It was a late October day, and someone was knocking on my front door.


Is it Halloween already? Do I have some early bird witch or scary goblin trying to get a jump start on candy collection? It's also Girl Scout cookie season and I know the Boy Scouts are selling popcorn door to door. I sure can't say no to Girl Scout cookies and my kids love popcorn. Maybe that nice Christian couple has come back, all geared up to make one more run at me. That's always interesting.

Nope, to all of the above. When I opened the door I saw four college-age young ladies. And here's the interesting part. They didn't want anything from me. They asked, "Is there anything we can help you with?"

Do you need your leaves raked?

Some firewood stacked?

Your yard picked up?

Pumpkins carved?

Wait one second. What's going on here? When strangers knock on our front door, they usually want something. But these ladies were not looking to receive, they were eager to give.

Finally someone spoke up.

"We are with 'Celebrate Service, Celebrate Allegany,'" said Andi Sidell, a junior at Houghton College. "It's called 'Make a Difference Day.'"

Sidell explained that hundreds of students from Houghton College, Alfred State College and Alfred University were spending their Saturday helping people around Allegany County. Some students had pre-scheduled destinations, in some cases helping the elderly with yard work and house work. There are a lot of jobs that people, for whatever reason, need assistance with, and the students were there Saturday to lend their helping hands.

 The student volunteers were bused to points all over Allegany County. They were giving up time they could have spent doing any number of things to help others.

Houghton College junior Charis Thompson told me the foursome boarded a bus early in the morning. She said they were dropped off in Elm Valley and were now going door to door to ask people how they could be of service. About 400 students total, including some 300 from Houghton College, were expected to take part, Thompson said.


"Serving other people is more important than doing something for yourself," said Karida Stevens, another Houghton junior. "We have plenty of time to do something for ourselves. We have 24/7 to think about ourselves. One day is a small sacrifice."


Houghton senior Megan Tennant of Syracuse said it's easy for college students to become fixated on their own personal issues - grades, money, or lack of it. She said "Make a Difference Day" was an opportunity for the young people to adjust their focus and take in a broader, community-oriented perspective.


It was time for the quartet to move on. There were still severals hours of daylight remaining in the day, and they were ready to see if they could be of use down the road. Somwhere, someone needed some help. Today would be their lucky day. Four "friends" were on the way.

"Sorry we couldn't do anything for you," one of the young women said as they got ready to leave.

"Not at all," I said. "You did plenty."
