Make A Difference Day 2026 Is Saturday, Oct. 24: How to Find a Volunteer Project

Make A Difference Day is Saturday, Oct. 24, 2026. It is held on the fourth Saturday of October, which makes next year’s date Saturday, Oct. 23, 2027. A Gannett weekend magazine created the day in 1992, and Points of Light long partnered with it, according to a Points of Light blog post. We found no single national organizer page for 2026, no national theme and no official count, so we give no volunteer totals. Projects are organized locally. It is not a federal holiday; the only one in October 2026 was Columbus Day, Monday, Oct. 12, per the Office of Personnel Management (OPM).

Where to look for a project

Points of Light’s current days-of-service page does not list Make A Difference Day, so start with a general finder:

• AmeriCorps has a volunteer search.
• Idealist has a volunteer search; VolunteerMatch is now part of Idealist.
• JustServe is another site for finding service projects. We could not load its details, so check it directly.

Two local examples

• Venice, Florida. mysuncoast.com reported on Oct. 21, 2026, that the city’s 13th annual event is Saturday, Oct. 24, from 8 to 11 a.m., with check-in at 7:30 a.m. at the Venice Community Center, 326 Nokomis Ave. S.
• McKinney, Texas. The OneStar Foundation lists an event on Oct. 23-24, organized by Volunteer McKinney, by application.

Campuses pick their own date

Many schools do not use the fourth Saturday. Grand Valley State University and Michigan Tech hold theirs on Saturday, Oct. 17, 2026, according to their own pages. Check your campus, town or congregation for its date.

A few practical tips

This is general advice, not a rule from any organizer. Sign up ahead if you can, bring water and work gloves, and ask the organizer about age rules before you bring children.

Plan your day

Our free printable has four short checklists: find, confirm, bring and after. Mark the day on the October 2026 printable calendar or a weekly planner.

Saturday has other dates. See the Take Back Day guide and our Oct. 20 list of observances. The clocks also change soon: see Daylight Saving Time ends Nov. 1. World Polio Day is the same date; see our World Polio Day explainer.