Suburban residents set to make a difference

A Gurnee man's elaborate effort, complete with magicians and ventriloquist, is expected to attract nearly 600 people.

A St. Charles woman will launch a small social media campaign asking for $1 donations to help send care packages to military personnel overseas.

Saturday's Make A Difference Day is a nationwide program where size really doesn't matter. The goal is the same whatever the project: for neighbors to help neighbors.

Created by USA Weekend magazine, Make A Difference Day is an annual event taking place on the fourth Saturday every October. Suburban residents, institutions and companies have a long record of participating in the program, not to mention volunteer projects that occur throughout the year, like Motorola employees' recent Busse Woods cleanup or Kraft Foods' weeklong effort this month to help the Northern Illinois Food Bank in Lake County.

On Saturday, hundreds of community-focused efforts like these will take center stage as thousands of suburban residents participate in the national Make A Difference Day volunteer effort.

If you're looking for a way to get involved, you'll find a list of ideas at www.usaweekend.com/diffday/ideas/index.html. Many local organizations are seeking assistance Saturday and every day. Here are a few inspiring stories about organizers who are giving their free time to help someone else in need.

It's magic

Jim Stanislawski, a magician for 22 years, is holding a huge food drive Saturday in honor of his daughter, Jackie, who died in a 2003 car accident at the age of 20.

After she died, police found that her trunk was packed with food she was collecting to feed the needy. Stanislawski of Gurnee is holding Jackie's Magic Food Drive Saturday at Warren Township High School's O'Plaine Campus Auditorium.

The event, running from 5:45 to 10 p.m., features at least a dozen magicians who will perform for participants all asked to bring nonperishable food items; the food will be donated to the Warren Township Food Pantry. About 600 people are expected to attend.

A 90-minute magic show begins at 7 p.m. while clowns and other entertainment will be on hand throughout the night.

"My daughter always tried to make a difference," said Stanislawski, who is holding the event for the sixth time, the third time on Make A Difference Day. For more, see jackiesmagic.com.

Bologna sandwiches

Jim and Virginia Proffitt started making sandwiches 20 years ago in their Glendale Heights kitchen in an effort to help feed the homeless. They made 30 sandwiches and a pot of coffee to deliver to the homeless on Chicago's Maxwell and Halsted streets.

The volunteer effort grew enormously with a host of volunteer groups assisting. The couple rents a warehouse in Lombard where they make 1,100 bologna and cheese sandwiches every weekend. Jim and other volunteers deliver the meals in an old VietNow donated panel truck.

They distribute the sacks individually to more than 800 homeless people on Maxwell Street, lower Wacker Drive and at food distribution centers for the homeless. Jim says 90 percent of the people they feed are men and 40 percent are veterans.

Jim, a U.S. Marine Corps veteran, started the effort with an overwhelming desire to help his community and fellow veterans who have struggled since serving our country. The organization, The Sandwich Homeless Run, also hands out donated blankets, clothes and toiletries, said Victoria, who is very modest about the "low key" operation. "It started out as a family project," Virginia said. Check out Chicagosandwichrun.org.

Angels

Pritchett School in Buffalo Grove is participating in its 12th Make A Difference Day event Saturday. Organizers at the school use the volunteer effort as a way to teach students about caring and loyalty, says organizer Frannie Goldwin.

This year the school is supporting Little Angels, a home in Elgin for individuals with severe disabilities and complex medical needs. From 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday, Buffalo Grove students and parents will collect personal care items, write letters, and make picture frames and fleece pillows for Little Angels. They will also hold a used book sale and new game raffle to raise funds.

"We're teaching that we can make a difference and make an impact," Goldwin said.

Powerful letters

Sarah Giachino of St. Charles found a packet of old letters her mother wrote her father when he was serving in the military. "I know these letters kept him going and kept him alive," Giachino says.

She teamed up with friend Kathy Tobousch to launch Fox Valley Troop Support to help show support through letters and care packages they assemble and send to deployed men and women.

"Letters are powerful. Unlike e-mails, letters can be touched, smelled, folded and tucked away only to be reread again perhaps many years later," Giachino said.

They host volunteer events throughout the year to gather and assemble care packages. Tobousch is the wife of a veteran and has one son now deployed and another who has served.

The women say people often forget that we're in the ninth year of war and that it's important to remember those who are fighting. On Make A Difference Day, Giachino's daughter, Olivia, will use social media in an effort to launch a campaign to gain support and funds for those serving. For more, fvts.org.

Ugly quilts

Becky Ejupi of Lake Zurich has always volunteered in her children's school. Finding that most suburban children in her area are showered in love and have most of their basic needs met, she felt a growing need to help others who have it harder.

Ejupi started Ugly Quilts, a national volunteer effort to help the homeless keep warm. Like women across the country, she gathers in her home with friends to sew "ugly quilts," a hodgepodge of material sewed and folded together. Donated sheets, blankets, bedspreads and drapes are stitched and stuffed with batting. When finished, the quilt is rolled and tied at each end with old neckties.

The finished product looks more like a sleeping bag of sorts.

Ejupi and her core sewing group have reached out to friends and neighbors to donate quilt materials as well as clothing and tube socks to help keep the homeless warmer.

"The concept seems very appropriate considering our proximity to Chicago and the large number of homeless people in the city trying to survive our brutal winters," Ejupi said.

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