Friday, Oct. 18, 2002 | 1:46 a.m.
Making a Difference
Other local Make a Difference Day events, in addition to the Monaco Middle School and Smith's food drive, include:
William R. Lummis Elementary School will hold a book drive accepting used or new books for children in grades kindergarten through five. Call 869-3761 for more information.
UNLV's Golden Key International Honor Society chapter will assist the American Heart Association with its annual Heart Walk on Oct. 26. Call 645-8748 for more information.
During the month of October, Troops 91 and 405 will host a food drive. Call 221-6300 for more information.
A Las Vegs middle school is reaching out to a surrounding neighborhood plagued by violent crime to do its part for Make a Difference Day.
Mario C. & and JoAnne Monaco Middle School will hold its second annual crime prevention carnival Oct. 23 from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. at the school's campus on Lamont Street near Lake Mead and Nellis boulevards.
The carnival, which is open to the public, will include games that teach students and community members tips on preventing kidnapping, on gang prevention and drug awareness and will include performances by local dance troupes.
The school will also sponsor a graffiti cleanup at the corner of Lamont Street and Kell Lane Oct. 26.
"Our school is in a crime-riddled neighborhood," said Monaco's assistant principal, Maria Chairez. "Two weeks ago there was a murder right across the street.
"The goal of this carnival is to encourage our kids to do volunteer work and focus on crime prevention."
Monaco's carnival is one of many events taking place around the Las Vegas Valley in honor of Make a Difference Day. The day, which takes place the fourth Saturday of every October, was initiated by USA Weekend Magazine to encourage people to take one day out of the year to help others.
Each volunteer project will register with the magazine at www.usatoday.com. Paul Newman will donate $10,000 to exceptional projects. Other projects will be spotlighted in the magazine's April issue.
In 2000, 2.2 million people volunteered on Make a Difference Day, helping an estimated 25 million people.
At the carnival, members of the public will write the names of people who have been victimized by violence on pieces of muslin cloth. The pieces will be sewn together to create a quilt, which will go on display at Child Haven and the County Government Center.
Chairez said she hopes the day will jump-start other volunteer activities in the school.
"This isn't just a one-shot deal," she said. "This is a long term effort to get the neighborhood and the kids to be public servants and to have a conscience."
Students helping prepare for Monaco's carnival said they were happy to help educate people in their community.
"Participating in the carnival makes me feel good because it makes me feel like I can make a difference," seventh grader Tomeka Dorsey said.
Dorsey is a member of Crime Busters, an after-school group that teaches students crime prevention techniques to share with their peers.
Dorsey, who lives in the neighborhood and walks to school each day, said the violence that often occurs in her neighborhood makes her angry.
"It makes me mad because if little kids see big people fighting or acting violent, they might want to grow up and do the same thing," she said.
Felipe Lomeli, an eighth grader, is also a member of Crime Busters. For the carnival, Lomeli is helping paint a mural over a brick wall near the school that is covered with graffiti.
"Crime Busters is teaching me that if someone is fighting, I can do something to try and stop it," he said. "I can try to tell them to talk it over."
Other locals are also joining in the national effort to make a difference.
Mary Vail, a local charity event organizer, will be celebrating the day with an annual food drive sponsored by Smith's Food and Drug Stores. All the food collected will be donated to the Salvation Army.
The food drive will take place from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Oct. 26 at the Smith's at 221 N. Rampart Blvd. in Summerlin.
Vail said she and other volunteers will sit in front of the grocery store and ask shoppers to purchase an additional nonperishable good or hygiene items to donate to local working families.
"In a day and time where people are a little nervous about giving money to nonprofits, this is a way for someone to contribute and know it's going to put food on someone's table," Vail said.
The food Vail collects will be put into boxes by the Salvation Army. Each box contains items such as canned soups and fruit, macaroni and cheese, rice and peanut butter.
In 2001 Vail collected 3,250 food and hygiene items within six hours, she said.
"These are not homeless people," Charlie Desidero, Salvation Army spokesman, said. "These are people who could be making minimum wage. But they live from paycheck to paycheck. And if one of these people becomes unemployed, that's a crisis."
Desidero said the Salvation Army gives food boxes to about 140 families a week. In 2000, the organization donated 7,227 boxes to needy families.
"We couldn't do it without them," Desidero said of the food drive organizers. "We do a lot of good, but we're just the conduits. We bring the good the community does to the people who need it. It makes all the difference in the world."
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