One of my favorite national holidays is coming up October 27—national Make a Difference Day. Never heard of it? Well, it’s time you did.
Started by USA Today, Make a Difference Day has been going on for 22 years. Its mission is to unite the country in doing good and to highlight good things to do. So this is the perfect year for you to participate!
In my new book,Standing Up in a Sit-Down World: Making a Difference Is Easier than You Think, I talk about how each of us can do great good in the world: “So often we feel tired or discouraged and think that the country is sinking and there’s nothing we can do about it. Satan delights in this kind of thinking! He’s the one telling us to be discouraged and to sit down. But as our prophet has said, remarkable results come as we take small, collective steps for action.”
In fact, one of my favorite quotes is from President Hinckley where he calls us to action, “I think the Lord would say to us, 'Rise, and stand upon thy feet, and speak up for truth and goodness and decency and virtue.' ”
So what can you do? What can your family do? Starting is easy! Just go to makeadifferenceday.com. Pick an activity and sign up.
The back of my book also has a list of ideas for making a difference. Starting is as easy as 1-2-3.
Standing for Truth and Fighting Against Evil
It’s time to speak up! What can you do?
• Study your entire voter’s guide and vote intelligently.
• Have a family meeting to discuss all the items on the ballot
• Write an email to your elected representative about something that is important to
you. The whole family can do this together!
Do good things!
It will be different for each of us but we can all do good! Here’s some new ideas to try:
• Donate breakfast items to your school for children who are hungry – cereal bars,
juice boxes, etc.
• Pay for the person behind you in the drive-thru fast-food. Your kids will love this!
• Have the family do a food scavenger hunt in the neighborhood and take the food to
the local food bank.
Small Donations Can Make a Big Difference
• Donate $5 to LDS Humanitarian Aid this month
• Give the kids a prepaid VISA and have them donate it to someone or some cause
they love. Have a family meeting where everyone tells what they did.
• Do a recycle run – go through the neighborhood and collect recyclables and donate
the proceeds to a local charity.
There’s lots more we can do. The website at makeadifferenceday.com has tons of ideas. You can also check out serve.gov for more.
Our power for influence is tremendous. It doesn’t always take a big service project or a big idea—it can begin as something small, and as we lead and influence others, it can grow. The power of one is immense. One person can change a home. One person can change a community. One person can change the world. You can change your home. You know that. You do it every day. And you can change a community. It’s not that hard. Just speak up or help out a little. And you can indeed change the world. Every single good thing you do can change the world. I have met many people whose influence has spread, people who have done amazing things. (From Standing Up in a Sit-Down World, by Merrilee Boyack.)
So make a commitment today to make a difference! Make October 27, National Make a Difference Day your new favorite holiday as well!
There’s so much we can do to make a difference. And it’s easy and fun! Take the first step today.