October 29, 2008
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Kelsey Currier
805-756-2176; kcurrier@calpoly.edu
Hundreds of Cal Poly Students Volunteer on Make a Difference Day
SAN LUIS OBISPO - About 400 Cal Poly students volunteered with nonprofit groups around San Luis Obispo County on Saturday, Oct. 25, as part of the annual Make a Difference Day.
Students helped more than 30 nonprofit groups with landscaping, painting, fundraisers, food drives, gardening and other work for four hours. This is the 10th year Cal Poly has taken part in Make a Difference Day, a National Day of Service.
Organizers of the local event estimate that volunteers here performed about $35,000 worth of work.
Several Arroyo Grande High School students and employees from the Courtyard by Marriott hotel in San Luis Obispo took part in the event. And members of the AmeriCorps Central Coast Volunteers Corps and the AmeriCorps Promise Fellows (two national programs administered through Cal Poly) provided support and served as site supervisors.
"Everyone who came out gave it their all," said Kelsey Currier, who organized the event for Cal Poly. "Everyone had great attitudes, and there was a lot of positive energy."
Volunteers worked at sites from Cambria to Oceano and Paso Robles to Arroyo Grande, for groups including:
. 211 SLO Hotline;
. The Boys and Girls Club of North San Luis Obispo County;
. United Cerebral Palsy;
. The SLO Little Theater;
. Country Care Convalescent Hospital in Atascadero; and
. The Economic Opportunity Commission of San Luis Obispo County.
"I think this is a really important event for students," Currier said. "It's important for them to see how many great nonprofit agencies are out there, and who they're serving. And maybe if the students have fun, they'll get the volunteering bug."
Make a Difference Day is one of several programs and annual events through which Cal Poly students volunteer in the community. For more information, visit the Cal Poly Student Community Services division's Web site at http://studentlife.calpoly.edu/SCS.
For more details on Make a Difference Day, visit www.volunteerslo.org/MADD2008.html or www.usaweekend.com/diffday/.
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