A Canadian man who pulled over to help a motorist change a tire in Wisconsin had his good deed repaid minutes later when the same motorist helped save his life.
“I guess it was a good idea for us to stop and help,” said Victor Giesbrecht’s wife, Ann.
“In return, this lady helped us. It was just a miracle, the way everything worked out. It was just pieced together just like a puzzle.”
(READ the story in the Toronto Globe and Mail)
One of the legendary triumphs of philanthropy was Andrew Carnegie’s construction of more than 2,500 libraries around the world. It’s renowned as a stimulus to learning that can never be matched — except that total has already been surpassed several times over by an American man you’ve probably never heard of.
John Wood has given out his 10 millionth book this year along with his charity, Room to Read, opening 12,000 of small libraries around the world, along with 1,500 schools.
In an attempt to transform an ordinary Monday morning into something special, an artist has given thousands of yellow balloons to Kenyan commuters to counter the idea of Monday-morning blues.
During the past year Yazmany Arboleda has also traveled to Japan and India orchestrating his “Living Sculpture” called Monday Morning.
General Motors Co.’s vehicle sales rose 10 percent last month in China.
The company sold 220,412 vehicles in China in October, outpacing GM’s 1.7 percent sales gain in the U.S. last month and followed a 15 percent rise in Chinese deliveries in September.
The largest U.S. carmaker joined Toyota Motor Corp. in reporting higher sales in China during October.
Before Toyota came, Cassius Perry was struggling like many in this hilly, sparsely populated region of north Mississippi that’s shed thousands of furniture manufacturing jobs since the 1990s.
This year Perry landed good pay and health insurance when he went to work for a supplier to the sprawling new Toyota plant on the outskirts of the tiny town of Blue Springs.
Hundreds have been hired, giving local leaders hope that their area will become another Southern automotive boomtown.
Landfills are a constant reminder of the waste we produce, but a new innovation could throw out the notion of a “dump” by turning them into productive solar power dynamos.
In Conley, Georgia, a first-of-its-kind landfill generates renewable energy while safely covering nine million cubic yards of municipal solid waste. The 45-acre geomembrane in this photo covers the landfill with 7,000 flexible solar panels.
Every component part is made in America.
Landfills are a constant reminder of the waste we produce, but a new innovation could throw out the notion of a “dump” by turning them into productive solar power dynamos.
In Conley, Georgia, a first-of-its-kind landfill generates renewable energy while safely covering nine million cubic yards of municipal solid waste. The 45-acre geomembrane in this photo covers the landfill with 7,000 flexible solar panels.
Every component part is made in America.
Intel is on a mission to bring computers to young people in developing regions. Since September 2009, a team of 100 Intel employees has traveled around the world training villagers to use its Intel-powered classmate PCs.
Intel’s Education Service Corps have empowered more than 40,000 students and a thousand teachers in places as 7 countries as diverse as Vietnam and Bolivia.
The Intel employees are thrilled with every opportunity to leave the gift of education around the world working with non-governmental organizations in support of the child-sized laptop computers.
Intel is on a mission to bring computers to young people in developing regions. Since September 2009, a team of 100 Intel employees has traveled around the world training villagers to use its Intel-powered classmate PCs.
Intel’s Education Service Corps have empowered more than 40,000 students and a thousand teachers in places as 7 countries as diverse as Vietnam and Bolivia.
The Intel employees are thrilled with every opportunity to leave the gift of education around the world working with non-governmental organizations in support of the child-sized laptop computers.
Millions of Americans since 2007 have sent holiday cards to soldiers serving overseas and wounded veterans in hospitals as part of the American Red Cross Holiday Mail for Heroes program.
For the fifth straight year, volunteers in scout troops and church groups will send a touch of home this holiday season to members of the U.S. military, many of whom will be far away from families and friends.
Legendary rockers Roger Daltrey and Pete Townshend of the Who have come to the UCLA Medical Center to launch the first teen-and-young-adults-only cancer treatment unit in the United States.
The Daltrey/Townshend Teen & Young Adult Cancer Program will serve patients ages 15 to 25 following on the successful efforts of the Teenage Cancer Trust, which has helped fund 19 special youth cancer centers in the United Kingdom.
The belief is that teenagers and young adults shouldn’t stop enjoying their youth just because they have cancer.
Instead of being hospitalized with children in a pediatric unit or with seniors in adult oncology, teens in the Daltrey/Townshend program will be housed in adjoining patient rooms that surround a large common lounge for hanging out with their peers. The units are designed to provide, as closely as possible, a normal life, bringing young people together so they can be themselves first, and gather with other young people coping with cancer care.
