This post is by Daniel Horgan, executive director of generationOn, Points of Light’s youth service division.
I remember the residents’ smiles and the laughter that filled the living room at Woodcliffe Manor Nursing Home as though it was yesterday. For several years while in high school, I organized a group of volunteers to sing holiday carols, share homemade goodies, and pass out personalized gifts to the seniors based on their wish lists.
Young people get ready to distribute presents during a 2013 Joy Maker event.
It was a special joy-making operation every year that reminded my friends and I that the time and compassion we share with others can teach us so much more than we give.
Since Nov. 10, over 60,000 kids and teens across the country and around the globe have been bringing joy to others through service as part of the fifth annual Joy Maker Challenge generously sponsored by Hasbro and powered by generationOn, the youth service division of Points of Light.
The campaign is designed to connect students in grades K-12 to meaningful, hands-on service projects during the holiday season. The Joy Maker Challenge also addresses poverty through Hasbro’s commitment to donate a toy or game up to $1 million dollars’ worth to Toys for Tots for every action that a kid or teen takes to help others.
The stories of young joy makers featured on the generationOn site are a great source of inspiration. Students are learning about needs in their community, discovering ways that they can be a part of solutions, and calling on others to spread joy as well.
The Joy Maker Challenge has united students across two schools in Richmond, Va. – Bon Air and Crestwood Elementary Schools – to make holiday crafts (tootsie-pop turkeys) for those in hospice care. The kids at the Boys and Girls Club of North San Luis Obispo County in California partnered with Loaves and Fishes, an organization that feeds the hungry and homeless, to decorate boxes with holiday cheer that were then distributed to local businesses participating in a community-wide food drive.
Proving its ability to bring people together, the Joy Maker Challenge inspired the student body at Tanglewood Elementary School in Fort Worth, Texas, to support two classmates who lost their home and possessions to a fire. Funds, gift cards, clothing and even a Christmas tree were donated by students, faculty and staff thus strengthening Tanglewood’s culture of compassion.
With so many needs all around us, there are many ways that students, schools, youth groups and youth-serving organizations can take action. generationOn offers project ideas, planning toolkits, and service learning lesson plans to help equip kids and teens with the tools they need to be a joy maker. And joy making does not have to end after the holidays either as illustrated by kids in Middlesboro, Ky., who serve up joy 52 weeks a year.
Through an initiative called “52 Weeks of Giving,” kids living in rural Appalachia have been performing weekly acts of kindness every Friday for the past four years.
From delivering handmade thank you cards to local firefighters to raking leaves for elderly residents to fundraising for kids fighting cancer, the “givers” bring joy to people around the world through service all year long despite many of them living in poverty themselves.
Despite the traditional hustle and bustle that we find ourselves in during the holiday season, let’s pause for a moment and reflect on the last time someone shared joy with us. Whether someone shared a kind smile, held a door, or offered a helping hand, it sure does feel good to recognize all of the joy around us.
So let’s all commit to putting more joy into the world by being a joy maker, getting the kids in our lives engaged in service, and living out the motto of the kids engaged in “52 Weeks of Giving” – Don’t let anyone be nicer than you!
For more information on the Joy Maker Challenge, please visit www.generationOn.org/joymaker.
See How an Act of Kindness Has Served Thousands of Foster Kids
Meet Danny Mendoza, an advocate for foster care and youth involvement. As a 19-year-old college student, Mendoza founded Together We Rise, a nonprofit organization dedicated to transforming the way youth navigate the foster care system.
Danny Mendoza pauses for a photo during Together We Rise’s annual Disneyland trip – when the organization takes a group of foster children to the amusement park.
As World Kindness Week (Nov. 10 – 14) approaches, I think about how one small act of kindness can have a tremendous impact on countless people. I’d like to share my small act with you, in hopes it will inspire your own.
When I found out my 9-year-old cousin was living in a car after his parents lost their home, I knew I had to act. I tried to get him into foster care, thinking it would offer him a safe home. After researching the realities of the system, I was shocked to learn it was potentially a worse situation for him.
The statistics that face foster children, both inside and outside of the system, are staggering. Only two to three percent of foster children will ever graduate from college, and approximately 80 percent of the prison population is composed of former foster youth. This predicament is largely attributable to a lack of strong, steady resources and support.
Seeing my cousin’s plight, I sold my car and used those funds to start Together We Rise in 2008. Our principal focus is on improving the lives of foster children in the most compassionate and influential ways possible.
