Volunteers can make a difference
By Becky Barclay
Published in News on October 16, 2005 2:17 AM
Wayne County residents are making a difference at home this week during the annual Make A Difference Week campaign.
The event is sponsored nationally by the Points of Light Foundation and USA Weekend magazine and locally by Volunteer Wayne, United Way of Wayne County, the city of Goldsboro and Wayne County. In past years, it has been Make A Difference Day, but so many groups did projects throughout the week that this year the event was changed to Make A Difference Week.
There will be supply drives throughout the week in addition to other projects.
The week will culminate in a ceremony Oct. 22 at 8:30 a.m. on the steps of the courthouse, Walnut Street side. Col. Harry Woodson III will be the speaker. Jane Rustin, campaign chairman for United Way of Wayne County, will give opening remarks.
An honor guard unit from Seymour Johnson Air Force Base will post the colors. Wayne County's volunteers of the year will be recognized.
Following the ceremony, there will be a day of more projects.
Groups and agencies that have projects that need to be done include:
*Alterra Sterling House -- answer phones, greet visitors and oversee games.
*Red Cross -- supplies.
*Aycock Birthplace -- teach young children about the past.
*Boys and Girls Club, Fremont Unit -- help with power hour, landscaping and painting.
*Boys and Girls Club, Mount Olive Unit -- help with power hour, landscaping and a basketball tournament.
*Boys and Girls Club of Wayne County -- help with power hour, landscaping and installing bathroom stalls.
*Boy Scouts -- replace flooring.
*Communities In Schools -- school supplies.
*Community Soup Kitchen -- food items.
*Cherry Hospital -- items for Operation Santa Claus.
*Girl Scouts -- help at the service center.
*Goldsboro Family Y -- clean the walking trail.
*Home Health and Hospice -- restock pantry with various items.
*Lighthouse of Wayne County -- organize stored files and sort and label boxes.
*Meadow Lane Elementary School -- beautify grounds.
*MERCI Center -- supplies for flood buckets, answer phones, enter data for distribution of goods for disaster relief and supplies for disaster relief.
*Salvation Army -- nonperishable food items for the food pantry and organize food.
*The Pines -- supervise games.
*Meals on Wheels -- deliver meals to homebound.
*WARM Hearts -- items for a bake sale fundraiser, research funding opportunities and organize a picnic-party-educational event.
*Wayne County Public Library -- check books on shelves and help with children's storytime.
*Wayne Opportunity Center -- plant azaleas and hold a picnic for the clients.
*Wayne Uplift Resource Association -- pull heavy items from the shed and sort, label and reload them.
*Waynesborough Park -- repair and install rail fencing, take down old tobacco barn, burn trash, haul away trash, rebuild old printing office, split wood and stack, repair bridges, paint roofs and build a shelter for golf carts and firewood.
*Dillard Academy -- socks and underwear for children.
*Wayne County 4-H -- items for lunch bags for Meals on Wheels.
Anyone wanting to assist with any of these projects should contact Volunteer Wayne at 735-5151 or log onto www.volunteersolutions.org/uwwc/volunteer.