Planning a Make A Difference Day project can not only be a great learning experience but lots of fun too! It’s a chance to bring together friends, classmates, or family and “make a difference” in your neighborhood, at your school, or for your whole community. Here are some helpful tips as you begin planning your project:
Make A Difference Day Ohio Planning Guide for Young People
1. What are you going to do?
What are your gifts/talents? Do you like to help others? Do you like to write, work outdoors, or work with kids? Use your gifts and creativity to plan a project. Do you see problems taht you’d like to help solve? Is there trash in your neighborhood? Do you know about an agency that needs help? Are there older people who need assistance? Don’t know where to start? Ask your parents, teachers, or friends if they know of a need in your community. Once you decide on an idea, call your local volunteer center or a social service agency to make sure that what you’d like to do meets a real need. Make the commitment to help and start planning!
2. Register your project on the Web! www.serveohio.org 3. What do you need to get the job done?
Create an action plan: A few weeks before Make A Difference Day, decide WHAT needs to be done and HOW. Meet with the people you’ll be working with to find out about any special needs they have. Volunteers: How many people will you need for your project? Ask friends, club members, classmates, family, and neighbors. Run ads in your school paper: make posters. Supplies: Will you need paint, special tools, or food? Sometimes, the agency you’re working with can help, but you may need to get donations: Hold a pledge drive to raise money for supplies. Ask businesses for help (hardware stores, grocery stores, banks, local restaurants). Transportation: Think about how you and your volunteers are going to get to and from your volunteer site.
4. Its Make A Difference Day Ohio!
Be at your volunteer site ready to work! Before the day of the project, be sure that all of your volunteers know: What time to be there. How to get there. What to wear. What to bring (lunch, tools, etc.) Describe the needs to be done and why. If you’re working with an agency, the volunteer coordinator can often help, but it may be up to you! Make sure that you’re clear about the job at hand and how to do it!e
5. HAVE FUN! and after the event
Reflect on your accomplishments. What did you learn? Can you continue volunteering? Would you like to stay in contact with the people with whom you worked? Your support and concern are valued throughout the year! Make sure to say “thank you” to volunteers. You could have a pizza party, send thank you cards - anything that will let volunteers know that their hard work was appreciated. Also remember to thank the businesses that contributed supplies or money! Report on your project! How did it go? Would you like your project to be considered for an award? Visit
www.serveohio.org