in a bus last spring. The man now lives in an apartment and receives Social Security, Meals on Wheels and medical care.
(Bucyrus) Telegraph-Forum. Armed with donated Beanie Babies, as well as coloring books and crayons they bought themselves, 8 Jobs for Ohio Graduates members at Northmor High School in Galion visited Galion Hospital. They gave out Halloween cards to patients, gave a Beanie to the only child in pediatrics and left the rest with nurses.
(Canton) Repository. For the 3rd year, students at Mount Union College in Alliance came out to help others. 260 volunteers served breakfast to 100 low-income neighbors and scoured their community center, visited nursing homes, sponsored a dance for victims of head and spinal cord injuries, spiffed up the college nature center and raked leaves for 7 elderly couples. Students rallied against violence and, to support the homeless, collected enough canned goods to feed a family of 4 for 2 months.
Chillicothe Gazette. The 88 students of Southern Hills Academy collected enough toys, games, stuffed animals, clothing, books and CDs to fill a van, all delivered to the Department of Job and Family Services for foster children and other needy kids.
Cincinnati Enquirer. 2,500 Mason residents tackled 20 projects. They collected 2,700 books, 815 articles of clothing, 135 bags of food, 170 videos and $300 worth of toys, plus school and gardening supplies. 96 volunteers landscaped Frank Hosea Woods Park, spreading 30 cubic yards of mulch and planting ornamental grasses and trees. To remember resident Wendy Faulkner, who was killed in the 9/11 attack on the World Trade Center, the White Blossom neighborhood continued her favorite project: collecting toiletries, clothing, toys, pencils and blankets for children in needy countries.
(Circleville) Herald. Cub Scout Pack 170 collected 550-plus hygiene items and 120 pairs of socks for needy or homeless veterans, plus $66.83, which will be used to buy other goody bag items. The Fraternal Order of Eagles and its ladies auxiliary chipped in $200.
Columbus Dispatch. The 1st Patches of Light walkathon at Homestead Park in Hilliard raised $4,500 for families financially strained by a child's illness. Top fund-raisers among 298 walkers: 65 biological sciences students from Ohio State University, with $1,900, and 50 Hilliard Weaver middle-schoolers in a cultural awareness club, with $1,000 -- money that immediately helped a family pay an overdue utility bill.
Coshocton Tribune. 103 5- and 6-year-olds at Newcomerstown East Elementary raised $300 in a 6-week penny drive to provide flowers and a horseshoe pit for Southside Park.
(Defiance) Crescent-News. 250 Pettisville students performed chores at home to earn $1,712 for 170 farm families in a village on Mexico's Yucatan Peninsula hit by Hurricane Isidore. Spanish students at Pettisville High and 3rd-graders at Pettisville Elementary were pen pals with 6th-graders in the village. The donation, plus $1,000 from the First Presbyterian Church of Defiance, will provide food, roofing materials and seed for next year's crop.
(Findlay) Courier. After delivering food collection bags to 17,000 homes the week before, 1,200 Cub and Boy Scouts in Hardin and Hancock counties collected 29,000 non-perishables for 12 pantries.
(Fostoria) Review Times. 30 Longfellow Primary School kindergartners raised $430 for Thanksgiving dinners at the Sharing Kitchen by performing chores at home throughout October. 1 child contributed $118 through a family yard sale. Another requested donations in lieu of gifts, collecting $140 at her birthday party.
(Fremont) News-Messenger. 10 people from Clyde Christian Church cleared rooms, threw out trash, ripped down paneling, tore out carpeting, and trimmed trees and bushes at a convenience store being converted into the new home of the Liberty Center, a homeless shelter.
(Gallipolis) Sunday Times-Sentinel. 14 volunteers, mostly residents of public housing near Bidwell, brightened their townhouse complex by planting a truckload of mums. The project, organized by Ellen O. Francis, a VISTA coordinator at the University of Rio Grande, will continue in the spring with a community garden.
(Greenville) Daily Advocate. By wagon and wheelbarrow, volunteers hauled non-perishables and staples from the Council on Rural Services building to a food pantry a quarter-mile away. The delivery concluded a month-long collection organized by Retired and Senior Volunteer Program tutors and their students.
Ironton Tribune. Gamma Beta Phi, an academic sorority at Ohio University Southern Campus, collected 25 used cellphones, to be programmed for "911" calls, for women at the domestic violence shelter.
(Kent-Ravenna) Record-Courier. In its 4th year, a Portage County food drive led by the Volunteer Administrators' Network reaped 7,937 pounds of non-perishables for 11 cupboards and hot meal programs. More than half was collected at county grocery stores Oct. 26. Among the top producers: the Hattie Larlham Center for Children With Disabilities and Kent State University's Air Force ROTC unit.
Lancaster Eagle-Gazette. A rummage sale/bake sale at VFW Post 3761 in Baltimore raised $510 to help the Ladies Auxiliary remodel an apartment at the Lighthouse Shelter for Victims of Domestic Violence. Post members matched the donation. The auxiliary also held a food drive, collecting 279 items for a food pantry.
Lima News. Switching gears from usual cleanups, 70 students, faculty and staff from Ohio Northern University focused on Village of Ada residents. Volunteers patched a cracked foundation at 1 elderly woman's home; rearranged furniture, installed blinds and painted a bathroom at another's; entertained a mentally and physically handicapped woman, delivering a birdhouse and birdwatching book; and cleaned carpets at a senior citizens' complex. Other beneficiaries: 2 churches, the train depot, the public library and a Ronald McDonald House.
(Lisbon) Morning Journal. The 24 volunteers outnumbered the 7 participants in the annual walkathon organized by the Ladies Auxiliary and Junior Girls Unit of VFW Post 66 in East Liverpool. Still, $475 was raised for St. Jude Children's Research Hospital. A collection for a child suffering from a rare form of cancer netted $95.
Logan Daily News. Boy Scout Troop 60 from Buchtel joined volunteers led by the Monday Creek Restoration Project in a cleanup at Tecumseh Lake Park in Shawnee. The 15 volunteers, about half Scouts, also gathered trash along a 6-mile stretch of the Buckeye Trail. They filled 20 trash bags and removed 4 tires.
(Lorain) Morning Journal. Dressed as a witch, piano teacher Carol Tillotson of Avon Lake led her 44 costumed students, ages 5-17, in a concert of Halloween music that capped off their book drive for Elyria City Schools. Families brought boxes of books to the concert, collecting 700 for needy children.
(Mansfield) News Journal. Employees at the Mansfield-Ontario Wal-Mart store blanketed needs, literally and figuratively. Staff collected 25 blankets for a senior center, plus 2 crocheted afghans completed in the store Oct. 26 for a women's shelter; added 30 bags of groceries and toiletries to a drive at Carpenter and Hedges grade schools; gave 500 "Vials of LIFE" emergency medical information kits to customers; and collected the final 60 of 350 children's coats for Friendly House, a community center.
