By Staff
Special to The Star
April 22, 2001
The winners of "Make A Difference Day" 2000 are being announced today in the USA Weekend Magazine, which is inserted each Sunday in The Meridian Star. Five groups from The Meridian Star's coverage area participated in the event.
Calvary Baptist Church of Waynesboro was the recipient of the local award.
The Calvary Baptist membership voted to participate in the "Make A Difference Day" 2000. This was the church's third year to participate.
More than 170 members prepared and served 275 meals throughout the community to the homebound. The volunteers had enough spaghetti and meat sauce along with salad, bread and dessert to feed a small army. In another kitchen located in the children's division, children and class leaders baked cookies to deliver to the local jail, police department, rest homes and hospital. The children also sang at a local nursing facility and delivered many of the homebound meals.
Other volunteers spent the day doing yard work, mowing, raking and trimming bushes. These chores were accomplished by more than 70 volunteers. Another group of 14 volunteers worked to repair the home of an elderly couple in the community. This home was in need of various repairs, including a handicap ramp, new windows, skirting for the house, white washing and clearing the of debris.
Here are the other participants from The Star's circulation area:
The GFWC/MFWC Futura Club and the 4-H Clubs of Neshoba County: These two organizations joined forces to sponsor a fishing rodeo for youth, disabled persons and senior citizens. More than 400 pounds of catfish were donated by Shy Hammock Fish Farmers. The fish were placed by the Mississippi Department of Wildlife, Fisheries and Parks. Twenty-nine of the fish were tagged and recorded for special prizes. More than 1,000 volunteer hours were donated by parties involved from the two clubs.
Northwest Junior High School Student Council: The student council sponsored a "Million for the Millennium" penny collection. The group didn't reach their goal, but collected 100,000 pennies ($1,000) for the local United Way. In addition, they also collected dental and personal care products, stuffed animals and children's books for The Peavey House. A collection of canned goods was also donated to the Salvation Army and Wesley House.
Northeast Lauderdale High School Special Education Students Thirteen multi-handicapped special education student collected individually wrapped snacks which they gave to Wesley House for the Children's Advocacy, Educational and Sexual Assault Crisis programs. The group collected 1,600 snacks.
St. John M.H.V. Club of Newton The club fed two families and collected 400 cans of food, 1,000 pounds of clothing, a television, and many additional food supplies, all donated by the people of Newton. They also collected school supplies for 50 children. They had 32 volunteers and more than 100 people helping with the project.
The next "Make A Difference Day" is Oct. 27. If you have questions about "Make A Difference Day" and would like information on how to participate, call the hotline at (703) 276-6432 and leave a detailed message.