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Archive for August, 2011

A 21-Year-Old’s Solution to Homelessness

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DailyGood News That Inspires

August 23, 2011

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A 21-Year-Old's Solution to Homelessness

The only important thing about design is how it relates to people.

– Victor Papanek –

A 21-Year-Old’s Solution to Homelessness

As a design student in Detroit, Veronika Scott was keenly aware of the increasing numbers of homeless people suffering deeply during the relentless winters. At the tender age of 21, she created The Detroit Empowerment Plan to provide much-needed warmth to the city’s 20,000 street dwellers. Scott is the creator of Element S, a coat that is self-heated, waterproof, and transforms into a sleeping bag at night. It is made by a group of homeless women who are paid, fed and housed while creating these coats made for those living on the streets. This Fast Company interview shares more. { read more }

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Do something to reach out to someone in need today.

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Homeless Man Bails out Banker

The Impossible Floating Village Football Team

Inspirational Graduation Speech by Autistic Student

The Burrito Man Who Changed Lives

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Smile Newsletter: Help Knocks on the Front Door, Kindness Remembered after 41 Years, Finding a Solution to a Stolen Bicycle

HelpOthers.org
Aug 22, 2011
“Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world; indeed, it’s the only thing that ever has.” –Margaret Mead
Idea of the Week
139.jpg“A retired gentleman who lives a few doors away from me can occasionally be seen picking up trash. He does it cheerfully and never complains. This morning, I was out walking my dog when I saw another neighbour picking up trash with his kids! When I commented on what a good job they were doing he said, “Well, there’s an older fellow in our street who does this. And my friend and I thought it wasn’t fair that he had to do it all the time, so now we take a turn.” The older gentleman had inspired others to pick up trash by doing it himself! It just goes to show we should be the change we want to see in this world.” — Wayfarer

[ share your story >> ]

Stories of the Week
You can also contribute comments on each story!
Kindness Knocks on the Front Door >>
Remembering Kindness 41 Years Later >>
A Stolen Bike and Help from Strangers >>
More Stories >>
Comment of the Week
“I went to a caregiver’s retreat this past weekend and encountered a lot of wonderful people doing fabulous work caring for their loved ones. Because of my recent physical problems I had to go in a wheelchair. After the retreat was over, I was pushing myself across the large campus. It was hot and I was exhausted from the effort. A lady came up to me and said, “Can I push you somewhere?” It was the kindest thing imaginable. She pushed me all the way to my car! When we got to the car I thanked her so much. I told her what a blessing she was and how much I really needed that random act of kindness at the end of a long tiring day. She said it was her joy – and I really believed her because she was all smiles and wishing me a happy day. I realized in that singular moment that there is no kindness too small to make the difference in the life of someone else. It doesn’t have to be a big thing. In fact, the little ones are often the sweetest.” – wooka85257
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Attention as an Art Form

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DailyGood News That Inspires

August 22, 2011

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Attention as an Art Form

[Learning how to think] means being conscious and aware enough to choose what you pay attention to, and to choose how you construct meaning from experience.

– David Foster Wallace –

Attention as an Art Form

185 billion bits of information. In an average lifetime, this is what the human brain is capable of processing. With any limited resource, the fact that it’s in short supply can quickly create a feeling of scarcity. But it can also motivate wiser use of our attention, one of the fundamental building blocks of human experience. This article breaks attention down into four key aspects: Awareness, the ability to notice all that is happening around and within us more and more consciously; Choice, extending beyond just the domain of our actions, into what and how we think; Engagement, which is a progression from a passive interest to an active curiosity, and finally to enchantment; and Flow, the continuity of attention that allows us to more deeply experience and value what is already in front of us. { read more }

Be The Change

Make a conscious effort to use your attention in an artful way today.

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Homeless Kid Wows Korea

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DailyGood News That Inspires

August 21, 2011

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Homeless Kid Wows Korea

In the depth of winter, I finally learned that within me there lay an invincible summer.

– Albert Camus –

Homeless Kid Wows Korea

At three years old, he was handed off to an orphanage. At five years old, he was living on the streets. At twenty-two years old, he’s persevered and pursued his love for the arts, amazing the world with his heartfelt performance on this video of Korea’s Got Talent. Meet Choi Sung-Bong, a person who embodies the idea of never giving up. { read more }

Be The Change

Write down your dreams and goals and the initial steps to achieve them today, and never give up.

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Entrepreneur of Small Things

Secrets from 17 Years of Silence

But Will It Make You Happy?

A Blessing from A Homeless Man

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Whiz Kids: 5 Amazing Young Inventors

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DailyGood News That Inspires

August 20, 2011

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Whiz Kids: 5 Amazing Young Inventors

The most important thing is insight, that is to be — curious — to wonder, to mull, and to muse why it is that man does what he does.