Marion Star. Turning Point, a domestic violence center, got a face-lift thanks to members of Beta Sigma Phi. 16 members and 3 husbands cleaned the kitchen, dining room and laundry rooms; painted the dining room; installed new valances and sofa slipcovers; and reupholstered dining chairs.
(Martins Ferry) Times Leader. 26 6th-graders from Union Local Middle School in Belmont entertained 40 Bell Nursing Home residents with a concert highlighted by a banjo-picking 6th-grader, puppet shows and skits. The kids had prepared goody bags tailored to the interests of each resident, be it crossword puzzles, lipstick, magazines or socks. A month later, the group returned to rake leaves.
(Massillon) Independent. Jackson High School's Tri-M Music Honor Society delivered the results of a winter clothing drive -- 100 coats plus hats, gloves, mittens and scarves -- to Calvary Mission Church, which gives clothing to needy Stark County families. A flutist and pianist performed as hot meals were served to needy families that evening. Earlier, another group had performed hymns and show tunes at HCR-Manor Care nursing home in Canton, distributing cookies and decorating for Halloween.
(Newark) Advocate. 19 Granville Middle School students painted a mural on a Granville bike path tunnel. The design, "We are one world, we are one people," featured a world map encircled by hands of all shades. The students also painted 2 canvases for the domestic violence shelter and sketched mural ideas for Granville's 2005 bicentennial. Local artist Ruth Myers provided the basic designs for the kids to paint.
Norwalk Reflector. 24 volunteers from Monroeville United Church of Christ painted an elderly member's 2-story home. Paint had been peeling off in sheets, but the woman couldn't afford a professional painter. The youth group had scraped and primed the house in advance.
Piqua Daily Call. 20 volunteers, including Scouts and community members, neared completion of an observation deck in a 200-acre nature preserve in honor of 9/11 victim Kris R. Hughes, an Ohio State graduate and avid outdoorsman. They finished framing the 10-by-15-foot deck overlooking Lockington Reserve, placed deck boards on the connector bridge, and pruned branches and removed trees obstructing the view. (Also see Troy Daily News.)
(Port Clinton) News Herald. 12 broom-, shovel- and rake-toting reps of the Port Clinton Kiwanis Club spruced up city-owned Waterworks Park. Volunteers cleared debris from the skateboard park, walking trail, tennis courts, children's play area, picnic grounds, fishing pier and Lake Erie beachfront.
Sandusky Register. Big Brothers Big Sisters of Erie County gave and received: Its downtown facility got a face-lift from the Master Gardeners of Erie County, who planted shrubs, mums and bulbs, then 6 "bigs" and "littles" threw a party for 22 seniors at the Erie County Care Facility. The group painted pumpkins with residents, listened to stories of the past, and shared doughnuts and cider.
(Steubenville) Herald-Star. In Toronto's 1st effort, 1,000 of the town's 6,000 residents tackled 59 projects -- so many that the mayor's wife, Kay Jean Wilson, had trouble keeping the list updated. Volunteers represented 6 churches, 20 businesses, 20 groups and 4 schools. Highlights: $8,000 raised for a scholarship in honor of a student killed in an August car accident; 3,000 bulbs planted citywide; 2 homes painted and winterized for elderly citizens; plus many cleanups, nursing home visits and collections.
(Tiffin) Advertiser-Tribune. 6 Seneca Habitat for Humanity volunteers built steps and railings for a disabled widow in Republic. The treated wood stoops at the front and rear of the house replaced small concrete or concrete block stoops without railings. Although the sky was gray and threatening all day, no rain fell until the Habitat volunteers left at 6 p.m.
Troy Daily News. Miami County agencies that work with at-risk children -- Bethany Center in Piqua and the Family Abuse Shelter in Troy, plus Head Start programs and Big Brothers Big Sisters -- joined Troy Daily News and Piqua Daily Call staffers in hosting a Halloween party for 50 kids and their families or caregivers. Entertainment included a magician, games, crafts and prizes. (Also see Piqua Daily Call.)
Marietta Times. For Belpre Middle School's 1st Make A Difference Day, 50 students, parents and staff members spruced up the 36-year-old building, painting stripes of orange and black (the school colors) throughout the halls and cafeteria and thoroughly scrubbing restrooms. Outdoors, volunteers mulched shrubs and planted 75 trees.
(Warren) Tribune Chronicle. 11 handymen from Knights of Columbus Council 11646 and St. Robert Bellarmine Catholic Church in Cortland tended to Someplace Safe, a shelter for domestic violence victims in Warren. They repaired lights, cabinet doors, bathroom fans and exit signs; caulked a sink; scraped paint; tightened loose banisters; and replaced outlet covers and furnace registers.
(Washington Court House) Record-Herald. The Kiwanis Club set up a 7-hour "drive-thru" food collection at a grocery store, netting 10 boxes of non-perishables for 2 pantries serving Fayette County.
(Willoughby) News-Herald. To help a recently widowed teacher and mother of 3 small children, 40 8th-graders from Willoughby Middle School, all members of the National Junior Honor Society, collected $475 door-to-door.
Wilmington News-Journal. Not satisfied with painting a hallway and cleaning carpets at the Clinton County Youth Center on Oct. 26, 10 members of the First Christian Church Chi Rho Youth Group painted the community room the next day. Afterward, the 11- to 14-year-olds adopted the center as an ongoing service project.
(Wooster) Daily Record. For her 1st effort, 16-year-old Jenna Purdy organized a cleanup of the community center at a subsidized apartment complex for senior citizens in Orrville. She and mom Kristen Purdy, aunt Pam Dalessandro and grandmother Kathleen Van Zile, who lives at the complex, washed windows and cleaned screens; moved appliances and dusted behind them; and scrubbed floors.
Xenia Daily Gazette. Victims of domestic violence, senior citizens, nursing home residents and low-income high school girls got a lift from Senior Girl Scout Troop 1783. Sara Woolf coordinated a field day for Brownies, who donated 100 items, such as toiletries, toys and cellphones, for the Family Violence Prevention Center of Greene County. Maria Faler directed 22 volunteers who performed chores for 11 elderly residents. Lindsay Steffen organized Halloween parties for the residents of 2 nursing homes. And Natalie Coakley collected 32 prom gowns for needy students.
(Zanesville) Times Recorder. Boy Scout Troop 121 and Cub Scout Pack 121, parents and siblings (51 volunteers in all) collected 1,800 items from Trinway and Dresden residents and delivered them to the Jubilee Revival Center's food pantry.