We want them to have a normal childhood and bring them experiences that kids typically have, like visiting Disneyland or having a bike to ride. These may seem like small acts, but to them it provides a sense of normalcy and belonging. For instance, most people don’t realize how common it is for children to enter foster care with nothing but the clothes on their backs.
On average, a foster child will move two to three times a year with their few belongings stuffed in black trash bags. We started our Sweet Cases program to provide children with duffel bags filled with basic necessities, including hygiene kits, stuffed animals, blankets, coloring books and crayons.
This nationwide initiative is made possible through the hard work of volunteers and partnerships with companies that recognize the role of the private sector in driving positive social change.
One such company we’ve encountered is KIND Snacks, whose mission is – naturally – to spread kindness. Earlier this year, we discovered their KIND Causes program, which provides $10,000 monthly grants to individuals and organization working to make the world a little kinder.
With the help of our community, Together We Rise entered KIND Causes and subsequently secured the funding, which we were able to put to good use immediately. That grant allowed us to distribute 200 Sweet Cases throughout Los Angeles and New York – two states with the highest number of children in foster care.
To date, our Sweet Case program has provided more than 7,000 children with cases so they do not have travel from home to home with trash bags. Trash bags are for trash, not children.
You, too, can help us change the way children navigate the foster care system in America. To learn how to get involved, visit our website. And remember, sometimes the smallest actions make the biggest difference.
A Lesson in How Service Works on Make A Difference Day
Just five miles from the U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C., Covenant House helps homeless, disconnected and exploited young adults by providing meals, emergency housing, job training, education programs and child care.
Volunteers clean up in the library at Covenant House on Make A Difference Day. (Photo by Max Taylor)
On Saturday, a team of new AmeriCorps VISTA members – assigned to
, a program that uses volunteer service as the primary strategy to help underserved young adults develop the skills they need to prepare for college and careers – showed they know a thing or two about
how
service works.
The five AmeriCorps members organized a
event that brought 130 volunteers to Covenant House to help make life a bit easier for the hundreds of at-risk youth who often turn to the organization for help.
Volunteers organized libraries for young children and adults. They packed hundreds of toiletry kits for distribution to the homeless. They sorted, ironed and folded tens of thousands of clothing items. They cleaned up the grounds and the neighborhood.
“A lot of people say you can’t make a difference in a day,” said Vernell Payton, coordinator of outreach and intake at Covenant House for 18 years. “But you can. You’d be surprised at how many young people who come here talk about basic stuff. Toiletry kits, for example. If you have one, you can dip into the bathroom at the Exxon station and be ready for that job or that appointment.”
Jasmine Hortberg, an AmeriCorps VISTA member, gives volunteers instructions just before a Make A Difference Day project at Covenant House. (Photo by Max Taylor)
and the nation’s largest corporate-funded AmeriCorps VISTA program, for showing young people “a pathway forward through service.”
That point wasn’t lost on Jasmine Hortberg, 25, an AmeriCorps VISTA member from Birmingham, Ala. “My mother is an addict and has been my whole life,” Jasmine said. “She taught me to be a wonderful, compassionate human being, that everyone needs help sometimes. She taught me not to judge.”
After graduating from Auburn University, Hortberg joined AmeriCorps VISTA to help other young people who have had a tough time. “A lot of people think they [underserved young adults] don’t have passion and goals, but they do. They just don’t have the means to pursue them. That’s what I want to give them,” she said.
“Finding that inner motivation is something these kids can definitely have,” Hortberg added. “It’s just about somebody believing in them, and that’s something they haven’t had a lot of.”
is now operating in 10 cities – Boston, Chicago, Dallas, Los Angeles, Miami, New York, Newark, San Francisco, St. Louis and Washington, D.C. If you live in one of these cities and would like to volunteer as a mentor or trainer, please send an email to LaRhonda Jackson,
This post is by Tracy Hoover, Points of Light’s president.
Food Recovery Network volunteers collect food for distribution to the hungry.
I found out today that my office is in the middle of a desert. On a U.S. map, it’s in Atlanta. But on the USDA’s Food Access Research Atlas, we’re located in the middle of a “food desert.” That means that supermarkets are more than a half mile away and getting access to fresh, healthy food is challenging.
The USDA estimates that a shocking 23.5 million Americans live in food deserts. According to No Kid Hungry, 1 in 5 children in America struggles with hunger.