– William Faulkner –

Whiz Kids: 5 Amazing Young Inventors

15-year old Chester Greenwood wanted to ice skate in the winters of Maine, so he invented ear mufflers. Also at the age of 15, Louis Braille in France invented what became the standard language for blind people all over the world. Philo Farnsworth, a 14-year-old electronics prodigy, came up with the concept of a television, and mentored by his chemistry teacher, developed it some years later. And then, at a mere 12 years old, Margaret Knight developed a safety mechanism for cotton mill power looms that immediately started saving countless workers from injury or death. Here are the stories of four young inventors who have already made their mark on the world, and a bonus one who hopes to in the years to come. { read more }

Be The Change

Invent something. “Creativity is about having the courage to invent our lives,” says author Nina Wise in this short passage. { more }

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Being the Change In Bihar

Can Science Create Heroes?

How to Recycle: An E-Waste Odyssey

New Way to Watch your Blood Pressure

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Video of the Week: A Slice of Kindness

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Video of the Week

Aug 19, 2011
A Slice of Kindness

A Slice of Kindness

A year ago, Dan Rogers was unemployed and faced some real hardships. Today, he’s in a better place and wanted to share the uplift with those who were a bit down on their luck. So he thought up — Random Acts of Pizza. Anyone who could benefit from a pizza can write an explanation on his website and then Dan (or others from the online community) would pay for it and have it delivered to their home. “It’s that spiritual boost that someone’s got my back,” Dan says.
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The Age of Social Transformation

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DailyGood News That Inspires

August 19, 2011

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The Age of Social Transformation

If you don’t like something change it; if you can’t change it, change the way you think about it.

– Mary Engelbreit –

The Age of Social Transformation

The most significant social transformation in the last century is the shift, in dominance, of the industrial to knowledge based worker, according to the father of modern management, the late Peter Drucker. Regardless of numbers or power, knowledge workers will uniquely define the emerging knowledge society. This classic, in-depth Atlantic Monthly article by him is a survey of the epoch that began early last century, and an analysis of its manifestations. Drucker asserts that through the social sector a modern developed society can again create a responsible citizenry where individuals, especially knowledge workers, are given a space in which they can make a difference in society and recreate community. His conclusion: “If the twentieth century was one of social transformations, the twenty-first century needs to be one of social and political innovations.” { read more }

Be The Change

Innovate with how you make a difference in society, with how you help recreate community.

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9 Interviews with Creative Visionaries

The Science of Self-Control

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What Makes Extreme Do-Gooders Tick?

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DailyGood News That Inspires

August 18, 2011

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What Makes Extreme Do-Gooders Tick?

Human progress is neither automatic nor inevitable… Every step toward the goal of justice requires sacrifice, suffering, and struggle; the tireless exertions and passionate concern of dedicated individuals.

– Martin Luther King, Jr. –

What Makes Extreme Do-Gooders Tick?

“From protecting our natural environment to improving our children’s education to combating global poverty and disease, we’ve come to rely on extreme do-gooders to tackle the world’s toughest problems. Few of them will make as much as they could in the private sector. They may lose a relationship with a loved one to their work, or miss their kids’ big moments. All of which raises the obvious: Why? What makes these people tick, and how do they sustain a lifetime of commitment to a change that might take generations to see?” This Christian Science Monitor article delves deeper into these intriguing questions. { read more }

Be The Change

Stop for a moment to consider the question of what makes you “tick”.

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Her Heart Was Bigger Than This Room

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DailyGood News That Inspires

August 17, 2011

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Her Heart Was Bigger Than This Room

I am only one, but still I am one. I cannot do everything, but still I can do something; and because I cannot do everything, I will not refuse to do something I can do.

– Edward Everett Hale –

Her Heart Was Bigger Than This Room

It is a tragic story, but one that touches and inspires. For her 9th birthday, instead of getting presents for her, Rachel Beckwith asked loved ones to donate to charity:water, a nonprofit bringing clean and safe drinking water to people in developing nations. Her goal was $300, enough to give 15 children access to clean water, but she only got to $220. A month later, tragedy struck, when her family’s car was involved in her 13-car traffic accident. Rachel was critically injured. That’s when word spread, and contributions started pouring in. Most of them in $9 increments, the totals kept increasing, but unfortunately, Rachel passed on. The contributions kept flowing in, though, with over a million dollars donated. “Her heart was bigger than this room. She always gave whatever she had and would continue to give more,” her father said. { read more }

Be The Change

Support someone who is giving purely, regardless of the size of their gift.

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Over Ten Thousand People Attend His Funeral

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Sacred Giving and Receiving

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DailyGood News That Inspires

August 16, 2011

a project of CharityFocus

Sacred Giving and Receiving

It is in giving that we receive.

– St. Francis of Assisi –

Sacred Giving and Receiving

Giving has long been a central part of American Indian cultures. It may be a means of giving thanks, of bringing the people together, of gaining honor, of distributing material goods so that all may survive, or of teaching. Giving away things informally is also common in American Indian communities in times of good fortune. And yet, in much of the twentieth century, American Indian giveaway practices have often been viewed as a threat by government officials. In the last few decades, however, great strides have been made to return attention on the value of giving thanks. Many in this culture consider it a deep practice, where the giver is not calling attention to himself or herself, but to the spiritual power behind it all; thus both giving and receiving remain sacred. This Parabola Magazine article explores this powerful tradition. { read more }

Be The Change

Tune in to your gifts today. Look for something it might bring you joy to give away.

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