Legendary rockers Roger Daltrey and Pete Townshend of the Who have come to the UCLA Medical Center to launch the first teen-and-young-adults-only cancer treatment unit in the United States.
The Daltrey/Townshend Teen & Young Adult Cancer Program will serve patients ages 15 to 25 following on the successful efforts of the Teenage Cancer Trust, which has helped fund 19 special youth cancer centers in the United Kingdom.
The belief is that teenagers and young adults shouldn’t stop enjoying their youth just because they have cancer.
Instead of being hospitalized with children in a pediatric unit or with seniors in adult oncology, teens in the Daltrey/Townshend program will be housed in adjoining patient rooms that surround a large common lounge for hanging out with their peers. The units are designed to provide, as closely as possible, a normal life, bringing young people together so they can be themselves first, and gather with other young people coping with cancer care.
The Freecycle Network at Freecycle.org is a grassroots gifting network that — thanks to the sour economy and a growing commitment to the environment — has transformed into a global movement of millions who are offering and taking all manner of stuff.
Staffed by volunteer moderators, Freecycle aims to let you share your old TVs, clothes, broken blenders, tire chains and moving boxes with people nearby, using e-mail groups at Yahoo! and on the network’s website.
Stanford University will open an institution with the sole purpose of alleviating poverty in developing nations, thanks to a $150 million gift donated by a Silicon Valley businessman and his wife.
“More than a billion people live on less than $1.25 a day,” said Robert E. King with his wife, Dorothy, in a video. “That’s just not right.”
Called the Stanford Institute for Innovation in Developing Economies (known informally as “SEED”), it will draw from the school’s world-class MBA program and suite of courses in entrepreneurship to stimulate business ideas that can empower the people receiving food aid today so they can become self-sufficient and not need the aid in the future.
The Institute’s work is based on the belief that a powerful way to help alleviate poverty is through the stimulation of new entrepreneurial ventures and by scaling existing ones.
“Today’s students aspire to achieve a global impact that will change people’s lives for the better with everything from businesses that create employment and income sources to creating access to better education, health care, and governance,” said Garth Saloner, Dean of the Stanford Graduate School of Business.
The idea for the gift came out of home stays that founding donors Dottie and Bob King have offered to international students at Stanford for more than four decades. They witnessed first-hand the impact that education and entrepreneurship can have on a wider community back home. One student, Andreata Muforo from Zimbabwe, brought peers from her global study trip to Africa to the King home for dinner. “We heard how those first-hand experiences compelled some of the MBAs to return for internships in Africa,” said Dottie King. “We saw the direct connection between the learning experience and the motivation to make change.”
“We believe that innovation and entrepreneurship are the engines of growth to lift people out of poverty,” said Bob King, who with his wife also founded the Thrive Foundation for Youth. “And we believe Stanford’s tradition of innovation coupled with a forward-thinking global bias as well as its multidisciplinary resources will make a real impact.”
The Kings have made a $100 million gift to fund the Institute. They have committed an additional $50 million in matching funds to inspire other donors to fuel Stanford University’s commitment to alleviating poverty, bringing the total philanthropic investment to potentially $200 million.
To amplify its impact, SEED will partner with organizations such as Endeavor, which mentors and accelerates the work of high-impact entrepreneurs; the Skoll Foundation, which drives change by investing in social entrepreneurs; and the global social enterprise investor Acumen Fund. All have established operations abroad.
Stanford University will open an institution with the sole purpose of alleviating poverty in developing nations, thanks to a $150 million gift donated by a Silicon Valley businessman and his wife.
“More than a billion people live on less than $1.25 a day,” said Robert E. King with his wife, Dorothy, in a video. “That’s just not right.”
Called the Stanford Institute for Innovation in Developing Economies (known informally as “SEED”), it will draw from the school’s world-class MBA program and suite of courses in entrepreneurship to stimulate business ideas that can empower the people receiving food aid today so they can become self-sufficient and not need the aid in the future.
There was more than a bit of good news in this week’s economic reports.
For one thing, U.S. unemployment fell from 9.1% to 9.0%.
But the real good news is the past upward revisions.
Last month’s headline report of 103K has been revised higher to 158K.
And August — the month when a ZERO-net-increase of jobs was originally reported — is now up to 104,000.
There was more than a bit of good news in this week’s economic reports.
For one thing, U.S. unemployment fell from 9.1% to 9.0%.