Today is World Food Day, a United Nations-sponsored day of awareness and action focused on making sure people have regular access to enough high-quality food to lead active, healthy lives. Globally, the United Nations estimates that there are 805 million hungry people in the world. The problem is huge and complex.
But in the face of these enormous challenges, volunteers are finding promising solutions.
In the U.S., Ben Simon and Mia Zavalij started the Food Recovery Network when they noticed that surplus food from their University of Maryland dining halls and sporting events was begin thrown away. Today their organization – which collects and distributes surplus food from college campuses to those who need it – is one of a growing number of civic startups inventing new solutions to long-term problems.
Making hunger a thing of the past will require all of us to take action. The good news is there are lots of ways volunteers of any age can help. Here are things you can do to end food insecurity, food waste and hunger in your community and around the world:
Use Your Time & Talent
Organize a healthy food drive or join a food rescue team to help fill the gap left by food deserts in your area. Download a Healthy Food Drive toolkit to get started. Or download the HandsOn Network’s Food Pick-Up Playbook for tips on starting your own food rescue project.
Volunteer in your community. Go to AllforGood.org and search “Hunger” and your zip code. Encourage your friends to join you!
Kids and teens can apply for a $500 grant to support projects to fight hunger. Check out “Make Your Mark on Hunger,” a youth-led campaign supported by ConAgra Foods Foundation, C&S Wholesale Grocers and the National Turkey Federation.
Parents and educators, download the Farm to Table curriculum to use in teaching kids about food production and supply, where it comes from, why food security is an issue and what can be done to help.
Use Your Voice & Influence
Visit No Kid Hungry to find out how you can advocate for policies that help address hunger in your community.
Use Your Money
Shop at retailers who donate a portion of their proceeds to fight hunger. FEED Projects is one of my favorites.
Every action counts. Let’s make a difference today.
Do Good for a Chance to Win $10,000 for Your Favorite Charity
On Oct. 25, millions of volunteers across the nation will unite with a common mission – to improve the lives of others. For more than 20 years, USA WEEKEND magazine, in collaboration with Points of Light, has brought you Make A Difference Day, the largest national day of community service.
An Assistance League volunteer from San Mateo County,
Calif., bonds with a child over a donated book during a Make A Difference Day activity last year.
For a chance to win a $10,000 grant from Newman’s Own for your favorite charity you simply need to register your project here.
After completing your project on Oct. 25, fill out a simple form describing what took place and the impact you made in your community.
Three years ago, Feeding America San Diego was at a turning point. The local volunteer center had closed, which meant a loss of volunteer team leaders who facilitated food packing projects along with fewer referrals of individuals and corporate groups. I knew the power of volunteers, but our food bank had limited internal resources to make up for the gap.
Since we would not be able to fully meet our mission with a decreased volunteer flow, I asked our team to consider new ways to attract volunteers while offering a meaningful service experience. We invested in new technology to help volunteers find and register for projects, renovated our warehouse entry area to create a welcoming orientation and education space, and developed our own corps of volunteer team leaders.
These steps all made a difference, but I knew we had more potential. That’s why I jumped at the chance to join the Service Enterprise Initiative when it launched in San Diego. A Service Enterprise is an organization that uses volunteers strategically to achieve its mission.
The Service Enterprise Initiative, a training program of Points of Light, includes an organizational diagnostic tool, 16-hour curriculum, and follow-up coaching, proven to help organizations like ours transform the ways we engaged volunteers in our work. I liked that the program featured a team-based approach to ensure implementation occurred at all levels of our organization.
I chose our volunteer programs manager, operations director, and development director to join me at the training sessions. We developed a vision and action plan for Feeding America San Diego’s volunteerism and learned change management techniques to engage the rest of the staff.
“Engaging volunteers has always been a high priority for us,” said Alicia Saake, our director of operations. “The Service Enterprise experience gave us the tools for making that priority real for staff and volunteers.”
Teresa Dale, our volunteer programs manager, came away with a new vision for her work: “The Service Enterprise training transformed how I see my department’s role in the organization. I realized we had so much more potential to engage people beyond food sorting and office volunteers. We needed volunteers involved in our whole organization.”
So Teresa shifted from just working directly with volunteers to supporting the organization’s team in their work with volunteers. “I now teach others how to make volunteer engagement more accessible and successful,” she said. “And when there are problems with a volunteer, I don’t fix it myself; I work with the team member to determine the best approach for resolution.”
