“Make a Difference Festival” - overwhelmed with student volunteers.

“Make a Difference Festival” - overwhelmed with student volunteers.

Hundreds of student volunteers overwhelmed the Pleasanton Make a Difference Festival. However, unlike many press reports where students are disruptive, these students were there to provide service for others. For the first time, organizers prepared service projects for those wishing to actually perform service at the festival. Three projects were available on the Senior Center Stage: (1) Tying of 16 blankets for the Serenity House of Oakland for abused women and their children (2) Sorting of used crayons for the Crayon Initiative of San Ramon, who melt them down and make brand new crayons for children in hospital (3) making of Thank You cards for Pleasanton Military Families who send them in packages to local military serving throughout the world. (By the way… they need donations for their March packout, go to www.pleasantonmilitaryfamilies.org to see a listing of their needs).

Apologies to the students who were not able to find as many service hours as they expected, YOUR RESPONSE COMPLETELY OVERWHELMED US. To find additional service projects, go to www.JustServe.org.

Denise Harper, president of Pleasanton Military Families was thrilled with nearly 100 handmade cards. She stated, “All of the kids spent a lot of time creating these beautiful cards. These are priceless, knowing the kids did their best on them for our troops, PLEASE thank Linda and Mary for all their help and the supplies, they did an incredible job!”. The cards will be added to the Easter/Spring pack out on March 2nd.

Pre-festival publicity was far more effective than anticipated and at the beginning of the festival, organizers were overwhelmed with the number of students who showed up and although there was enough room for up to 40 students working on the projects, many more showed up than could work on the projects at the same time. In addition to local media and Facebook pages, the PUSD newsletter also brought many students seeking service opportunities. Students could also talk to local nonprofit leaders about service at their organization.

Exhibitors were thrilled with the turnout and the number of volunteers on their signup sheets. The leader of the “American Association of University Women” said they get more new members at this event than any other time of the year. A first-time participant, the Muslim Community Center was excited over the pages of names they collected. Although it was crowded and noisy, it just added to the excitement of the festival. Many volunteers signed up for the Special Olympics events which will be held in Pleasanton in March and May. Their sports manager announced that due to participation of Tri-Valley volunteers, the Spring games will be expanded to include swimming and tennis in addition to track.

Many thanks to the nonprofit exhibitors and leaders, who give so much to the community. They provide food for the needy, housing for the homeless, assistance for seniors, clothing for babies and children, safety for the abused, activities and homes for those with special needs, even those training police dogs, helping save dogs and horse rescue by “Big Bay Ray”. These nonprofit leaders and volunteers are some of the most wonderful people in our community and give so much of themselves to help others. For a listing of the nonprofits: go to www.MAD4P.org.

Thanks go to Ron Sutton and Jerri Long, original founders of the festival 25 years ago and to our sponsors: The city of Pleasanton, The Pleasanton Unified School District, The Community of Character, Karlson and Lane, Livermore Stake of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and Ron’s company and nonprofit, Accusplit and their Make a Difference Programs.