Thursday, October 7, 2010 10:52 am

   Rather than Day it could be called Month and More as Rutherford County Schools and Communities In Schools of Rutherford County join forces to bring an array of volunteer activities to our area.  Working with the North Carolina Commission on Volunteerism and USA Weekend, listed below are activities planned for either the national Make a Difference Day, on Saturday, October 23rd or activities leading up to and following the day. All of the activities offer opportunities to “make a difference” in our community, please join in with one of the following.

   Forest City-Dunbar Elementary will be involved in a coat drive. Students in the Peer Helper Program at Forest City-Dunbar will be collecting new and used coats in good condition. These coats will be available for children who need a coat for the winter.  The Fourth Grade is going to do a “Helping Others” mini project. They will be asked to help 5 people in (5 different ways) during the week. They have to help people without being asked. This will be turned into a writing project by having students write about their favorite situation.

   At Mt. Vernon-Ruth Elementary, will work on Friday, October 22, in a school wide beautification project.  Students will work with teachers and staff to pick up any trash on campus, clean high traffic areas of the school (cafeteria, gym, etc), and just make our place as nice as we can.

   Each student at Rutherfordton Elementary School will make a tray favor or cheer card for Hospice patients and local nursing home residents, that will be delivered the following week.

   The REaCH High School student body, faculty, and staff are planning to participate in “Make a Difference Day” by going into neighborhoods to pick up debris and other items for beautification efforts on Friday, October 22nd, 2010. We are excited about the opportunity to give back to our community and foster service learning. We hope to have around 160 students and adults participating on Friday.

   From Cliffside Elementary:   We will be working to beautify our school beginning at 8:00AM and finishing at 11:00AM on Saturday, October 22nd. The Rutherford County Garden Club has made a donation and we will be planting flowers and bulbs. A fall scene has also been donated and will be erected that morning. There will be other minor projects be worked on as well. And the following Friday< October 29th, the faculty and staff along with parents will sponsor a free fun filled “Fall Festival” for their students. They will accept donations of new clothing, books and back pack food during this time.

   Spindale Elementary will have their Annual Yard Sale, from 8:00AM - until. Volunteers made up of students, their parents, teachers and community volunteers will work the sale whose proceeds will benefit projects and activities at the school throughout this coming year. They will accept donations of new clothing, books and back pack food during this time.

   Chase Middle School will be working from 8:00AM until 11:00AM the morning of the 23rd to complete beautification projects around the campus, volunteers are invited and appreciated

to help members of the student body as they work to improve their campus. They will accept donations of new clothing, books and back pack food during this time.

   RS Middle School, will be working from 8:00AM until 1:30PM the morning of the 23rd to complete beautification projects around the campus, volunteers are invited and appreciated to help members of the student body as they work to improve their campus - they are also seeking donations of mulch:) They will accept donations of new clothing, books and back pack food during this time.

   The “Central Gives Back (CGB)” club, in conjunction with several other R-S Central organizations, is planning a variety of volunteer opportunities for faculty, students, and parents to participate in on the 20th annual Make a Difference Day, October 23, 2010.  Along with several community activities, Central volunteers will kick-off their day with some PINK preparations to help start our Pink Week celebration and fundraiser the following week for the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Research Foundation.

   Communities In Schools of Rutherford County will also be accepting donations of new school clothing, new reading books/novels and backpack food for students in the Rutherford County Schools during the coming year. Lists of age appropriate books will be available in area stores. These will be used for students who may not otherwise have books to take home, the clothes will be used for the school clothes closets. You may drop donations at Chase Middle, RS Middle, Spindale  and Cliffside Elementary during the hours they will be working on Saturday or anytime during regular school hours, please new items only .

   In addition Communities In Schools of North Carolina (CISNC), Communities In Schools of Rutherford County (CISRC) and Calvary Baptist Church Rutherfordton will sponsor Ruby Payne’s Framework for Understanding Poverty on Sunday, October 10th from 6:00 to 8:30PM and Monday, October 11th, from 9:30AM to 12:30PM,; this is provided free to the public, they may attend the workshop session most convenient to them.

   For more information, contact Charlotte Ware Epley, 828-288-0228, or email: execdir@RutherfordCIS.org,