Local Volunteers Encouraged to Participate in Largest National Day of Community Service, Opportunities for All to Get Involved

DSC_0036_smWatsonville, CA, October 25, 2014 – The Live Earth Farm Discovery Program, a farm-based nutrition and environmental education organization, today announced plans to celebrate Make A Difference Day, the largest national day of community service. For more than two decades, USA WEEKEND and Points of Light have joined together to bring you Make A Difference Day, which is celebrated annually on the fourth Saturday in October. This national day of community service connects people with opportunities to serve, increases the strength of communities and promotes civic engagement.

Through Make a Difference Day, The Live Earth Farm Discovery Program is joining hundreds of other organizations around the country that are engaging their community in service.

This year the Live Earth Farm Discovery Program is incorporating Make a Difference Day volunteers into the Annual Pumpkin Patch and Apple Bash Harvest Festival. This community event at Live Earth Farm in Watsonville provides farm-based fun and learning for the whole family and is open to the public. The event features live music, a local artisanal marketplace with Penny Ice Cream, Hey Honey Lemonade, True Story Sausages, and Lagunitas, Brewing Company beer. The community can participate in hands-on field to fork activities including a cob oven baking workshop, cider pressing, face-painting, tractor rides, a pie contest and the biggest, most local potluck event in Santa Cruz County. Through this event and the Live Earth Farm Discovery Programs local children and families learn to take care of themselves, their communities and the environment through good food. “Local food networks support personal health, environmental sustainability and a strong economy. Volunteering with the Live Earth Farm Discovery Program on Make a Difference Day teaches families to participate in local food networks.”

Harvest Fest Apple PressPoints of Light leads thousands of projects each year from coast to coast involving corporations, communities, nonprofit organizations, entire states and individuals. The nationwide undertaking includes revitalizing community centers, rehabilitating parks, improving low-income homes, creating community art projects, mentoring, serving meals, developing community gardens and much more.

Make A Difference Day has become an enduring tradition that brings people together, across differences, to help solve community problems,” said Tracy Hoover, president of Points of Light. “With projects throughout the country, it’s a great opportunity to start volunteering or, if you already volunteer, it’s a great time to invite a friend to join you.”

Harvest Fest Pumpkin PaintMake A Difference Day is supported by Newman’s Own, which provides $10,000 awards to 10 volunteer efforts recognized as national Make A Difference Day honorees. In addition, three communities will be awarded $10,000 each from Newman’s Own in recognition of their Make A Difference Day good deeds. One past national honoree will receive the Encore Award of $10,000 from the Gannett Foundation.