11 Alive and Hands on Atlanta Join Forces for Make a Difference Day by Offering 11 Community Projects

Make A Difference Day is the nation's largest day of volunteering, and is an annual event that takes place on the fourth Saturday of October. This year, it falls on October 27, 2012. 11Alive joins the Make a Difference Day movement with 11 events through the city. With our partner, Hands on Atlanta, we encourage you to JOIN US at one of the 11 highlighted events listed below OR do your own community project and tell us what you did.
 

For more than 20 years, USA WEEKEND Magazine has mobilized millions of people across the U.S. for this National Day of Doing Good. Together with its hundreds of carrier newspapers, longstanding partner Points of Light and Newman's Own, it rallies millions in a single day to help change the communities they live in.  Homelessness HomeStretch 89 Grove Way Roswell, GA 30075 9:00 a.m-1:00 p.m. http://www.homestretch.org HomeStretch gives homeless parents and their children a safe and comfortable place to live while simultaneously helping them address the root causes of their situation and return to a life of self-reliance and stability. When they graduate from HomeStretch, the families have a strong grasp on their finances, have reduced insurmountable debt and have accumulated savings. Many have even increased their income through job skills training and improved employment. Project consists of minor landscaping work such as lawn mowing, hedge trimming, mulch laying, and leaf raking/bagging. Some other common tasks include Interior painting and minor interior demolition. On occasion we pressure wash and paint the exterior of HomeStretch's transitional housing units. While landscaping and beautification are typical tasks we also move donated furniture in and out of HomeStretch's housing units in preparation for a new family's arrival. - Click here to Sign Up Health/Service Project Open Hand 176 Ottley Dr. Atlanta, GA 30324 8:00 a.m.-1:00 p.m. http://www.projectopenhand.org Our drivers are a critical part of the service we provide to the community, since a majority of our clients are homebound. In fact, our volunteer drivers are quite often the only person a client may see on any given day. But as much as that meal - and that simple moment shared means to each client - it means just as much to each volunteer. Volunteers break up into small groups of 2-3 and use their own vehicles to deliver meals. We will provide extremely detailed driving directions and a 30 minute delivery training. Delivery training will begin at 10am, and the average route is 2-3 hours long. You will only deliver meals within the metro Atlanta area. Minimum Volunteer Age: N/A with an adult * Since multiple people can ride in the same car, we schedule our volunteer routes in terms of the number of cars that are needed rather than the number of volunteers needed. We would like a minimum of 5 cars, and a maximum of 30 cars.- Click here to Sign Up   Art Services Volunteer Workdays at PushPush Theater East Decatur Station 121 New Street, #3-14 Decatur, GA 30030 2:00 p.m.-5:00 p.m. http://www.pushpushtheater.com/ PushPush Theater supports the development of artists who push boundaries and shares their work with the community. PushPush, an award-winning theater dedicated to the development of performing artists, aims to be a force in cultural progression by supporting and providing artistic and cultural development and offering the outcomes to the community through a wide range of innovative programming. During the Volunteer Days of Service, volunteers will paint, clean and redesign the theater for the upcoming new productions (exact details vary from month to month). This may involve set construction, seating setup and enhancing the overall theater atmosphere. - Click here to Sign Up Minimum Volunteer Age: 15    Education Parklane Elementary 2809 Blount Street East Point, GA 30344 9:45 a.m.-12:00 p.m. http://handsondiscovery.handsonatlanta.org The Hands On Atlanta Discovery Program is a volunteer-led Saturday tutoring and enrichment program that supports Monday-Friday instruction through homework assistance, tutoring, educational games, and enrichment through field trips and service-learning projects. Sessions occur two or three Saturdays per month for two hours (10am - noon). Our goal is to get as close to one-on-one volunteer to student ratio as possible to allow for more individualized attention and to develop relationships between students and adult volunteers. Students are divided up by grade level and the activities for each grade are planned by grade captains who manage the classroom activities. During the months of March and April, the Discovery Program supports the schools’ needs by providing students with CRCT (Criterion-Referenced Competency Tests from the Georgia Performance Standards) practice. Students are engaged in math, language arts, social studies and science. Parklane Elementary Discovery is a Saturday morning tutoring program that offers one-on-one and small group enrichment activities for at-risk children. Volunteers lead activities and help with reading and math skills for students in kindergarten through 5th grades. Minimum Volunteer Age: 16 *Volunteers who speak Spanish are especially needed. - Click here to Sign Up   Homelessness Atlanta Union Mission My Sister's House-Clothing Sort 921 Howell Mill Road Atlanta, GA 30318 (404) 367-2465 http://www.aumcares.org 9:00 a.m.