Each year millions help others on USA WEEKEND’s Make A Difference Day, and each year, 10 of those volunteer projects are honored for their efforts with $10,000 donations to charity from Newman’s Own. Many honorees come back again and again, doing bigger and better deeds. In years past, USA WEEKEND has recognized repeat successes with the Encore Award, but this year, the winner will be chosen by an online popular vote. The winner will receive a $10,000 donation for the charity of their choice from the Gannett Foundation and USA WEEKEND. Here are the details:

• Each of the 9 nominees is featured in their own post. Check them out to choose your favorite!
• Voting opens Wednesday, February 15 at 8:00am ET.
• Voting ends Wednesday, February 29 at 11:59pm ET.
• You must be 13 years or older to vote — kids, get your parents to vote!
• You can vote once every 24 hours. (Click here for complete rules.)
• Results will be announced in the April 14-16 issue of USA WEEKEND.

– OXFORD, OHIO, AND NATIONWIDE

The brothers of Delta Sigma Pi outdid themselves — again — on Make A Difference Day 2011. The collegiate business fraternity, based in Oxford, Ohio, emphasizes volunteering, not partying. On Oct. 22, more than 2,500 members from 60 percent of the 250+ active chapters teamed up to give back to society from Hawaii to Massachusetts.

Delta Sigma Pi received our national award in 2010, after 2,000 members, male and female (all called brothers), turned out the previous Make A Difference Day. The latest event was the fraternity’s largest-ever day of service: Brothers baked cookies for elderly veterans, cleaned highways, made care packages for troops and threw a Halloween party for children in a shelter.

Deltasigs from five Texas universities and Corpus Christi’s alumni chapter led more than 200 volunteers in painting over graffiti on San Antonio’s run-down west side.  “Residents were so grateful that we wiped out the mess,” said Kristen Almanza, 23, who organized the cleanup as president of the University of Texas at San Antonio chapter. “We really felt we’d made a big difference.” In San Bernardino, Calif., a small army of 167 volunteers from 10 chapters swarmed for an eighth year into the “workshop” of Santa Claus Inc. to make Christmas presents for thousands of kids of the working poor. They worked assembly-line style to package doll clothing and make sleepover kits. “They work at speeds that are unheard of at our charity,” says Santa Claus Inc. toy buyer Allison West. “They do such an amazing job.”

– BOCA RATON, FLA./DURHAM, N.C.

Lucas Metropulos, 19, lives to fish. And he’s hooking a new generation. As a high schooler in Boca Raton, Fla., he founded an after-school program that teaches underprivileged kids a skill that can feed their families, as well as patience and respect for the environment. And for that, he earned our national award two years ago. Now Metropulos, a freshman at Duke University in Durham, N.C., has cast his net wider: Offshoots of his program, Fishing for Families in Need, are set to open in New Orleans, Martha’s Vineyard and Durham.

For his third Make A Difference Day last fall, Metropulos doubled up. The two teen protégés who run his Boca Raton flagship operation, with eight volunteers, took 18 excited children out to sea. And in Durham, Metropulos and five volunteers treated six adults and a child — economically disadvantaged families, guests at a Ronald McDonald House — to an afternoon of fishing for crappie, bluegill and catfish at Lake Mickie. These families “are stressed out and need some relief,” Metropulos says.

The kids who enjoyed last Make A Difference Day at sea in Boca Raton — like Maria Sair, 10, who now wants to be a “fishing teacher” (or veterinarian) — were the latest of more than 120 that Fishing for Families in Need has taught. “I’ve been able to grow because of the support I started receiving from all over the country after receiving your award,” Metropulos says. “Make A Difference Day gave my program credibility.”

– LAS VEGAS

Jayla Scott, 10, is thrilled with her new black Nike Fusions. “I needed shoes so bad,” says the Las Vegas fifth-grader, one of 1,548 disadvantaged kids outfitted with a free pair at the Goodie Two Shoes Foundation’s Make A Difference Day giveaway. In fact, at this year’s giveaway, Goodie Two Shoes reached a milestone: 20,000 kids helped in the nine years since Nikki Berti and her husband, ex-NFL player Tony Berti, provided the first 223 children with shoes on Make A Difference Day.

Over the years, Goodie Two Shoes, a 2005 national honoree and 2010 Encore Award winner, has expanded to a year-round program with a mobile unit that takes name-brand footwear directly to schools and social service agencies across Clark County, where unemployment runs over 13% and more than half of public school students qualify for free or reduced-price lunches.

