GOOD DEEDS REIGN FOR A DAY; VALLEY VOLUNTEERS HELP MAKE A DIFFERENCE IN MANY WAYS.Byline: Sharline Chiang Daily News Staff Writer It was a day to notice what often goes unnoticed. A tagger's signature on a park bench. Cigarette butts on the beach. Homeless people in tattered clothes. But more important, it was a day for taking action. On Saturday, thousands of Los Angeles Los Angeles (lôs ăn`jələs, lŏs, ăn`jəlēz'), city (1990 pop. 3,485,398), seat of Los Angeles co., S Calif.; inc. 1850. residents of all ages joined more than a million volunteers nationwide for Make A Difference Day, a day to clean up communities and help others. Together they wiped out graffiti, planted trees, collected recyclables, picked up trash and distributed clothes for the needy, among other good deeds. An overwhelming number of helping hands were offered up by children and teen-agers this year - Los Angeles' first time in national Make A Difference Day, founded in 1992. ``It's fun for the kids, they like to be out here with their friends and they felt they really made a difference,'' said Tarzana resident April Archer, 29, whose four children helped rake leaves and pick up trash at their school, Tarzana Elementary School elementary school: see school. . In Los Angeles, the widely popular Operation Sparkle one-day community cleanup marathon this year was folded into a six-week citywide program called Make A Difference L.A. The program ended on Saturday with a celebration at the Los Angeles Zoo The Los Angeles Zoo founded in 1966, is a large zoo located in Los Angeles, California, USA. The Zoo, located in Los Angeles' Griffith Park, is home to 1,200 animals from around the world. on Make a Difference Day. The activities, which began Sept. 10, were coordinated by the Mayor's Volunteer Bureau, the Department of Environmental Affairs and the Los Angeles Police Department "LAPD" and "L.A.P.D." redirect here. For other uses, see LAPD (disambiguation).  This article or section is written like an . . In the San Fernando Valley San Fernando Valley Valley, southern California, U.S. Northwest of central Los Angeles, the valley is bounded by the San Gabriel, Santa Susana, and Santa Monica mountains and the Simi Hills. , Make A Difference Day projects varied from collecting pennies to weeding sidewalks. On Saturday, Sylmar Lions Club volunteers delivered about 500 pounds of donated clothing and personal goods to a homeless relief program at Olive View-UCLA Medial Center and The Harbour Community, a residential complex for battered women in Sylmar. ``We decided we are in the position to help people less fortunate than us,'' said Jean Booth, president of Sylmar Lions Club. ``The homeless come in to the hospital with the clothes on their back . . . the battered women sometimes just escape with their lives and they need things.'' Among other activities, volunteers from Oakwood School Oakwood School is a K-12 coeducational independent day school, situated on two campuses approximately one mile apart, in North Hollywood, California. One campus is the elementary school, and the other is the secondary school. in North Hollywood went under the boardwalk, cleaning up litter around the Santa Monica pier The Santa Monica Pier is located at the foot of Colorado Avenue in Santa Monica, California and is a prominent landmark. Attractions The pier contains Pacific Park, a family amusement park with a large ferris wheel. . Collectors found cigarette butts, plastic bottles, dirty socks and a watermelon watermelon, plant (Citrullus vulgaris) of the family Curcurbitaceae (gourd family) native to Africa and introduced to America by Africans transported as slaves. Watermelons are now extensively cultivated in the United States and are popular also in S Russia. rind. At Tarzana Elementary School about 250 parents, children and staff members kept their project local. They spruced up the campus by trimming trees, raking leaves, pulling weeds, and cleaning up the playground and the computer lab. Professional landscaper Felipe Cesario, 28, of Tarzana, canceled a landscaping job Saturday to help beautify the school where his sons Uriel, 8, and Antonio, 5, attend. He even brought along a lawn mower, rakes and a hedge trimmer trimmer see resco nail trimmer, toenail scissors. . ``I came here to help the school because I knew how it looked,'' Cesario said, making a face. ``Now it looks different.'' Fourth-grader Sable sable, species of marten, Martes zibellina, found in Siberia, N European Russia, and N Finland. This carnivorous mammal is highly valued for its thick, soft fur, which is dark brown or black, sometimes with white underparts and sometimes flecked with silver. Thomas, 9, said it was worth missing her usual Saturday routine, watching the cartoon show ``Rugrats,'' if it means helping to curb littering on campus. ``People just throw things on the ground and don't pick it up,'' she said. ``They will not throw things on the ground now and they'll do things that are right.'' And some youngsters learned volunteering has its fun side. ``We jumped in leaves,'' Yehonathan Rubinstein, 8, boasted. ``We were making a big pile, triple big, and we started to jump inside it like a swimming pool.'' Other groups that participated Saturday included World Children's Transplant Fund in Encino, which held a dinner to raise money for organ-transplant services in Armenia. Volunteers with the Volunteer Center of Los Angeles-Retired and Senior Volunteer Program read inspirational messages to seniors over the phone. Mad About Rising Crime of Northridge sponsored a festival to promote a safer community. The cast and crew of the ABC ABC in full American Broadcasting Co. Major U.S. television network. It began when the expanding national radio network NBC split into the separate Red and Blue networks in 1928. situation comedy ``Dharma dharma (där`mə). In Hinduism, dharma is the doctrine of the religious and moral rights and duties of each individual; it generally refers to religious duty, but may also mean social order, right conduct, or simply virtue. & Greg'' collected food, clothes and toys for the Burbank Temporary Aids Center. Volunteers from the Conejo-Simi chapter of the National Association of Women in Construction worked most of the day on a small bedroom of a Simi Valley Simi Valley (sē`mē, sĭm`ē), city (1990 pop. 100,217), Ventura co., SW Calif. in an oil, fruit, and farm region; laid out 1887, inc. 1969. house that serves as a transition place for unwed mothers. They painted walls, hung new curtains and blinds, and placed newly refinished furniture inside. Hazeltine Elementary School in Van Nuys wrapped up a penny drive to match a $10,000 Los Angeles Unified School District The Los Angeles Unified School District (the "LAUSD") is the largest (in terms of number of students) public school system in California and the second-largest in the United States. Only the New York City Department of Education has a larger student population. grant that would allow them to expand a playground for preschoolers. And Panorama City Graffiti Busters' project, which involved picking up trash and removing graffiti from places like alleys and bus stops, drew about 40 volunteers. Make a Difference Day was created in 1992 by USA Weekend, in partnership with The Points of Light Foundation. This year the program received $2.5 million in donations. Organizers of 10 projects will receive $10,000 donations for charity from actor Paul Newman. Two projects from each state will receive $2,000 each from Wal-Mart. Honorees will be featured in April 16-18, 1999 in a special issue of USA Weekend. Next year's Make a Difference Day will be held Oct. 23, 1999. Daily News Staff Writer Sylvia L. Oliande contributed to this story. CAPTION(S): 2 photos PHOTO (1 -- color) Daniel Fink and sons Michael and Richard pass sunbathers Saturday as they clean up the beach. (2 -- color) With the Santa Monica pier at their backs, members of the Oakwood School community help clear the beach of debris. Joe Binoya/Special to the Daily News |
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