-12:00 p.m. Atlanta Union Mission is a Christian ministry that brings Christ's healing power to any person in crisis through programs of rescue and recovery. Atlanta Union Mission offers comprehensive childcare and after school care for women with children staying at the Mission. Children receive a Christian-based pre-school curriculum or after school care. They also receive counseling from behavior specialists and participate in group trips. Children's services are currently offered at the Howell Mill Campus, which features age-appropriate classrooms, activity rooms and two playgrounds. Volunteers are needed to assist with Sorting of clothing donations. - Click here to Sign Up Minimum Volunteer Age: 5    Homelessness Atlanta Union Mission My Sister's House-Meal Preparation 921 Howell Mill Road Atlanta, GA 30318 (404) 367-2465 3:30 p.m.-7:00 p.m. http://www.aumcares.org Atlanta Union Mission is a Christian ministry that brings Christ's healing power to any person in crisis through programs of rescue and recovery. Atlanta Union Mission offers comprehensive childcare and after school care for women with children staying at the Mission. Children receive a Christian-based pre-school curriculum or after school care. They also receive counseling from behavior specialists and participate in group trips. Children's services are currently offered at the Howell Mill Campus, which features age-appropriate classrooms, activity rooms and two playgrounds. Volunteers are needed to assist with Meal Preparation for 200 shelter guests and residents. *Volunteers must be at least 13 years old with adult supervision. Please wear comfortable closed toed shoes with a sturdy sole (no open toed shoes, heels). - Click here to Sign Up   Education Boyd Elementary 1891 Johnson Road Atlanta, GA 30318 9:00 a.m.-12:00 p.m. Boyd Elementary is one of 3 year-round schools within the Atlanta Public Schools system. Volunteers are needed to create a sensory learning environment for Boyd Elementary's Pre-K students. Each month, the Pre-K classroom decorating team assists the teacher to decorate bulletin boards and display visual aides, disinfect toys and surfaces, and organize the teacher work room. Decorations are based on the learning modules for October - Home & Family. - Click here to Sign Up Minimum Volunteer Age: 16    Health/Service Green Market Assistant at Piedmont Park 1320 Monroe Dr., NE Atlanta, GA 30306 7:00 a.m.-2:00 p.m. http://www.piedmontpark.org The Green Market is a program of Piedmont Park Conservancy. It is a local farmers market that offers fresh, locally grown produce and healthy food choices. This program supports local farmers, health lifestyles and community building. Volunteers will assist with set-up and break-down of Green Market (Chef's Demonstration, Kid's Tent, Veggie Valet, Marketing Surveys, Signage, Market Tables and Umbrellas etc.) Volunteers will assist vendors with set up and break down of their booths, assisting market guests with directions within Piedmont Park, chef demo assistance, kids tent assistance and other general questions. The Green Market for Piedmont Park will be held from 9:00am to 1:00pm every Saturday, May 5th to December 8th at the 12th Street Gate on Piedmont Ave. The Green Market is open Rain or Shine - Click here to Sign Up Minimum Volunteer Age: 18    Homelessness Atlanta Union Mission Marietta Thrift Store 1140 Roswell Road Marietta, GA 30062 (404) 367-3920 12:00 p.m.-4:00 p.m http://www.aumcares.org Atlanta Union Mission is a Christian ministry that brings Christ's healing power to any person in crisis through programs of rescue and recovery. Volunteers will processing donations received at the Marietta Thrift Store in order to get them ready to sell.  The donations processing involves inspecting, sorting, hanging, tagging and putting clothes on the sales floor.  Some of the donations may be household goods, books, furniture, toys and sporting goods.  These donations must be inspected, sorted and priced before being put on the sales floor.  In addition to processing donations, the volunteers will be asked to provide customer service to our patrons. - Click here to Sign Up Minimum Volunteer Age: 12    Environment Blue Heron Nature Preserve 4055 Roswell Rd NE Atlanta, GA 30342 (404) 345-1008 9:00 a.m.-12:00 p.m. http://www.bhnp.org/portal/index.html The Blue Heron Nature Preserve is a twenty-five acre natural wilderness along Nancy Creek located just off Roswell Road in Atlanta, Georgia. Our goals include involving local communities in the preservation and restoration of local greenspace, wetland habitats, stream bank and riparian corridors along Nancy Creek. Volunteers will be focusing on the Mill Trail. This is a critical component of our overall Master Plan that will link the primary Blue Heron property on Roswell Road with the Emma Wetlands track across Lakemoore Drive. The trail will start near the new trail we installed in June with the Discovery Communications group. It will start at Lakemoore Drive and follow the creek up to the waterfall near the Eidson Mill Dam. - Click here to Sign Up Minimum Volunteer Age: 16    Health MedShare International 3240 Clifton Springs Road Decatur, GA 30034 1:00 p.m.- 4:00 p.m. http://www.medshare.org MedShare International is dedicated to recycling surplus medical supplies and equipment for use by healthcare institutions in developing countries. Metro Atlanta is served by the provision of an environmentally and socially responsible alternative to disposal of medical materials. And simultaneously, international healthcare organizations are provided with needed supplies. MedShare International is dedicated to recycling surplus medical supplies and equipment for use by healthcare institutions in developing countries. On Thursdays, volunteers are needed to sort specialized surgical instruments. Thursday volunteers must be at 16 years old, and should either be medical professionals or be willing to commit to returning on a weekly basis. *Possibility that volunteers will also assist students from Bobby Dodd with sorting. - Click here to Sign Up Minimum Volunteer Age: 13 http://www.usaweekend.com/section/MDDAY/Make-A-Difference-Day