NEXT WEEKEND TO OFFER VOLUNTEER OPPORTUNITIES VALLEYWIDE.

Byline: Daily News

Next weekend will offer San Fernando Valley residents two opportunities to involve themselves in community service. Saturday is the ninth annual Make a Difference Day, a national observance created by the Points of Light Foundation and USA Weekend.

Oct. 24 is the fifth annual Mitzvah Day, a volunteer effort coordinated by The Jewish Federation/Valley Alliance. More than 40 synagogues and organizations across the San Fernando, Conejo, Simi, Santa Clarita and Antelope valleys will take part in 120 different projects this year.

Local temples and synagogues have planned diverse activities to be held on site and at larger events. Involvement in activities for Mitzvah Day is not restricted by membership or religious affiliation.

For residents looking for an opportunity to get involved on either day, the following organizations and businesses are accepting volunteer time, goods and services:

The Volunteer Center Assistance League of Southern California is sponsoring America Reads at Borders Book Store, 6510 Canoga Ave., Canoga Park. Donations of new books are being accepted now through Oct. 24 for children in kindergarten through third grade. Between Friday and Oct. 24 patrons who purchase books there will have 15 percent of their purchase donated by the store to America Reads.

Barnes and Noble Bookstore, 16461 Ventura Blvd., Encino, will donate a portion of its proceeds between 10 a.m. and 1 p.m. Saturday to the America Reads program. Volunteers are needed to distribute fliers outside the store for the organization to receive the designated percentage of sales. For more information, contact the Volunteer Center, [phone].

The City of Burbank needs volunteers to stand outside grocery and drug stores in Burbank to collect food and other products from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. The items will be donated to the Burbank Temporary Aid Center, the Salvation Army and Family Services of Burbank. Volunteers will be handing out grocery request lists to shoppers. Teen-agers needing community service for a school requirement will be provided with service forms. Call the public information office, [phone].

Slovene National Benefit is collecting clothing, sleeping bags, blankets and food items to deliver to Cornerstone/San Fernando Valley Mental Health Center. Before dropping off items, donors are asked to call Gloria Lumbert [phone].

The Avon Breast Cancer 3-Day Walk needs help Thursday and Friday in Santa Barbara to assist walkers who will be traveling 60 miles to raise money for breast cancer awareness and education and at Zuma Beach on Oct. 24 for closing ceremonies. For information, call [phone].

CROP Walk '99 - Proceeds from the Communities Reaching Out to People walk will benefit agencies meeting the needs of hungry people in the San Fernando Valley, including Meals on Wheels and the San Fernando Valley Interfaith Council's food pantry coalition sites. The latter sites include the West Valley Food Pantry, FISH of West Valley, SOVA food pantry, Loaves and Fishes, Lutheran Social Services and Sunland Tujunga Temporary Aid.

Volunteers need to obtain pledge envelopes before the event at Temple Kol Tikvah, 20400 Ventura Blvd., Woodland Hills, or call the San Fernando Valley Interfaith Council, [phone]. The 2K and 5K walks will begin at Temple Kol Tikvah at 1:30 p.m. The 2K walk is accessible by wheelchair participants.

Registration rally, with entertainer Steve Allen, begins at 12:30 p.m. Live entertainment and food will be offered following the walk at approximately 2:30 p.m. For information, call Temple Kol Tikvah, [phone].

Temple Solael, 6601 Valley Circle Blvd., West Hills, is accepting nonperishable food items for Thanksgiving Day food baskets to be donated to SOVA. For information, call [phone].

Temple Beth Torah and the North Valley Jewish Community Center are teaming up with a variety of activities including collecting nonperishable food donations for SOVA, a clothing and bedding drive, and singing at the Rinaldi Convalescent Hospital in Granada Hills. A blood drive with USC Blood Donor Center will be held from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Blood drive appointments must be made in advance by calling Elaine at [phone]. Activities will take place at the NVJCC, 16601 Rinaldi St., Granada Hills. For information, call Temple Beth Torah [phone] or NVJCC [phone].

Congregation Or Ami of Calabasas will plant oak trees in Malibu Creek State Park, Las Virgenes Road, Malibu, 1 to 4 p.m. Bring your own gloves, shovels and lunch. For information, call [phone].