OKLAHOMA

(Ardmore) Daily Ardmoreite. 50 volunteers -- mostly youths 12-18 -- donned mitts to coat the railings of the 0.4-mile-long Martin Luther King Street viaduct with reflective aluminum paint. Painters included students from Ardmore Middle School Peer Assistance Leadership and Ardmore High School Serve America classes, Charles Evans and Franklin elementary schools and AmeriCorps members. The final touch: 184 red, white and blue stars commemorating the victims of the 9/11 attack on the Pentagon.
Bartlesville Examiner-Enterprise. 9 members of Bartlesville Area Friends of the Parks brushed bright blue and red paint on rusty swings and slides at Robinwood Park, raked leaves, hauled brush, removed poison ivy, and trimmed and pruned trees.
Enid News & Eagle. For the 2nd year, retired teacher and avid quilter Mary Butler led a quilting bonanza for the YWCA's crisis center. This year's tally: 67 handmade, 40-by-60-inch quilts for the children of domestic violence victims. 70 volunteers, ages 9-82, from churches, the quilting guild and many Garfield County Home and Community Education clubs, devoted 525 hours to the 2-week project. On Oct. 26, the quilts were displayed at the YWCA. 10 children staying at the center selected quilts and wrapped themselves in them, to the delight of the seamstresses.
Lawton Constitution. To raise awareness of Pathways, a new crisis pregnancy center in Altus, Country Friends Home and Community Education members coordinated a publicity blitz and community-wide drive for baby items and maternity clothes. Donors delivered 500 items to a "baby shower" and luncheon on Oct. 26. 2 groups adopted Pathways as their ongoing project, and donations have continued, spilling from the facility's storage room into the attic.
McAlester News-Capital & Democrat. Aiming to help single women on tight budgets complete home repairs, Maureen Harrison got supplies donated by 45 merchants and individuals, and organized 55 volunteers from civic groups, clubs and businesses. Volunteers finished 70 projects for 50 single women and senior citizens, including minor plumbing repairs, yardwork, painting, window replacement, caulking, patching and minor carpentry.
Muskogee Daily Phoenix & Times-Democrat. Worried about Keefeton's declining appearance, 54 volunteers, ages 9-74, bulldozed and bush-hogged the town into shape. Unkempt yards, abandoned cars and trash in ditches disappeared on the town's 1st Make A Difference Day, led by 3 churches and the volunteer fire department. Also gone by the end of the day: a wooded area that was the scene of suspected drug activity. 1 couple who had planned to move out of the area changed their minds after experiencing the day's camaraderie.
Norman Transcript. 99 members of 7 McClain County Oklahoma Home and Community Education clubs stitched 155 wall hangings with seasonal, sports, animal and military themes over an 8-month period. 13 women delivered the hangings with 36 dozen cookies to the Norman Veterans Center on Oct. 26.
Shawnee News-Star. Betsy Chavez's 3rd-graders at Will Rogers Elementary School led a schoolwide drive that reaped 1,600 new and used books for pediatric hospital patients. 27 students, parents and teachers designed bookmarks and get-well cards, adding one of each to bags with 4 or 5 books; 320 gift packs were delivered to 2 hospitals.
(Stillwater) News Press. Inspired by their 1st year of monthly community service projects, the First Presbyterian Church youth group challenged congregants to join in making a difference. 51 volunteers tackled 15 projects: yardwork, building wheelchair ramps, hanging drywall, painting, cleaning gutters, organizing a garage, marking jogging trails, repairing a porch roof at a domestic violence shelter and polishing the floor at a historic 1-room schoolhouse.
Tulsa World. An elderly disabled couple received much-needed safety improvements in their home, including a kitchen heating-cooling unit, working door locks, and a new kitchen floor and ceiling, thanks to Rebuilding Together Tulsa, a non-profit that helps low-income elderly or disabled homeowners. 23 volunteers, including a Home Depot contingent, also painted porch columns and door and window trim, added gutters and replaced doors. Prep work by 12 Jenks High School soccer players and their coach on an Oct. 15 school holiday made the repairs possible.

