Make A Difference Day 2013

For more than twenty years, USA WEEKEND and HandsOn Network have partnered to sponsor Make A Difference Day, the nation’s largest day of volunteer (USA). Make A Difference Day (MDDay) brings millions of people together one day annually to help shape community and help change the world. This year MDDay is on Saturday, October 26.
Service is one of the three pillars Golden Key was founded upon, so we strongly encourage our chapters to participate and make a difference in society.  Last year was an incredible success with more than 125 chapters in the U.S. participating in the service event.  In fact so many chapters participated, that USA Today gave Golden Key a shout out in their article “Millions turn out for national Make A Difference Day.”  We want to do even better this October! With your help, we can demonstrate to the world that Golden Key members Stand Out, Stand Up and Stand Together to build stronger communities and promote societal development.
Below are some examples of how our local chapters stood together to make a difference:

• The Cornell University chapter partnered with Cornell’s Fiber Science and Apparel Design students to create washable feminine hygiene kits to be sent to the Days for Girls International organization. They have already reached over 50,000 girls and women in 29 nations on 5 continents.

• Members of the University of Arkansas chapter went to a historic area in the state called Mount Sequoyah to repair rooms, clean the grounds and plant in the garden to support a sustainable, clean environment.

• The chapter at Queens College, The City University of New York decided to make MDDay a weekend long event. They did a “scavenger hunt” of good deeds where they  put people into groups of three and the trios ventured out to see how many good deeds they could cross off their list!

As you can see, there is no limit as to what can be done on Make A Difference Day! There are no parameters in which members can go out and help improve their communities, and we implore our chapters to participate in this amazing event. And remember, take plenty of pictures and videos to share on Facebook!
If you are a chapter leader/officer in the US, please visit the Make A Difference Day page on the Golden Key website to learn about planning, registering and reporting your event. Golden Key will be providing awards to chapters with the most outstanding Make A Difference Day service initiatives, and chapters could possibly be awarded $10,000 by the MDDay organization. Remember, involvement in the event is necessary to receive Gold Standing for the 2013-2014 academic year, and in order to receive credit for your service initiative, chapters must register on both the MDDay website and the MDDay page on the Golden Key website!