Presentation of Make-A-Difference magazine to Minister Lawrence Gonzi

Make-A-Difference is the name of a brand new club which will be launched next Sunday in a new magazine which will be distributed with "The Sunday Times".

Mr George Papagiorcopulo, Publication Director and Editor of more magazines, today presented an advance copy of the first issue of the magazine to Dr Lawrence Gonzi, Minister for Social Policy.

The objective of MAKE-A-DIFFERENCE is to invite readers to become members of this club (membership is free-of-charge), and by doing so they will be offering to do voluntary work for a number of caring organisations. The list of caring organisations already associated with Make-A-Difference continues to grow, is by no means exhaustive, and is expected to continue to grow as the project gains momentum.

"Make-A-Difference is not about crying for help", Dr Lawrence Gonzi said, "rather, it is about discovering our true colours and finding ways how we can make other people's lives more human. It's about gaining our self-fulfillment through making other self-fulfilled".

Mr Papagiorcopulo emphasized that Make-A-Difference was a two pronged initiative. "We want people to Make-A-Difference to their own life by making a difference to somebody else's. We're not asking people to give money, what we are after is for people to come forward to do voluntary work".

Dr Gonzi congratulated Mr Papagiorcopulo on the initiative, hoping this could be an opportunity to discover our social values and apply them to everyday life.

The magazine, which will be distributed next Sunday with "The Sunday Times", and on the 21^st of the month with "The People on Sunday", is a brand new initiative aimed squarely at the family, with major emphasis being placed on parenting skills and on understanding children.