But the real good news is the past upward revisions.
Last month’s headline report of 103K has been revised higher to 158K.
And August — the month when a ZERO-net-increase of jobs was originally reported — is now up to 104,000.
Rachel Beckwith wanted to raise money for a clean-water charity by asking for donations instead of presents for her ninth birthday. Now, her death is inspiring other kids to do the same.
A California man who was touched by Rachel’s story has started 9th Birthday, an online campaign to get at least 300 children to skip presents on their ninth birthday and ask instead for donations to Rachel’s favorite nonprofit, charity:water.
Rachel’s heartbreaking story, spread by social media and newspapers, turned her child-sized charity effort into a national phenomenon. (Watch a TV news story below.)
“This is a powerful way to help keep Rachel’s story alive and give her gift of giving to the next generation,” David Hissami of San Clemente, Calif., explains on the 9th Birthday website.
Rachel had wanted to raise at least $300 for charity:water by the time she turned 9. Someone had told her that there are people in the world who die because they don’t have access to clean drinking water.
Rachel created a campaign on charity: water’s site to raise money, but she fell a little short of her goal by the time she turned 9 on June 12.
News of her charity wish spread after her death, and suddenly donations from across the world poured in to charity:water in her name. Rachel’s death also helped keep others alive: One of her donated kidneys was transplanted into a California man , who in turn donated to Rachel’s cause.
By the time Rachel’s charity birthday campaign came to a close on Sept. 30, friends and strangers had raised more than $1.26 million for clean water in her memory.
“Throughout each day I look forward to reading your comments and hearing how Rachel’s story has touched people all over the world. In this painful time, it has given me inspiration and comfort,” Rachel’s mother, Samantha Paul, wrote at the time. “Knowing that Rachel’s decision to give up her ninth birthday will now help save thousands of people brings me to tears.”
Rachel’s story also profoundly moved Hissami, a 27-year-old web analytics freelancer.
“I read about the story and it was just one of those things. It really affected me. It really stood out,” he said in a phone interview Tuesday with msnbc.com.
“It just somehow occurred to me that so many people were giving to her thing and I wanted to do my part as well. I wanted to do something more long-term, to help people remember her.”
Hissami’s “9th Birthday” charity wasn’t affiliated with charity:water or Rachel’s mom, and the website didn’t solicit donations. Rather, it encouraged people to get children to skip presents on their ninth birthday and ask instead for donations to charity: water.
Hissami said he’s never met Rachel’s family but was inspired by her legacy.
“I’ve seen so much cynicism out there and just seeing something a person so loving at such a young age, it just really stood out to me.”
Hissami expects that one day when he has children of his own, they — and perhaps millions of other kids — will also want to give up their ninth birthday presents.
“I hope we might be able to define ninth birthday as a time when kids can donate, think of charity,” he said.
Will McNae, a spokesman for Rachel’s family, said the family was “very excited and humbled” that strangers have felt compelled to do something in Rachel’s memory and spirit. “The idea of continuing to spread awareness and education around the lesson of generosity is a fantastic thing,” he said.
Rachel’s family has also started a nonprofit organization, Rachel’s Wishing Well Foundation, to carry on her dream of helping people understand the importance of giving.
Paul, Rachel’s mom, plans to travel with charity:water to Ethiopia in July 2012 — the one-year anniversary of Rachel’s death — to visit some of the clean-water projects funded by her campaign.
© 2011 msnbc.com
Republished with permission of MSNBC – permission conveyed through Copyright Clearance Center.
Rachel Beckwith wanted to raise money for a clean-water charity by asking for donations instead of presents for her ninth birthday. Now, her death is inspiring other kids to do the same.
A California man who was touched by Rachel’s story has started 9th Birthday, an online campaign to get at least 300 children to skip presents on their ninth birthday and ask instead for donations to Rachel’s favorite nonprofit, charity:water.
Rachel’s heartbreaking story, spread by social media and newspapers, turned her child-sized charity effort into a national phenomenon. (Watch a TV news story below.)
The eulogy of Steve Jobs’s by his sister, novelist Mona Simpson, offered a touching look into the late Apple co-founder’s last days.
Hours before he slipped into unconsciousness, however, he did leave some enigmatic final words, which Simpson wrote in all capitals letters in her speech.
“Before embarking, he’d looked at his sister Patty, then for a long time at his children, then at his life’s partner, Laurene, and then over their shoulders past them. Steve’s final words were: OH WOW. OH WOW. OH WOW.”
