"Make A Difference Day" is a national humanitarian event held in partnership with USA Weekend Magazine and the Points of Light Foundation. The objective of the event is to bring together representatives from businesses, communities, and outreach organizations to create positive changes in people's lives and their communities. According to the sponsors, the event is also an opportunity for the organizers to demonstrate and teach civic and moral responsibility through grassroots leadership.

The organizers of the event reached out to the administrators of the Lyndon B. Johnson Job Corps Center in Franklin, North Carolina, to request the center's help in repairing and beautifying the outdoor facilities at a public park. Instructor Meeks and the paint students from LBJ Center worked with the Recreation and Parks Service to fulfill the request. Meeks and the students prepared and painted the park's pool house, bathrooms and showers, snack bar, and picnic areas. The preparation included scraping, scrubbing, and washing the weather-beaten surfaces. Students then applied special coatings of paint on the newly-primed surfaces. The paint was developed with exterior oil base mixtures formulated to withstand the outdoor elements, including the Carolina humidity. Meeks explained that during the prep and paint applications, the students were able to use their "Safety and Fall Protection" training by building scaffolds and securing ladders to finish high and hard-to-reach areas.

With the help of the LBJ Job Corps students, "Make A Difference Day" was a successful community effort. And it provided the students with an opportunity to demonstrate to the public their training and skills while putting something back into the community.

The Department of Labor's Job Corps system continues to offer innovative academic, vocational, job, social and life skills training to students who enroll in the program. With the proper leadership and guidance, as seen in Franklin, the system can also directly benefit the community.