OREGON

Albany Democrat-Herald Sunday. Fellow Eagle Scouts and brothers Jeff, 15, and Robert Rice, 17, led a food drive among 7 schools in their Sweet Home district. For 3 weeks, pupils donated canned goods, and, on Oct. 26, the boys delivered 3,700 pounds of food to the Sweet Home Emergency Ministries food bank.
(Coos Bay) World. In her 42 years as a nurse, Marian Crumley of North Bend witnessed the effects of domestic violence firsthand. When she retired, Marian and husband David began volunteering at the Coos County Women's Crisis Service, a domestic abuse shelter. The Crumleys realized the center couldn't meet the area's needs and set out to raise $100,000 for a new shelter. The Crumleys hosted a lasagna dinner and auction Oct. 26, raising $10,868.36.
Corvallis Gazette-Times Sunday. 23 9th- through 12th-graders, with 2 teacher advisers -- all members of the College Hill High School Volunteer Corps -- spread dirt on a tilled 20-by-40-foot plot and planted peas, lettuce and garlic to further their goal of growing vegetables for Benton County's hungry.
(Salem) Statesman Journal. The Willamette Surgery Center joined Eagle Scout Brian Ballard's effort to clean up the facility's neighborhood. 45 volunteers weeded, removed trash and painted 55 fire hydrants.

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RHODE ISLAND

Newport Daily News. 24 pupils, parents and staff washed, cleaned and painted classrooms at All Saints Academy, a Catholic school with 135 students in Middletown.
(Pawtucket) Times. A 5-hour clothing drive at the VFW Post in Smithfield netted 761 items worth a total $6,646. Ladies Auxiliary members gave the garb to the Veterans Community Care Center and the Alfred Lima School, both in Providence.
Westerly Sun. 16 Westerly-Pawcatuck Girl Scout troops -- posted at groceries, pharmacies and Wal-Mart -- collected 2,000 toiletries and baby supplies for the Living Supply Closet of Christ Church.
(Woonsocket) Call. 9 residents, staff and volunteers from The Haven of Grace, a transitional housing program for women recovering from substance abuse or domestic violence, completed renovation of the Arnold-Vose Cemetery by planting shrubs and mums in the pouring rain. 362 hours of work in September and October included hand-cutting grass, removing poison oak, painting the chain-link fence and creating 2 gardens.

SOUTH CAROLINA

Aiken Standard. While helping out her financially strapped church selling precooked dinners door-to-door, Robin Morris realized several neighbors couldn't afford them. So on Oct. 26, she and daughter Gina Wagner, 11, took home-cooked meals to 3 needy neighbors, performed light chores, and visited and prayed with them in a project they dubbed "Dinners by Feet" (as opposed to "Meals on Wheels").
(Florence) Morning News. 10 neighbors visited 25 homebound senior citizens to help bathe them, style their hair, make sure they took their medicine, clean house, wash laundry, and take them out to their favorite restaurant, grocery shopping and to the park.
Greenville News. 70 Clemson University students and community leaders kicked off a 5-year "Rehabilitation for Humanity" campaign to curb urban blight and mollify racial tensions simmering for 2 years, since a white college student struck and killed a black pedestrian with his car. On Oct. 26, crews cleaned up and landscaped the homes of 2 needy residents, spruced up a churchyard and removed 23 cubic yards of trash, and junked appliances and yard waste from a dozen downtown streets.
(Orangeburg) Times and Democrat. 15 churches donated 75 chickens, while 60 volunteers took care of the beans, slaw and serving at a barbecue dinner, attended by 800, that raised $4,200 for the Samaritan House, a transitional shelter that continually operates at overflow capacity.
(Rock Hill) Herald. In their 6th year, 85 youths and adults from the Chester County intergenerational program secured donations and assembled 100 emergency preparedness packets for 100 homebound seniors. Included were flashlights, batteries, disposable wipes, first-aid kits, food, toiletries, pill boxes, and literature on what to do in case of an earthquake, flood or bioterrorism attack.

SOUTH DAKOTA

(Aberdeen) American News. For the 4th year, the Aberdeen Rural Firefighters and the Heartland Men of Integrity checked under the hoods of cars owned by single women, the elderly and neighbors who couldn't afford to winterize their cars. 15 men serviced 28 cars -- replacing wiper blades, worn tires and old batteries, and making minor repairs -- and picked up the tab.
(Sioux Falls) Argus Leader. 22 Sioux Falls Heating, Ventilation and Air Conditioning Contractors Association members donated time and supplies to make 29 homes warmer and safer for low-income, elderly and infirm residents. To reduce the risk of fire or gas poisoning and to lower heating bills, the technicians conducted carbon monoxide checks, adjusted thermostats, changed filters, checked for cracks in heat exchangers and inspected chimneys.
Yankton Daily Press & Dakotan. 20 Yankton Lions Club visionaries, with help from Boy Scouts, collected 150 used pairs of eyeglasses to recycle for distribution in developing countries. They also kicked off a rotation to deliver evening meals to an elderly couple.