Valley Beth Shalom will help plant cherry trees in the Mitzvah Grove at Lake Balboa. The event is co-sponsored by Tree People and the Los Angeles Department of Recreation and Parks. A contribution of $10 will allow families to adopt a tree. Check-in is at Lake Balboa at 8:30 a.m. For information, call Sandy Rothman, [phone]. Volunteers also are needed to help clear land for new Habitat for Humanity homes at 12535 Pierce St., Pacoima. Check-in begins at 8 a.m. Walkers for American Cancer Society's fund-raiser will participate in the 5K ``Making Strides Against Breast Cancer'' beginning at 8 a.m. at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena. For information, call [phone].

Temple Adat Elohim, 2420 Hillcrest Drive, Thousand Oaks, is raising funds for a home constructed by Habitat for Humanity, 10 a.m. to noon, and also, throughout the month of October, money collected in the temple's Tzedakah box will be go to support the Ronald McDonald House program. For information, call [phone].

Shomrei Torah Synagogue members will volunteer for gardening at the West Valley Special Education Center, cleanup at PALS' West Valley Youth Center in Reseda and a knit-and-crochet project to benefit Haven Hills and the Jewish Home for the Aging. For information, call [phone].

Temple Aliyah, 6025 Valley Circle Blvd., Woodland Hills, is collecting gently used career clothing for men and women, new school supplies, over-the-counter medical supplies, old eyeglasses and new kitchen utensils. For information, call [phone].

Volunteers at Burbank Temple Emanu El, 1302 N. Glenoaks Blvd., Burbank, will be making ``sunshine bags,'' an arts and crafts project, from 9:30 to 11:30 a.m. The temple's ongoing project of collecting blankets, towels and small rugs, donated to a pet adoption agency in Van Nuys, will continue on Mitzvah Day. For information, call [phone].

Temple Ahavat Shalom members will volunteer with Heal the Bay's beach cleanup from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. at Will Rogers State Beach. Two projects are planned at the temple: Volunteers will decorate hats for children being treated for cancer or AIDS and make greeting cards and fill toiletry containers to be donated to Jewish AIDS Services. Both activities are from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. The temple is located at 18200 Rinaldi Place, Northridge. For information, call [phone].

Temple Beth Hillel, 12326 Riverside Drive, Valley Village, seeks volunteers for a blood drive, card- and letter-writing for Amnesty International, donations of gently used or new business clothes for men and women entering the work force, donation of new or gently used stuffed toys, hat- and bracelet-making for children in hospitals and help making quilts for newborns. For information, call [phone].

Temple Etz Chaim of Thousand Oaks is collecting new books for needy children, 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. at the Westlake Promenade, corner of Thousand Oaks Boulevard and Westlake Boulevard, near the Hallmark store, Westlake Village. For information, call [phone].

Valley Beth Israel, 13060 Roscoe Blvd., Sun Valley, will host an Awareness Fair from noon to 4 p.m. The fair's purpose is to introduce organizations that provide services to the community. Participants include the American Cancer Society, Jewish Store Front, Family Violence Program, the LAPD, Department of Transportation and L.A. Zoo. The temple is also collecting nonperishable food to be donated to Tamar House for battered women, Valley Food Pantry, Operation Chicken Soup and other food donation sites. For information, call [phone].

Abraham Joshua Heschel School, 17701 Devonshire St., Northridge, will have a variety of activities including collecting nonperishable food for SOVA and Judaic books in English, Hebrew or Yiddish, to be donated to the Sacramento Shul Library, which was destroyed by arson earlier this year. A Red Cross Blood Drive will be held from 9:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. To make an appointment, call Lee Fried, [phone]. Walk-ins will be accepted. For more information about giving blood, call the Red Cross hotline [phone], Ext. 5521. A blood marrow drive to test for future matching will be offered from 9:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. Lab testing for bone marrow is $21, to be matched with community funds. The school is also collecting new or gently used clothing books and toys. Volunteers are needed to pack and deliver meals for AIDS patients in Project Chicken Soup, 11 a.m. at the Hirsch Kosher Kitchen in the Fairfax area. For more information, call Barbara at [phone], Ext. 512.

If your organization has volunteer opportunities for Make A Difference Day or Mitzvah Day please fax the information to Diana Peyton, Daily News Editorial Department, [phone] by Tuesday.

Compiled by Staff Writers Holly Andres and Diana Peyton