Recipients await day of good deeds
A new roof, landscaping and cleanups of every sort are part of Make a Difference Day.
By Greg Mellen
Staff writer

Eara Marchman began losing her eyesight a decade ago. But she could sure feel the cold rain when it poured through the tattered roof of her home on Lime Avenue, near Pacific Coast Highway.

Marchman, 72, who is house- bound and on a fixed income, will have a new roof soon. In fact, she's counting the days.

"I just can't wait for it to be done,' she said recently. "What day is today?'

Marchman lives alone with just a radio to keep her company. But this weekend, her house will be filled with the joyful noise of hammers striking nails overhead.

The Long Beach branch of Rebuilding Together will finish replacing Marchman's roof as part of the 13th annual Make A Difference Day on Saturday.

Marchman is just one of numerous beneficiaries around town in the nation's largest day for helping others.

It's a do-gooder's day to rejoice as hundreds of local residents will hit the streets to take part in planned activities.

Volunteers from schools, churches, community and service organizations will engage in cleanup activities, landscaping, painting and home and building repairs. Other groups will be donating items to needy organizations and individuals, or just provide companionship to the lonely.

Last year, more than 3 million people participated in the loosely organized event that is sponsored by the Points of Light Foundation and USA Weekend Magazine.

Some local activities can be found at www.makeadifferenceday.com. But in general, Make A Difference Day is a grass- roots community-based effort.

Among the many local activities will be:

*Reading rally: Daphne Ching-Jackson and the Long Beach chapter of Executive Women's International are hosting an event for 30 inner-city children at Constellation Middle School with authors Bobbi and David Weiss, who will present an interactive program to promote reading and writing.

*Winners on Wheels: Judee Stone will bring members from her circle of this national group of physically challenged youth to visit residents at the AlamitosBelmont Rehabilitation Hospital and engage patients in activities.

*Threads of Love: The Paramount High Macaws are making mini-quilts and dolls for premature babies and their mothers.

*Blanket Collection: The Light and Life Christian Fellowship will be delivering blankets to area shelters, including 90 recycled wool disaster blankets to the Long Beach Rescue Mission.

*Stuffed animals: The Red Hat Hotties will be donating new stuffed animals to Su Casa, a shelter for abused women and children.

*Pet Pals: The Friends of Long Beach Animals will be taking dogs, rabbits and other petable creatures to visit with veterans.

In addition to working on Marchman's house, Rebuild Together will team with 75 students from various fraternities, sororities and service clubs at Cal State Long Beach to paint and landscape the home of Merle Kenny.

In October, Kenny fell and tore her rotator cuff, which limits her ability to care for her home.

In addition there will be countless neighborhood, park and beach cleanups, food drives and other service events.

Possibly the largest cleanup effort will involve 300 or so students who will paint fences and cover graffiti, clean up the streets and do yardwork for elderly residents in the area. That group meets at 8 a.m. and will provide lunch afterward. Volunteers are welcome to drop by and pitch in.

The Press-Telegram, for example, will team with the Andy Street Owners Association in a clean up, in conjunction with a food drive and resource fair that will feature employment opportunities and visits by local dignitaries.

At the end of the day, however, its about helping others, helping people like Kenny to have fresh coat of paint on her home, or helping Marchman escape the rain.