TENNESSEE

(Athens) Daily Post-Athenian. Nellie M. Webb, 74, and friend James Buckner, 53, boxed clothes, accessories and toys she had been collecting for a yard sale and instead delivered the items, which filled her car's trunk and back seat, to the Better Living Center, which gives food, clothing and used furniture to the needy.
(Clarksville) Leaf Chronicle. Troubled by a news report about an African-American boy who couldn't get a bone marrow transplant because of scant donors, Geneva Bell coordinated a drive that added 41 names to the registry, rolling it into a health fair and day of fun at Fifth Ward Missionary Baptist Church attended by 500. The all-day affair, which extended to a nearby park and historic train station, included dental, vision and blood pressure checks; testing for sickle cell anemia; entertainment by a youth gospel choir; games such as sack races and a coloring contest; a 3-on-3 basketball tournament; child fingerprint-ing; free family portraits; and food. Volunteers included church groups and Austin Peay State University students and professors.
Cleveland Daily Banner. 6,000 residents of all ages turned out for Cleveland's biggest effort in Make A Difference Day history. Highlights: wheelchair tuneups at a bike shop; gutter and home repairs for senior citizens; beautification and cleanups downtown; leaf-raking at public housing areas; and school landscaping. An extra 350 Lee University students, on fall break Oct. 26, completed projects the preceding and following weekends.
(Columbia) Daily Herald. Working with Cub Scout Pack 91 and Scout Venture Crew 119 of Spring Hill, members of the Herbert Griffin American Legion Post and Auxiliary in Columbia collected non-perishables and cleaning supplies -- 982 items worth $658.50 -- and delivered them to Harvest Share Food Bank. Auxiliary members also served birthday cake, ice cream and punch to 75 patients at 2 nursing homes, and entertained them with guitar music and a sing-along.
(Dyersburg) State Gazette. Brownie Troop 106 collected 16 grocery bags of toiletries and baby supplies, one of 12 troops collecting for the domestic violence and homeless shelters. Each of the 8 1st-graders also planted a donated tree at their home in memory of Marjorie Salamone, an Army budget analyst killed at the Pentagon on 9/11, whose interests included Girl Scouts. Troop leader Shelley Reed says a photograph of each girl standing next to her tree will become a Make A Difference Day tradition.
Jackson Sun. Walnut Grove Baptist Church focused on the elderly for the 3rd year, helping clients enrolled in the Public Guardianship for the Elderly Program, a state initiative for people 60 and older who have no friends or family to care for them. Church members gave $150 to buy colorful dusters for 14 women and did yardwork at the home of a bedridden woman. 5 children, ages 5-12, cleared the yard of bottles, trash, sticks and tree branches while 8 adults trimmed, pruned and hauled away brush.
(Maryville-Alcoa) Daily Times. Returning home to Alcoa after retirement at age 55, Jacqueline Hill found the neighborhood where she grew up in desperate need of revival. An initial cleanup of the entrance to Stephenson Street inspired residents to do more on Oct. 26. 18 residents, including 4 children, cleaned up yards, trimmed and cut trees and shrubs, painted rusty mailboxes, and edged curbs and sidewalks. The group filled a 5-by-20-foot dumpster with debris such as refrigerators, patio furniture, old lumber, tree limbs and yard debris. The cleanup eventually will reach all 13 streets of the neighborhood.
(Nashville) Tennessean. Domestic violence victims got a big lift as 152 AmeriCorps members statewide fanned out to 18 sites in the city and 5 surrounding counties, making improvements at 8 domestic violence shelters, 3 transitional homes for women, an elementary school and a disabled person's home, as well as touting housewares sales at 5 Hecht's stores, where 5% of the day's profits helped domestic violence shelters. Work ranged from cleaning and landscaping to roofing and shed construction; Ujima House in Nashville was able to open thanks to gutter repair, carpet removal and painting done that day. Coffee makers, dishes, pans and other items worth $4,000 were delivered to 9 shelters this winter as a result of Hecht's effort.
(Oak Ridge) Oak Ridger. 12 members of the Cumberland County Chapter of Save Our Cumberland Mountains, a grass-roots environmental group based in Lake City, raised $700 at a rockathon at the Crossville Kroger. 10 members, ages 64-82, rocked in rocking chairs for 3 hours; 2 members circulated 100 brochures about the group's efforts to protect communities, forests and waterways from damage caused by mining and other industrial development.