But the Make A Difference Day giveaway remains the showcase event. On Oct. 22, kids got a free lunch, T-shirts, socks and backpacks filled with school supplies in addition to their choice of shoes, bought at a discount from manufacturers and retailers. A website, Facebook page and Twitter account attract donors, sponsors and volunteers — like Mashanna Hall, 39, a mother of 12 who wanted to repay Goodie Two Shoes for helping her family. “It brought joy to my heart,” she says. “Some of these kids have never had a pair of shoes that fit. They’re amazed at how many there are to pick from. They’re in La-La Land.”

– GUILFORD, CONN., AND NATIONWIDE

Addie Kenney, 9, sister Delaney, 10, and five friends started a national trend: “almost sleepovers” where pajama-clad kids party with a purpose, raising money and crafting items for the less fortunate. After their 2010 Make A Difference Day event in Guilford, Conn., won our national award, their initiative, the United States of Community Service, worked to spread the almost-sleepover concept online. Last October it expanded to 38 parties in 26 states. At least 1,200 girls and boys supported scores of charities.

In Brighton, Mich., about 50 kids made toys for shelter pets and placemats for senior centers. Fifty more in Hammond, La., assembled 140 snack bags for needy children. Eighteen girls in Weaverville, N.C., made paintings to decorate the new children’s wing at the Rathbun Center in Asheville. In El Paso, Girl Scouts collected cleaning supplies and hygiene items for a shelter. Gatherings from California to Vermont were registered at the movement’s website, uscsnow.org.

In Guilford, the original almost-sleepover girls, plus 76 friends, held a mini-danceathon and hairstyling session that raised $1,947 for the Dravet Syndrome Foundation. They also made 96 Christmas ornaments for a hospice; assembled 84 jars of cookie mix for seniors; and collected food, stuffed animals and coats for the homeless and kids in crisis. Admission was one or more pairs of new, warm PJs for the children at Life Haven shelter in New Haven. “It’s truly fabulous how the idea created by these girls has crisscrossed the country. Imagine what they can accomplish when they’re a little older!” says Life Haven interim director Elizabeth Hilton.

– ROCHESTER HILLS, MICH.

The four ladies behind the Brookwood subdivision’s Make A Difference Day flea market thought they’d be lucky to match 2010’s record-setting total. So they were flabbergasted when October’s event, their 20th observance of Make A Difference Day, raised 26% more — $17,854, says co-chair Joanne Marcil, 78. Their amazing two-decade total: more than $113,000 donated to charities such as the Baldwin Center soup kitchen, the National Multiple Sclerosis Society, juvenile diabetes research, an art studio for the disabled, a community women’s fund, Blessings in a Backpack and the Rochester Area Neighborhood House.

The two-day affair at the community clubhouse requires an “angel brigade” of 150 volunteers and five families’ garages in which to store donated clothes, toys, sports gear, books and household items.

For its neighborhood tradition of doing good, last year, Brookwood won our Make A Difference Day Award. Flea market media chief Kathy Bommarito credits the resulting publicity, together with a new website and Facebook page, for an increase in 2011 donations and participation despite the challenging economy.

Lisa Machesky, executive director of the Baldwin Center in nearby Pontiac, underscores the impact of the award. The center used the $10,000 prize to add two weekly dinners to its daily lunches. Its share of October’s flea market proceeds will go toward incorporating more dairy products and vegetables into the meals it serves. The Brookwood team “enables us to expand our services in a time of growing need and government cutbacks,” Machesky says. “They really cultivate the spirit of giving.”

Clifford “Kip” Rikard, 82, chokes up when he recalls Aug. 28. As the remnants of Hurricane Irene powered through the Catskills, 5 feet of rushing water trashed his house beside Schoharie Creek in Prattsville. “I lost everything downstairs,” he says. Some help came in September. But in October, when 25 Greene Correctional Facility employees set out to help storm victims rebuild their lives, Rikard saw real progress: On Make A Difference Day, and on return visits, “they primed, painted, put in insulation and drywall. … Without them, I never would have recovered.”

Greene was one of 10 prisons of the state Department of Corrections and Community Supervision to tackle projects on or leading up to Make A Difference Day. Staffers and inmates have participated since 1994, winning our national award in 2002. (The department is so committed to Make A Difference Day that it observes it year-round. System-wide, more than 3,100 employees and inmates volunteered in all of 2011.)

On Oct. 22, their efforts spanned the state. Seventeen Adirondack prison staffers, retirees and friends served a luncheon for 79 low-income seniors. Three Queensboro staffers and four family members cleaned up a park in Queens. Seventeen Lakeview employees raised $720 for shelter animals. Several facilities held food drives.

