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MARIETTA - More than 300 Marietta College students were involved in works Saturday where they were hoping to make a difference in their communities.

The students, and others from the community, worked on more than 20 projects as diverse as painting variations of The Golden Rule in Hebrew, Sanskrit, Greek and Chinese and their English translations on the walls of the new Interfaith Room, raising funds for the Humane Society of the Ohio Valley, painting murals at the Boys and Girls Club of Marietta and working on the Incredible Community Playground.

All were part of Make A Difference Day, a day of service on various community projects. Some of the projects will conclude next week and there will be a focus on issues related to hunger throughout the year.

In Mills Hall at MC, students worked on preparing three rooms to accommodate different faiths on campus in a setting outside of the student union. On the third floor of Mills Hall they painted variations of The Golden Rule on the wall. Others rooms include a prayer room for Islamic students and a meditation room where yoga classes will also be taught.

Students working on the project were sophomores Sarah Griffin, Bethany McFarland, Rachel Worthington and Jake Depp.

Christy Burke, director of the international program at MC, said the Interfaith room and the prayer room were created in response to the enrollment of 11 students from Saudi Arabia.

Tanya Judd-Pucella, assistant professor and director of civic engagement, said the students who planned and organized the event were from the McDonough Center for Leadership and Business.

"We had 140 students involved in the planning and 300 participating," she said. "All six of our Greek organizations were part of this as well. We also had members of sports teams and people from the community.

Judd-Pucella said the translations of The Golden Rule were provided by Dr. David Torbett, professor of religion.

For the past week, a group has been working on a sports mural on the wall of the boys restroom at the Boys and Girls Club.

Justine Leger, one of the students, said a mural in the girl's restroom was completed by a different group

"We've been working on this one for five days," she said. "We will have it finished by the end of today."

Andrew Dembowski created the mural the group was painting.

Raising funds for the Humane Society of the Ohio Valley was the project undertaken by freshman class members Ellen Schott, Julie Normand, Kim Hughes, Marci Estock and Sarah Bunner.

Schott said they were handing out flyers in front of the We Lov Pets store asking for donations of money or items needed by the shelter such as collar and leashes. They were also giving bags of pet treats to people who brought their pets by the store and Trick or Treat bags for the children.

"So far we have raised about $150 for the shelter in cash and donated items," Schott said Saturday afternoon.