TEXAS

Amarillo Globe-News. "100" was the magic number for 25 4th- and 5th-graders from San Jacinto Elementary School. They collected 100 packages each of diapers, formula, school supplies, snacks, underwear, coloring books, crayons, socks and stuffed animals for youngsters in the care of Child Protective Services. On Oct. 26, they made duffel bags for the loot and stuffed them for delivery.
Athens Daily Review. In their 1st concerted effort, communities around Cedar Creek Lake completed 40-plus projects, ranging from food drives and car seat collections to nursing home visits, a "battle-of-the-band" contest and auctions. "It all just came together," says Rotary president and key coordinator Andrea Pickens. "We thought maybe if we got 10 projects done, we'd be successful."
Baytown Sun. Michelle Fritsch and her children, Hannah, 6, and Bryan, 4, wanted to improve the lives of kids at Bay Area Turning Point, a shelter for battered women and their children. On Oct. 26, together with 4 of Hannah's friends, they sewed 25 Christmas stockings and stuffed them with candy, toothbrushes, crayons, Slinkys and other items.
Bryan-College Station Eagle. 50 volunteers in North Zulch weren't deterred by rain. They collected trailers full of discarded appliances and trash, including mattresses, furniture, metal crates, refrigerators and a truck cap.
(Clute) Facts. 15 Catholic Daughters of the Americas and Catholic Family Fraternal of Texas members from Angleton collected and bagged groceries for 30 hungry families.
(Conroe) Courier. 47 volunteers for The Community Clinic in Oak Ridge North, including medical assistants, doctors, dentists, nurses, translators and staff members, provided checkups and dental screenings for 61 poor and uninsured kids. The kids enjoyed refreshments and entertainment afterward.
Denton Record-Chronicle. 120 "Helping Hands" -- 60 Texas Woman's University volunteers -- supported 5 Make A Difference Day efforts: picking up litter with Keep Denton Beautiful, assisting an Alzheimer's Association walk, working with kids at a values education program and helping out at 2 fall carnivals.
El Paso Times. 700 volunteers, coordinated by the Abundant Living Faith Center and the El Paso Housing Authority, supported 1,681 seniors by giving each a gift box of beans, rice, canned vegetables and other food, toiletry kits and blankets. On Oct. 26, the group, including schoolchildren, churchgoers, business executives and homemakers, hand-delivered the hefty handouts to residents at 10 senior homes.
Galveston County Daily News. 15 Alpha Tau Amicettes and Pearlettes -- 4- to 13-year-old auxiliary members of the Zeta Phi Beta Sorority chapter in Galveston -- put together 50 bags of toiletries for the homeless in coastal Texas. On Oct. 26, they handed out bags where the homeless gathered for weekly food distribution. "It was really eye-opening for them," says adviser Shirley Adams. "They've heard about the homeless on TV but never dealt with them face to face."
Greenville Herald Banner. More than 250 helpers from organizations like the Greenville Rotary and Lions clubs, area police associations, Golden Key International Honour Society and Keep Greenville Beautiful transformed homes of 9 low-income and elderly residents by washing, scraping and painting, replacing broken windows and removing overgrown brush.
Killeen Daily Herald. The Child Placement Center of Texas kept a good thing going, holding its 4th Make A Difference Day shoe drive in 2002. 20 volunteers collected or bought 1,350 pairs of shoes for 7 shelters in central Texas.
Laredo Morning Times. 45 Finley Elementary School Student Council members and 15 adult volunteers rolled out of bed Oct. 26 to host a literacy carnival for 40 Finley 3rd-graders. Council members manned booths, read and played games with the kids as a kickoff for the school's "Reading Buddy" program, designed to help older students mentor younger ones.
Lubbock Avalanche-Journal. 10 widows were treated to a day of pampering by volunteers for Hospice of Lubbock. The women -- all wives of men who had passed away while in the hospice's care -- received manicures and new hairstyles, makeovers, prizes and lunch, courtesy of Levelland cosmetology students, Mary Kay consultants and hospice volunteers.
Midland Reporter-Telegram. St. Ann's School kicked off a week-long volunteer effort as 25 students and 21 adults cleaned up a park on Oct. 19. On Oct. 26, the entire school of 400 did favors for their neighbors, from cleaning yards and picking up trash to baking bread, baby-sitting and delivering donations.
Orange Leader. 6 VFW Post 2775 and Ladies Auxiliary members collected 267 canned food items to benefit Orange Christian Services, which serves the needy.
Plainview Daily Herald. Between contributions and an Oct. 26 yard sale, Maudine Miller, 79, her family and friends helped raise almost $1,500 for a young lady in India whom they've assisted for the past 9 Make A Difference Days. For the 1st time this year, Miller received a thank-you note written in English from the teen. "She wasn't even in school when I first started helping her," Miller says. "I hope to help her until she's able to get a job."
Plano Star Courier. To help heal after the murders of his 2 young children, Clayton Elliott of Dallas, girlfriend Regina Bruce and 100 friends and volunteers met at the Optimist Club headquarters in Garland, to collect, refurbish and distribute 300 bikes for the area's homeless and neediest kids. Archea Cotton, 25, a formerly homeless single mom, received 3 for her kids, who are 10, 6 and 2. On Christmas morning, "they were astonished," Cotton says. "I wasn't able to afford a tree or anything; I have hardly enough to keep clothes on their backs. But those bikes lit up their eyes."
Port Arthur News. International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Local 479 of Beaumont rewired a home used by People Supporting People -- a grass-roots effort that provides clothes, furniture, food and a safe haven for kids before and after school. Founded by Sandra LaDay of Port Arthur, the group has helped some 700 families furnish their homes, provided food weekly to the needy and given away school supplies.
(Sherman) Herald Democrat. 20 VFW Post 2772 and Ladies Auxiliary members helped the homeless in Denison by collecting clothing and personal items for at least 100 shelter clients.
Texarkana Gazette. More than 100 Longview Partners in Prevention and police department volunteers helped 5 families rediscover the joy of living in houses with curb appeal. Choosing 6 homes belonging to people who were ill or financially unable to do maintenance, the group replaced wood, caulked, scraped, added roofing, fixed gutters and painted 5 of the houses. For the 6th house, the volunteers contacted county services to help the owner, who hadn't realized parts of her home were covered with mold.
Texas City Sun. Michael Lewis, 43, and volunteers of WFJ Ministries held a "Hymns for the Homeless" concert featuring the gospel choirs of 11 Dickinson-area churches. Price of admission: an article of clothing and a non-perishable food item. More than 300 people attended; 2 truckloads of donations were collected. "God delivered me from alcohol and drugs 4 years ago," Lewis says. "This is my way of giving back."

