Christmas came early for a Boston music student who was reunited with the US$170,000 violin she forgot in the overhead compartment of a regional commuter bus she rode last week, while overcome with travel fatigue.
The 176-year-old instrument, on loan to Hsieh from a Taiwanese cultural foundation.
(READ the story in the National Post)
Neighbors in Greenwood have banded together to give another neighbor a special Christmas present: a new roof.
The story began several weeks ago when four concerned neighbors watched Piper, who never married and has no children, climb atop her roof to apply tar to the many leaky areas. The roof had been damaged in a thunderstorm so Piper had covered it with tarps, but the tarps blew away, exposing the leaky plywood.
So the neighbors gathered at a dinner party and plotted how to help.
Sony has unveiled a paper-powered battery prototype in Japan.
The technology generates electricity by turning shredded paper into sugar which in turn is used as fuel.
If brought to market, the innovation could allow the public to top up the power of their mobile devices using waste material.
The team behind the project said such bio-batteries are environmentally friendly as they did not use harmful chemicals or metals.
After watching the devastation of neighborhoods after Hurricane Katrina, Barnes and Noble CEO Leonard Riggio promised to give away new homes to 100 displaced families.
A celebration last month marked the completion of the 101st and final home built through Project Home Again. (See original heartwarming video from 2009)
As a gospel choir sang “Ain’t No Mountain High Enough” in front of the last newly constructed house in the hard hit neighborhood of Gentilly, 55-year-old Corliss Gaines’ eyes swelled with tears.
The sight of the new home — six years after Hurricane Katrina — hits her hard.
“It’s a beautiful thing, a beautiful day.”
After watching the devastation of neighborhoods after Hurricane Katrina, Barnes and Noble CEO Leonard Riggio promised to give away new homes to 100 displaced families.
A celebration last month marked the completion of the 101st and final home built through Project Home Again. (See original heartwarming video from 2009)
As a gospel choir sang “Ain’t No Mountain High Enough” in front of the last newly constructed house in the hard hit neighborhood of Gentilly, 55-year-old Corliss Gaines’ eyes swelled with tears.
The sight of the new home — six years after Hurricane Katrina — hits her hard.
A little girl’s Christmas wish is coming true after a letter to Santa soared 684 miles on two little pink balloons, landing on a rural California ranch.
When the girl asked for toys and clothes for Christmas, her mother wasn’t sure how the family could afford it. She is out of work and her husband only recently found a job, with a paycheck to cover the overdue electric bills.
The rancher, who recognized the tattered letter written in Spanish as a note to Santa, traveled 50 miles to the nearest shopping mall on one of the busiest days of the holiday shopping season to battle the crowds and find gifts for the little girl. He planned on shipping the presents overnight on Friday hoping to get them to the Washington family by Christmas.
(WATCH the video below, or read the story at KOMO-TV)
A little girl’s Christmas wish is coming true after a letter to Santa soared 684 miles on two little pink balloons, landing on a rural California ranch.
When the girl asked for toys and clothes for Christmas, her mother wasn’t sure how the family could afford it. She is out of work and her husband only recently found a job, with a paycheck to cover the overdue electric bills.
The rancher, who recognized the tattered letter written in Spanish as a note to Santa, traveled 50 miles to the nearest shopping mall on one of the busiest days of the holiday shopping season to battle the crowds and find gifts for the little girl. He planned on shipping the presents overnight on Friday hoping to get them to the Washington family by Christmas.
The holidays are a time for giving.
Even the smallest deeds, such as visiting a lonely senior citizen on Christmas Day, helping a neighbor with a chore, or cooking a meal for a needy family, goes a long way.
If you need a way to make a difference, here are 20 selfless things to do this holiday season…
(Tell us about something you’ve done to brighten someone’s holiday…Comment below.)
In place of a holiday party, computer technology company NVIDIA conducted one of Silicon Valley’s largest-ever employee volunteer events, with 1,500 employees and community members gathering to bolster a local farm’s ability to continue providing students and families with access to fresh local produce.
NVIDIA’s annual holiday initiative called Project Inspire began on December 9 and in two days transformed Full Circle Farm’s operations, building structures to enable it to become financially self-sustaining and to expand its ability to provide nutrition education to students and families in Silicon Valley.
Employees constructed a new farm stand for selling produce, large swathes of land were primed for spring planting, irrigation was added to the farm’s orchard and they created an outdoor teaching facility where students can learn about the science of food and how to prepare healthy meals. They also improved the food storage and packing area, building and furnished an entirely new facility.
In place of a holiday party, computer technology company NVIDIA conducted one of Silicon Valley’s largest-ever employee volunteer events, with 1,500 employees and community members gathering to bolster a local farm’s ability to continue providing students and families with access to fresh local produce.