This kind of work and culture change takes time, even with senior management buy-in. However, our efforts are paying off. “Before, we were always the ones to make suggestions about working with volunteers,” Alicia said. “Now, other staff come up with ideas about new volunteer roles and then work with the volunteer department to plan for, recruit and implement those roles.”
Our Service Enterprise participation validated our investment in volunteer engagement. It gave us language for talking about the significant value and impact of volunteers in Feeding America San Diego’s work, which we can use with donors, our board, volunteers and the community.
This post is by My’Kah Knowlin, 13, of Lincoln, Neb., founder of Boxes of Love. The organization provides care packages to people in need, including disaster victims and military members serving overseas. My’Kah inspires other young people to get involved in volunteer service as a generationOn Hasbro Community Action Hero.
My’Kah Knowlin makes a care package delivery.
I am a 13-year-old, soon-to-be eighth grader from Lincoln, Neb. In 2011 I started my own foundation called Boxes Of Love, after hearing about the Joplin, Mo., tornado. I was 10 years old and thought that this would be a one-time service event.
I am proud to say that since that time three years ago I have had Operation Afghanistan, Operation Sandy Hook and Operation Moore, Oklahoma, and I am currently working on Operation Tanzania. I have been honored to be able to help so many people in this past three years.
On my birthday in March, I learned that I was chosen as a Hasbro Community Action Hero. What a shock – I never expected to receive such an honor. I was flown to New York City to meet with the amazing people at generationOn and Hasbro. I got to attend an event that would honor not only myself but many other amazing people, adults and kids alike who also give back to their communities.
I look forward to what my year as a national award winner has in store. I plan on hosting numerous service events and I hope to be able to travel back to NYC and across the USA to speak to youth about the importance of giving back. You can see what we’ve been up to lately by visiting my website www.boxesoflove.net.
One my favorite projects was Operation Afghanistan. I had just finished packing boxes for Joplin, Mo., when I learned from a family friend, whose grandson was in Afghanistan, that our soldiers do not always have dry or warm socks, toiletry, hygiene items or things to keep them busy and their minds off of home. I was surprised and humbled to realize that the men and women who serve our country do not always have support from home.
It made me want to do everything I could to make their time in Afghanistan easier. I started by asking for donated items to fill boxes – word games, dog toys, socks, cards, snacks and items that would remind them of home or that they could use while on or off duty. After filling the boxes with these items I shipped them with the help of donations that were given to my cause. I hope that the Marines enjoyed their little surprises from home.
I challenge everyone that reads this to grab a box and some friends this Memorial Day and fill the box with items you know you would want if you were away from home. You can take the box to a military base near you and ask that it be given to a family that may be struggling or a Veterans’ hospital.
If we all fill just one box we could be the difference in many military lives, after all, they have all worked hard to make a difference in our lives. It’s a small way to show our appreciation for all they do or have done. Remember they are our true heroes!
Superheroes Like You’ve Never Seen
This post is by Daniel Horgan, executive director of generationOn, Points of Light’s youth service enterprise.
Daniel Horgan
Kids love superheroes. Whether it’s the kind they read about in comic books or watch on the big screen, the action figures that they play with or the parents and role models in their life that they emulate, these superheroes inspire kids and activate their imagination. The reality is that from Huntington Beach, Calif., to Lincoln, Neb., to Duluth, Ga., there are kids who are superheroes themselves.
Every day, youth across the U.S. and around the globe are discovering social issues and immediately kicking into superhero mode. They go to the front lines to understand the issue from those directly affected. They partner with nonprofits aligned in mission. And these youth rally their friends, family, and neighbors to take action.
By showcasing the incredible civic engagement of kindergartners to high school students, Hasbro and generationOn seek to inspire all of us to engage in the power of service.
Hasbro Community Action Hero Neha Gupta in India
Our Hasbro Community Action Heroes channel the powerful words of RFK, “Each time a person stands up for an ideal, or acts to improve the lots of others, or strikes out against injustice, they send forth a tiny ripple of hope.” In times of disaster and resource constraints, the actions of youth who spring into volunteer service can send forth a ripple of hope.