Albany’s Capital City Rescue Mission hosts a continuous parade of volunteers, but the five from Coxsackie prison who manned the lunch line on Make A Difference Day impressed the mission staff. The prison and mission both “work with people who are hurting,” says mission development director Susan Jones. “With volunteers like the ones from Coxsackie, we help people find the right direction.”

– OAKLAND, CALIF.

There’s no stopping Lisa Klein. In 2010, she provided 1,100 pounds of donated clothes for needy San Francisco Bay Area newborns through the non-profit she founded, Loved Twice. But that only made her more ambitious. Last Make A Difference Day, Klein and a national network of followers more than doubled that, to 2,800 pounds — enough to clothe 280 babies for a year.

“I saw the power of Make A Difference Day,” says Klein, 43. “Now my plan is to make it my biggest effort every year.”

Klein operates Loved Twice out of her Oakland basement. Each woman or family in need receives a 10-pound box of new or gently used outfits. All told, Loved Twice has outfitted more than 4,250 newborns in clothes worth at least $950,000.

Klein won a Make A Difference Day Award in 2011. Soon after, she began hearing from other mothers who wanted to help. Connecting through Facebook, Twitter and e-mail, the women collected, sorted and donated clothes in Minneapolis; Memphis; southern California; Watertown, N.Y.; Cary, N.C.; and Sault Ste. Marie, Mich.

But Oct. 22’s centerpiece event was a “sorting party” at the Mountain View, Calif., headquarters of Google, where about 50 volunteers packed up 740 pounds of clothing. Those “wardrobes in a box” were delivered to the Shelter Network, which serves the homeless across San Mateo County. Resident Krystal Tully, 21, was overjoyed to receive “jackets and socks and winter clothes I really needed” for her month-old baby, Ava. “This helps me save money to become more self-sufficient,” Tully says.

– McALESTER, OKLA.

In this city of 18,000, homeowners in need mark the fourth Saturday of October on their calendars. That’s the day they know Maureen Harrison and her team of community volunteers will be out in force, helping seniors, single working women and the disabled with repairs they can’t handle themselves. McAlester was a national honoree in 2005. Last Make A Difference Day, the town’s 10^th, nearly 80 workers helped 35 neighbors, for a total of more than 100 homes in a decade.

“Thank God for Make A Difference Day,” says one woman grateful for last fall’s effort, Mozella Chism, 71. “I had so many drafts and holes that needed to be covered before winter set in. It really saved me on utilities.”

Besides repairs and weatherization tasks, crews hauled trash, raked leaves, installed smoke alarms and more. “It’s all about neighbors helping neighbors,” says Harrison, 62. “Seeing the joy on the volunteers’ faces is as exciting as the gratitude of the people we help.”

Last fall’s event was dedicated to one such joyful volunteer, Bea Walker, who had died in June after a brief illness. “She was a vital part of Make A Difference Day’s success,” says Dani Hovey, 30, who took over Walker’s organizational duties. Hovey, her husband and their three young sons took on three houses Oct. 22. “The boys had fun dragging trash cans to the dumping site,” she says. But the highlight may have been when an elderly homeowner offered his candy jar as a thank-you.

Photo courtesy of The Yazoo Herald

– YAZOO CITY, MS

At age 99, Leola Dillard says the 13^th annual “free flea market” she held in her front yard on Make A Difference Day was her last. Her many admirers are skeptical. “We’ve heard that before!” says Dillard lieutenant Gloria Owens. “She’s always giving, giving, giving, and motivating others to do the same.”

We honored Dillard with our national award in 2009 after 10 free flea markets and 12 years of helping her less fortunate neighbors on Make A Difference Day. Early last Oct. 22, 50-plus volunteers once again transformed Dillard’s lawn into a mini-mall crammed with community-donated items for people in need. More than 400 came to “shop” for clothing, towels, furniture, photo frames, books, bikes and “what-nots” that had been stored for weeks in Dillard’s modest house and two portable storage units.

McArthur Straughter, mayor of this town of 14,000 in America’s poorest state, says Dillard is a living legend who has been “an inspiration to our city for years.” Adding to the legend: She honchoed the preparations for October’s market from her hospital bed after suffering a mild stroke. She was released only a week before the day she calls “the highlight of my year.” Says the mayor: “Make A Difference Day is one of the biggest days we have. Hundreds of people turn out for Mrs. Dillard, and then they go back into their communities and do good.”