Make a Difference Day
Saturday, October 27, 2012

Every year, elderly and disabled residents in our community struggle to rake their yards in preparation for winter. Each Make A Difference Day, United Way Volunteer Connection coordinates the largest raking project in the area, helping give these residents peace of mind.

One of the best things about Make A Difference Day is that it can bring together people of different sizes, shapes and colors to work toward building community. It’s a great opportunity for teens to engage in volunteer activity. One 15 year old volunteer wrote about her 2011 experience.  “I chose to spend my Saturday volunteering because I wanted to help the community. Today was fun, and I had an awesome experience raking leaves.”

These community volunteers come out in force to help with raking, but they don’t stop there. Projects taking place at the National Guard Armory in Wausau on Make a Difference Day include:

2011 Results

This year 2,008 volunteers came together with rakes and trailers to clean up the yards of 278 elderly and disabled residents in the greater Wausau area. That’s nearly 40 more yards than last year! Through a follow-up survey of these residents, 96% responded it would be difficult or very difficult for them to find another way to get their yard raked. These words from a resident after volunteers raked her yard expresses the gratitude felt by many: “I don’t know what I would have done without these great people.  I just wish I could adopt them, they were so wonderful.  I volunteer at North Central Health Care and now I got volunteers.  This just shows that what goes around comes around.”

Make a Difference Day 2011 (click on image to enlarge)

Questions?  Please see the FAQ link at the right, email us or call 2-1-1.