Struck by the devastating tornado that hit Joplin, Mo., in 2011, then 9-year-old My’Kah Knowlin of Lincoln, Neb., launched “Boxes of Love” by mobilizing her friends, family and community businesses to pack 300 boxes with donated toys, snacks and other tangible items for the disaster victims. Fifteen-year-old Ethan Cruikshank of Mechanicsville, Va., has mobilized his friends to provide music lessons to 87 elementary school-aged children since his school’s music education program lost funding five years ago.
Sometimes the youngest of children are reminded of all the ripples of joy that have come their way and they are compelled to practice the childhood lesson of sharing. This is the case with 5-year-old Kellon Oldenettel from Jacksonville, Fla., who realized early on that many kids his age do not have food, a roof over their heads, and toys. So Kellon rallied the support of his family and neighbors to collect 1,256 pairs of socks for local homeless shelters.
Hasbro Community Action Hero Remington Youngblood
Youth are sending ripples of compassion around the globe as well. Thirteen-year-old Remington Youngblood of Duluth, Ga., has galvanized the support of his seventh grade peers to collect items from the wish lists of active duty soldiers and veterans as well as school supplies for children of military families.
Inspired by a visit to India to visit her grandparents, eight years ago, Neha Gupta of Yardley, Pa., now 17, witnessed firsthand the needs of thousands of orphans and disadvantaged children. Upon returning home, Neha founded “Empower Orphans” and has since raised over one million dollars that has impacted the lives of over 25,000 kids in India through an eye and dental camp, the installation of a well and water purification system, and the opening of centers for science and sewing to support workforce development.
The stories of our 2014 Hasbro Community Action Heroes including My’Kah, Ethan, Kellon, Remington and Neha are extraordinary examples of youth taking superhero actions as they mobilize others through volunteer service and raise awareness of the power and impact of one person’s actions.
Our sixth awardee this year, 10-year-old Gabriele Eggerling of Huntington Beach, Calif., believes that all of us have superhero powers which are our brains and hearts. Channeling his superhero abilities, Gabriele launched “Mission:HERO” through which he reads stories aloud to an average of 150 elementary-aged students each month and has donated over 1,500 books to low income kids and. Last year, Gabriele took the stage to deliver a TEDx talk in which he reminded all of us that we each have something special to share that can make a difference to others.
In Gabriele’s words, “It’s ripple time!” It’s time to inspire, equip and mobilize more youth superheroes and celebrate the impact that they are having in communities around the world. Let’s channel our own superhero powers through volunteer service, and let’s send forth ripples of hope, joy, and compassion.
There was some understandable hand-wringing when the Bureau of Labor Statistics recently reported that the volunteer rate in America decreased by one percentage point – to 25.4 percent of Americans – from 2012 to 2013. For the thousands of community organizations that rely on volunteers to fulfill their missions, any dip in the volunteer rate is cause for concern.
But the BLS report, at its core, may not mean that Americans’ commitment to volunteering is waning. Instead the data may suggest an evolution in how Americans volunteer.
When Winter Storm Leon barreled through Atlanta a few months ago, an army of concerned citizens sprang to life. They grabbed shovels to rescue motorists stranded on gridlocked, icy roads. They grabbed chainsaws to free people trapped in their homes by falling tree limbs.
But Michelle Sollicito did something different. She grabbed a laptop and helped hundreds of people get home safely right from her kitchen table.
When Sollicito’s Facebook group SnowedOutAtlanta amassed 50,000 members overnight and helped orchestrate hundreds of rescues, she was called a visionary and even a hero. But you couldn’t call her a volunteer – at least not by the traditional definition. And that points to a powerful need for change.
The Bureau of Labor Statistics relies on a traditional definition of volunteering – unpaid work performed for third-party organizations – which may not take into account several booming trends:
The explosion of pro bono and skills-based volunteer service. More and more companies and individuals are finding ways to volunteer their skills and talents. Just last year, more than 500 companies pledged $2 billion worth of skills-based and pro bono volunteer service that could go uncounted under a traditional definition of volunteering.
The rise in online service. Volunteering used to be exclusively about lending your hands and feet – but increasingly it’s about lending your tweets. Today’s younger volunteers in particular perform acts of service every day, whether they use their social networks to rack up millions of views for civic-minded videos or drive fundraising for people in need through online platforms like GoFundMe and HopeMob.
Traditionalists have labeled online volunteering and engagement as “slacktivism” because you can complete your service from your couch, in your pajamas. But as the service movement evolves, we should acknowledge that, in many cases, the greatest asset a volunteer can offer is his or her ability to quickly mobilize thousands of Facebook friends or Twitter followers to raise awareness or dollars and to inspire action.