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UTAH

(Ogden) Standard-Examiner. With help from Junior League volunteers, McKay-Dee Hospital's Women & Children's Services focused on follow-up care for low-income children seen at a free Aug. 2 clinic. 2 dentists and staffers performed extensive dental work for 6 kids with 8 or more cavities, and a hearing specialist performed 21 hearing tests. Volunteers reviewed 1,702 case files to verify that children had been treated; they made 30 follow-up appointments for those who had not seen a doctor.
(Provo) Daily Herald. 2 co-workers from Project Read, a literacy program for people age 16 and older reading below the 6th-grade level, and 1 student, a man in his 30s, painted pumpkins and fall leaves on nursery and bedroom windows at the Family Support and Treatment Center, an abuse prevention agency in Orem.
(St. George) Spectrum. Outdoor classrooms in Cedar City and Enoch got attention from 161 people recruited by the Volunteer Center of Iron County. South Elementary and Enoch Elementary pupils who will use the classrooms joined volunteers from the Southern Utah University Service and Learning Center, RSVP and 4-H to weed, remove debris, lay gravel and line trails.

VERMONT

Burlington Free Press. Continuing a tradition begun for Make A Difference Day 1999, 40 volunteers from Robinson School in Starksboro packed 192 backpacks, duffels and diaper bags for foster kids. Each satchel included a sweatshirt and pants, a T-shirt, a stuffed animal, socks, toiletries, a book and writing materials collected all year at yard sales and via donations. Babies received diapers, blankets and clothing. The project is the brainchild of Donna Shepardson and her 22 6th-graders. Traditionally, staff members crochet blankets and sew or knit many of the bags. This year, a 4-H club made hair scrunchies and boo-boo bunnies.

WASHINGTON

(Aberdeen) Daily World. The Ocean Shores IGA, an association of independent grocers, held an emergency preparedness fair that provided Kidcare ID kits, Red Cross information and Vial of LIFE kits for senior citizens. The fair also featured search dogs and tips on avoiding abduction and riptide currents.
(Bellevue) King County Journal -- Eastside. The Sammamish-based Kids Without Borders spent 7 hours packing 4 pallets of dental-care products, clothing and toys into 60 individual backpacks for 40 Head Start youngsters in Beacon Hill and 20 kids at Seattle's Childhaven center for abused or neglected children.
Bellingham Herald. Blessings Salon donated 100% of the day's profits -- $400 from haircuts, facials and other beauty services -- to the Breast Cancer Research Foundation.
(Bremerton) Sun. The Hansville Community Church Youth Group collected discarded cedar shingles from a remodeling project to make 60 bundles of kindling wood. They then sold those to buy large-print Bibles for the church's elderly.
(Everett) Herald. 75-plus volunteers from the Stilly-Snohomish Fisheries Enhancement Task Force created a better salmon habitat along the Skykomish River. They planted 75 trees, and weeded noxious and invasive plants.
(Kent) King County Journal -- South County. The Cascade Middle School Builders Club in Auburn sold ice cream at the school dance Oct. 25 to raise money for a 5th-grader battling leukemia. Volunteers counted their earnings -- $100 -- and planned more fund-raisers Oct. 26.
(Mount Vernon) Skagit Valley Herald. Anacortes High School athletes collected a ton of food, literally, for the Salvation Army's food bank. 75 athletes donned team jackets and went door-to-door collecting canned goods.
(Olympia) Olympian. In October, students at Timberline High School in Lacey collected toys, baby clothes, strollers and other baby items. Volunteers sorted items into care packages for a teen-parenting program Oct. 26.
(Port Angeles) Peninsula Daily News. 25 volunteers led by the Clallam County AmeriCorps chapter painted the exterior of, and planted 700 daffodil bulbs around, the new Mount Angeles Boys and Girls Club.
(Tacoma) News Tribune. 760 Fort Lewis volunteers worked on 82 projects. Military personnel and their families collected 4,699 items for donation drives, including 1,000 toys for low-income children, and conducted several cleanups, donating 3,900 hours of work.
(Vancouver) Columbian. Altrusa International of Longview-Kelso put together 911 Literacy/ Safety Bags for shelters and police departments, plus 1,500 bags of coloring books, magnets and brochures for children to learn safety lessons.
Walla Walla Union-Bulletin. 13 volunteers from the Royal Neighbors of America 2738 in Dayton weeded, cleared overgrown shrubs and cleaned a cemetery.
Wenatchee World. The Wenatchee Downtown Kiwanis restored a park. Volunteers re-netted basketball hoops, weeded, raked and painted.