NVIDIA’s annual holiday initiative called Project Inspire began on December 9 and in two days transformed Full Circle Farm’s operations, building structures to enable it to become financially self-sustaining and to expand its ability to provide nutrition education to students and families in Silicon Valley.
Employees constructed a new farm stand for selling produce, large swathes of land were primed for spring planting, irrigation was added to the farm’s orchard and they created an outdoor teaching facility where students can learn about the science of food and how to prepare healthy meals. They also improved the food storage and packing area, building and furnished an entirely new facility.
Rachel O’Neill fell in love with the sweeping vistas of Malawi, Africa, but especially with the little girls, whose only clothing were the thread-bare dresses on their backs.
Her original idea was to get a church group to sew dresses for her to bring back for the children.
Eventually, word spread and dresses were sent from all fifty states, so many that it took teams of volunteers to sort them, and it became a symbol of friendship from women 8,000 miles away.
A heartwarming update to a story that aired on NBC in September about a family in Florida down on their luck and facing foreclosure: A Texas businessman and his family, after seeing the tears of the teenage daughter, decided to help.
The Texan, John Vann, began by sending monthly checks for $2,000 and making personal contact with the family through employees who worked nearby in Florida.
John recently received a Christmas card from the daughter, Gavi, and good news from her father, who had been job hunting.
(WATCH the inspiring story below – See our original video here)
Fairy Dog-Parents, a non-profit group, aims to help dog owners keep their pets through tough financial times.
After the project’s founder Marlo Manning was featured in a Making a Difference segment on NBC a year ago, money and assistance rolled in — $50,000 to help keep dogs in homes with their families.
Fairy DogParents even assists with owner’s veterinary bills.
For most people, including myself, there is always some sort of trigger during the holidays mixed in with all the joy and cheer. Yes, the lights are beautiful, and it’s fun to see the kids open gifts, but in the background is a layer of drama that shows up during what I call “The Holiday Exchange.”
You respond to someone else’s sarcasm with a few jabs of your own. You deal with your resentment by spending more than you should on a gift, to make up for your bad behavior. You blow up when your kids ask, “what’s for dinner?” You drink too much at the holiday party to relieve your stress.
Half a million citizens of the world joined with 1,000 indigenous protesters in demanding that Bolivian President Evo Morales halt construction on a highway that would slice through the heart of the Amazon.
Avaaz.org launched the petition that was delivered by staff to top Bolivian cabinet ministers during a long and stormy meeting.
“The pressure worked!”
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency yesterday announced the first-ever national standards to reduce dangerous mercury, arsenic and other toxic air pollutants from power plants.
The agency projects that the new safeguards will prevent as many as 11,000 premature deaths, 4,700 heart attacks and 130,000 cases of childhood asthma each year. The pollutants have also been found to harm lakes, streams and fish and might even cause cancer. The new rules are likely to cut mercury emissions by 90 percent.
The new rule aimed at out-of-date power plants has been 20 years in the making and children, in particular, have paid the price for delays: More than 300,000 are born every year after being exposed to unsafe levels of mercury while in the womb, increasing their risk of having learning disabilities later on.
Americans give more to help others than the residents of 152 other countries, according to a new global survey.
The poll, conducted last year with about 1,000 residents in each of 153 countries, tried to find out how many people donated money to a charity, volunteered their time, or helped a stranger in the previous month.
Following closely behind the United States (with a score of 60) was Ireland, with a score of 59, Australia (58), New Zealand (57), and the United Kingdom (57).
(READ the story in CS Monitor)
Related Story: Americans Spent 8 Billion Hours Volunteering in 2010
From the moment they detected heart abnormalities during the mother’s 12-week sonogram, they told her and her husband, the baby had no chance. Ryan’s deformed heart was growing outside his body, they said. The baby would suffer heart failure and die in the womb within weeks.
At 22 weeks into the pregnancy, the baby had lived longer than anyone expected. Now, at age 2, Ryan could be called, “The Boy Who Lived.”
“He is living proof that chronic heart disease can be reversed in weeks.”
56 year-old Mark had a history of heart problems and eventually had to have stents implanted and tubing in his legs. Until recently, he was on ten different medications.
After waking up with blood coming from his ears, nose and eyes, “He had had it,” said his wife. He saw President Clinton talking about Dr. Esselstyn’s diet and decided that this vegan program was for him.
“For six weeks he has religiously followed Esselstyn’s plan and is reversing his heart disease already,” she said in amazement. “Mark went for blood work and the numbers don’t lie!”
A vaccine that may prevent HIV has been given the green light by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to begin clinical trials in humans, according to Canadian researchers.
The announcement was made on the campus of the University of Western Ontario in London, Ont.
The vaccine stimulated a strong immune response in early testing and appears to have no adverse effects, according to the researchers.