The increase in youth and young adult volunteering. While the BLS data indicates that 16-34 year olds are the least likely to volunteer in traditional way, we know from other research that this demographic is highly engaged and civic-oriented. The 25-34 demographic creates more online petitions than any other age group on Change.org, a popular online activism platform. Further, by all accounts, the 18-34 demographic has driven the success of Indiegogo, a popular crowdfunding site, where young adults regularly help spread the word about social causes.
And we see an increase in volunteering by those too young to be measured by the BLS statistics. In just a few weeks last December, tens of thousands of young people acted to help another so Hasbro would donate $1 million worth of toys and games to Toys for Tots.
The number of people using their purchasing power to support causes. Many retailers are sending some or all of their profits to nonprofits, including Toms Shoes, FEED Projects, Newman’s Own, and Alex and Ani. Research shows that more than half — 54 percent — of consumers bought a product with a social or environmental benefit in the past year.
Michelle Sollicito found a way to deliver impact without ever leaving her home. At a time when we were witnessing the worst of Mother Nature, she mobilized thousands of Atlantans to show us the best of human nature and the new ways volunteers are creating impact. In the process, she reminded us that solving the critical needs of our communities requires us to recognize, embrace and leverage the many ways people can bring all their assets to bear to help others.
By any definition, the impact today’s volunteers are having is surely at an all-time high.
Help a Charity Win $10,000 With Two Clicks
They’ve fed hungry families; brought toys to kids who had no gifts to open on Christmas; given shoes to homeless children; donated books to schools, foster programs and shelters; and assembled toiletries and clothes for victims of domestic violence.
Volunteers organized by Mary Vail display some of the
food they collected for Las Vegas families in need.
These Make A Difference Day honorees have come together help people in their communities, and now you have the chance to help reward one of their charities with the $10,000 All-Star Award from the
to sponsor Make A Difference Day, the largest national day of community service. On the fourth Saturday of October, millions of volunteers around the world to volunteer.
Check out the All-Star Award nominees below!
Mary Vail, Las Vegas –
The recession hit Las Vegas hard, leaving many families unable to buy enough food. Vail’s 15th Make A Difference Day food drive at a local supermarket collected more than 4,700 pounds of nonperishables for the Salvation Army food bank – enough to feed 235 families for a week. (Her 15-year total: 27 tons.) Vail, a publicist, led 20 volunteers in inviting shoppers to donate just one item.
Wen Marcec, Geneva, Ill. –
Last year Marcec’s Project SANTA delivered 2,203 new toys and books to Appalachian communities to brighten Christmas for kids whose parents couldn’t afford gifts, besting the 2,100 collected in 2012. In a weeklong drive, more than 140 student “elves” at seven Geneva-area schools purchased board games, puzzles, dolls and more. Marcec, 63, and her husband trucked eight hours south to Estill County, Ky., to deliver the toys, which schools distributed to the county’s neediest families in December. “If it weren’t for these toys,” says Sara Stringfield of West Irvine Elementary School, “Christmas wouldn’t happen for a lot of our kids.”
Nick Lowinger, Cranston, R.I.
– Nick Lowinger, 16, has put 15,000 homeless kids in new shoes in the four years since he created the
. Last year on Make a Difference Day 86 volunteers gathered at a garage that stores shoes donated by manufacturers or bought with donations. In six hours, they filled shoe orders for 467 kids in 22 shelters in 15 states, packed up shoe store gift cards for 300 veterans and readied a shipment of 200 warm pairs of boots for children on an Indian reservation.
After rounding up 113,000 books for at-risk children on their first Make A Difference Day, the women of the Burbank-based Assistance League surprised themselves by nearly copying that success last October: 2,666 members of the service organization led 93 communities in donating 103,036 books to schools, foster programs and shelters. “For many of these kids, it may be the only book they own,” says book drive chairman Kathy Youngman.
– For the nonprofit insurer’s 17th Make A Difference Day, 806 volunteers in 21 states tackled projects from helping seniors to filling 1,482 “Baskets of Hope” with toiletries, books and clothes for women in need. Turnout was highest in the Quad Cities of Iowa and Illinois, where 101 volunteers from Royal Neighbors’ Rock Island headquarters cleaned and painted a Dress for Success center and created 222 Baskets of Hope.
