| Show Honors 9TH ANNUAL MAKE A DIFFERENCE DAY AWARDS Own lead ftlk way m ratiora! awards V BY EVELYN POITEVENT singer and literacy Two million volunteers across the nation officially participated in Make A Difference Day They helped an estimated 22 million in need A record $28 million went to thousands of local charities funded primarily rt the day’s retail sup- by porter Sunsweet Growers also funded awards to 10 past national honorees who continue their work Keynote speaker at the awards event was multiplatinum country singer Collin Raye whose eighth album Tracks is just released Miss America Heather French who volunteered with homeless veterans in New York City on Make A Difference Day joined Raye in presenting the inspirational awards “You hear these honorees’ stories” Raye confessed “and almost feel embarrassed you CLICK ON LINKS didn’t do enough yourself” The singer held a Complete listings of Make A Difference Day the 1 0 national 1 04 state 10 encore and 502 local concert to benefit the awards child abuse prevention A photo essay of group Childhelp USA honorees plus sound bites The 10th Make A about each photo by the Difference Day will be photographer Saturday Oct 28 Raye Inside tips on how you to volunteer promised can be a part of the next that day and urges othMake A Difference Day ers to ad too: “Little Saturday Oct 28 It's all on the Web at problems can be solved advocate makeadiffrrencedaycom N APRIL 11 10 extraordi- - nary groups of people — ' many of them children — received national awards for helping those less fortunate last Oct 23 the ninth annual Make A Difference Day Honorees were flown from around the country to receive $10000 checks for the charity of their choice at the Make A Difference Day Awards ceremony held at the Arlington Va headquarters of USA WEEKEND USA WEEKEND magazine created Make A Difference Day the nation’s largest day of community service in partnership with the Points of Light Foundation in 1992 This year’s honorees were announced in the April 9 issue of the magazine (see cover at right) The joyful awards ceremony held during 7-- National Volunteer Week capped off months of judging Make A Difference Day project entries Among the judges for this year’s awards were Paul Newman — founder and president of Newman’s Own which funds the $10000 awards — and Reba McEntire country 24 USA WEEKEND May 7 2000 Wal-Ma- I J: quickly Big problems I Ardsterem -- V ' Miss America Heather French and country singer Collin Raye embrace young volunteers who received national Make A Difference and $ 1 0000 charitable donations Day Awards CLOCKWISE FROM TOP RIGHT: Drew Humphrey 8 of West Virginia who gave toys to kids who lost homes in a flood Andrew Libka 1 1 of Michigan who raised money for others fighting cancer and Kristal DeRuise 1 0 Diana Vaden 1 0 and Trevor DeRuise 8 of Nevada who intend to help fund a cure for lupus are gonna be here awhile We may never see the end of them but maybe our kids will or our grandkids will — if we start working on them now” Our national honorees who are working to make the world a better place for all: An Alpena Mich boy with cancer who raised $61546 for a treatment center and a Ronald McDonald House Three children in Sparks Nev who sold crafts to help find a cure for TVevor lupus One of them DeRuise said “I didn’t realize we would be helping millions even if just by putting a smile on someone’s face” A boy in Beckley WVa who collected 1000 new toys for young Hurricane Floyd flood victims A Henderson NC family that cut down trees threatening to fall on an elderly preacher’s small church Maxwell Air Force Base personnel who created a large foster home in Montgomery Ala 7000 Job Corps students who volunteered across the nation A homeless musician in Tulsa who raised $1000 for a homeless shelter 9700 people in Schuylkill County Pa who accomplished 146 projects A Raleigh NC church collected $50000 and adopted flood victims A woman in El Paso who spon- sored the construction of a new house for a family that had been living in a cardboard shack in Anapra Mexico just across the US border “There’s a verse that says ‘of all the blessing that life brings the best come wrapped in friendship’s wings’ ” remarked honoree Maida Apodaca “This award will allow us to continue bringing friendship’s wings to the border” C3 |