WISCONSIN

(Appleton) Post-Crescent. Until Oct. 26, outdoor play meant drawing with chalk on the sidewalk at BABES Respite & Counseling Services, which provides child care and counseling to parents under age 28. 22 volunteers from Alcoa-Presto Products and ABC Printing changed that, installing playground equipment, a fence and wood chips.
(Beaver Dam) Daily Citizen. Moved by the devastation of hurricanes Isidore and Lili, Astico Perseverance 4-H Club members launched a month-long drive for school supplies, books and shoes for kids in Montegut, La., one affected community. Schools, churches and individuals in Columbus pitched in; a club-sponsored dance also helped the cause. 1,400 pounds of supplies in 44 boxes were mailed to the Montegut Middle School 4-H. A real estate company paid the $500 postage.
(Eau Claire) Leader-Telegram. In her 1st effort, Judie Blandi collected $200 worth of clothing and household items for the Bolton Refuge House, which serves battered women and their kids.
(Fond du Lac) Reporter. 20 volunteers, including Girl Scouts, families and young couples, sorted donations, washed windows, planted spring bulbs, strung holiday lights, walked dogs and groomed cats at the Fond du Lac Humane Society.
Green Bay Press-Gazette. Led by the Volunteer Center of Brown County, 500 volunteers, including 300 youths, completed 10 projects. They raked 50-plus elderly citizens' yards, completed yardwork at non-profits, organized the music library at the Green Bay Symphony, helped with Halloween events at the Northeastern Wisconsin Zoo, and staged food drives and a teddy bear collection.
Janesville Gazette. The 70-member Builders Club at Edison Middle School led a month-long collection of toiletries, household items, cleaning supplies and linens for the House of Mercy, a homeless shelter. Club members delivered more than 1,000 items, including pots and pans, paper towels and toilet tissue.
(Manitowoc-Two Rivers) Herald Times Reporter. Devastated by the death of 12-year-old Carri Dickson, her 19 7th-grade classmates at St. Peter the Fisherman Catholic School in Two Rivers raised $3,000 to buy a potentially life-saving defibrillator for her older brother, diagnosed with the same rare heart condition that took Carri's life.
Oshkosh Northwestern. Green Lake County Home and Community Education held a paper goods drive for 4 food pantries, netting 546 rolls of toilet paper, 143 paper towel rolls and 52 boxes of tissues, plus napkins, diapers and kitchen bags -- all items not covered by food stamps. 13 HCE groups helped, with members manning 6 grocery stores Oct. 26.
(Rhinelander) Daily News. 157 volunteers ages 3-80 raked leaves at the homes of 100 senior citizens. Forward Service Corporation, a social service agency, organized the project for the 5th year. The youngest volunteer, present at his 3rd Make A Difference Day event, brought his own plastic rake.
Sheboygan Press. To clean up the neighborhood around the Boys & Girls Club, 15 members of the Torch and Keystone clubs, service groups within the Boys & Girls Club, filled 5 bags of trash in General King Park and along the Lake Michigan shore, plus trash that had blown into 10 neighboring yards. The 9- to 14-year-olds delivered homemade cards and candy to the 10 neighbors.
(Stevens Point) Central Wisconsin Sunday. In an event coordinated by the United Way of Portage County Volunteer Center, 200-plus volunteers raked leaves for 120 elderly or disabled people in Stevens Point, Almond, Bancroft and Amherst.
(Waukesha) Freeman Newspapers. Doing their part to prevent alcohol-related accidents, 60 volunteers -- including a judge, an assistant district attorney and emergency room personnel -- staged a mock car crash, medical response and trial at a courthouse and hospital. 44 people attended the event, organized by the PARC (Preventing Alcohol Related Crashes) Youth Group and Task Force.
Wausau Daily Herald. Inspired by Daily Herald reports of empty shelves at food pantries, Kayt Kennedy rented a 14-foot truck and parked it near the town square on Oct. 26. With help from 5 volunteers, she filled it with 1,500 pounds of groceries dropped off by citizens. The haul filled 3 food pantries.

WYOMING

Laramie Daily Boomerang. Inspired by a 3-year-old with neurofibromatosis, Russell Gotthoffer, 11, and 6 friends raised $2,100 selling homemade holiday note cards in their neighborhoods and on the Web. Russell printed the cards on his computer and sorted, folded and packaged them with his friends' help, selling 70 packages at $9 each on Oct. 26 alone. The cards featured art by children with neurofibromatosis. With a matching grant from Avon, they raised $4,200 to send patients to summer camp.

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Prominent Participants

AARP
Aid Association for Lutherans/Lutheran Brotherhood
Altrusa International Inc.
AmeriCorps
Big Brothers Big Sisters of America
Boy Scouts
Boys & Girls Clubs of America
Camp Fire Boys & Girls
*Campus Outreach Opportunity League
Capitol Records/Nashville
Citigroup
*First Book
*General Federation of Women's Clubs
Girl Scouts
Golden Key International Honour Society
Goodwill Industries
*Habitat for Humanity
Hecht's
KaBoom!
Keep America Beautiful
Kiwanis
Knights of Columbus
LensCrafters
*March of Dimes Foundation
Miss America Organization
MissionFish
*National 4-H Council
*National Assembly
National Fraternal Congress of America
Retired Senior Volunteer Program
Salvation Army
*Share Our Strength
Scholarship America
Special Olympics
Students in Free Enterprise
Telephone Pioneers of America
*The Association of Junior Leagues International
U.S. Air Force, Army and Navy
*USA Harvest
United Way of America
*Veterans of Foreign Wars of the United States
*Volunteers of America
*An asterisk identifies members of the Make A Difference Day Advisory Board.

This issue was reported by Terry Byrne, Laura Greenspan, Patricia Kime, Pam Janis and Kelly DiNardo. Pamela Brown is USA WEEKEND Magazine's Make A Difference Day editor.