By Zac Flowerman, MCTV Teen Writer

Saturday is the 13th Make a Difference Day. This annual volunteering event is sponsored by USA Weekend and the Points of Light Foundation.

According its Web site, this event is "a national day of helping others - a celebration of neighbors helping neighbors."

What can you and your friends do?

Open your eyes and look around. There are people who need assistance and projects that can improve your community.

Volunteer at a day care center. Feed the hungry. Bring music to senior citizens or hospitalized individuals. Clean up a local park, river or community center. Any contribution, large or small, will benefit those in need.

Consult the Make a Difference Day Web site at http://usaweekend.com/ diffday/index.html. There is an Idea Generator, a section describing projects from previous years and a data bank of projects for this year.

For five years, my brother and I have held a neighborhood food drive called Trick-or-Treat for the Hungry to collect food for the Interfaith Food Pantry, a nonprofit association. Its mission, according to its Web site, is to "distribute supplemental and emergency non-perishable food to eligible Morris County residents in need."

Last year the Interfaith Food Pantry distributed more than 31,000 bags of food and supplies to families in our area.

This year we are expanding our Trick-or-Treat for thUe Hungry project to include other neighborhoods and communities in our area.

There is still time to do something to help someone.

Zac Flowerman is a freshman at the Pingry School.