Project
Ideas 
Issue Date: April 23, 2006
A vehicle for good
If you took your General Motors car to the dealership for servicing last Oct. 22, you may have spied something special among the grease racks: an opportunity to help children. Nationwide, GM dealers held fundraisers, including oil- and filter-change marathons, galas and silent auctions, raising money to fulfill the wishes of at least 150 seriously ill children via the Make-A-Wish Foundation. The enterprise has been thoroughly test-driven: In three years, GM and United Auto Workers-General Motors have raised $3.5 million on Make A Difference Day to grant 548 heartfelt wishes. $10,000 Make A Difference Day Award from Paul Newman benefits Make-A-Wish Foundation of America.
Town builds 10-year tradition
Each October, Greg and Emilie Wrapp's basement in Westport, Conn., is deluged with sports equipment -- thousands of shoes, balls, bats, lacrosse sticks and pads -- gathered by sons Paul and Bryan to give to needy kids. "We live in a town that is so privileged, and we drive by places that aren't," says Bryan, a high school senior. "When we bring this stuff to those towns, the kids are so grateful." He's just one of 3,500 Westport residents who gear up each year for Make A Difference Day. For the past 10 years, the town has declared the last week of October "Make A Difference Week," and much of southwestern Connecticut has benefited. Projects this year included a computer collection for poor children in Bridgeport, a sewing project in which 35 Girl Scout troops made 370 fleece pillows for ill children (see photo below), a coat drive by Coleytown Middle School students and a canned-goods collection to fill area food pantries. "It's just the right thing to do," says organizer Barbara Pearson-Rac of their efforts. "We really want to foster a sense of giving in our community." They certainly succeeded. $10,000 Make A Difference Day Award from Paul Newman benefits United Way of Westport-Weston, Conn.
Children bake bread for needy
It started as a response to the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001. That year, recalling comforting memories of her mother's Irish bread, Karen Kiefer and neighbor Juliette Fay asked kids in their Boston suburb to bake bread for police officers, firefighters, postal workers and the needy. That year, about 400 lovingly packaged, child-baked loaves were distributed. By Make A Difference Day 2005, Spread the Bread and its young bakers had delivered more than 9,000 loaves, nearly half of them on the national day of giving. "People really want to give," says Kiefer, 45. "We are just giving them a real simple road map so they can do it." On Oct. 22, the bread spreaders expanded their effort and organized a community festival to spotlight volunteer opportunities. About 500 people turned out for food, fun and philanthropy on a Wayland athletic field. Naturally, bread -- 800 fresh loaves -- was part of the fun, much of it sent that day via a fleet of volunteers' minivans to agencies serving the needy. Katie Stack, 17 -- who has spread bread since she was 12 -- helped her family deliver 1,000 leftover festival bagels to a Boston homeless shelter the next day. "It was just cool," she says, "to do something good for people and get the whole town involved." $10,000 Make A Difference Day Award from Paul Newman benefits Volunteer and Service Learning Center at Boston College. Photo by Patrick Harbron for USA WEEKEND |
Make A Difference Day, the largest national day of helping others, is sponsored by USA WEEKEND Magazine and its 600 carrier newspapers. Make A Difference Day is held in partnership with HandsOn Network and is supported by the Newman's Own, which will provides $10,000 donations to charities selected by of each of 10 national honorees. The 18th Make A Difference Day is Saturday, Oct. 25, 2008.
Make A Difference Day Hot Line: 1-800-416-3824
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