Twenty-six years ago, Jane Golden took to the streets of Philadelphia with paint, brushes, and a small contingent of helpers with the goal of wiping out the city’s ugly graffiti.

Today, 3,000 walls later, her work has become the nation’s largest public art program, a public-private mix of artmaking, art education, and art-as-therapy, with a staff of 50 -– many of whom are former graffiti artists themselves.

Today, American Express announced an additional $10 million in funding for their Partners in Preservation program. Launched in 2006, the program awards grants in cities across the country to keep historical sites open and save the places that matter most to people — like the Old North Church in Boston.

The owners of the Penny Ice Creamery in Santa Cruz got a telephone call from Vice President Joe Biden last week. He wanted to call and thank them for making a YouTube video about how federal stimulus dollars helped them build a new business and hire dozens of people in the process.

They had a dream of opening an ice cream shop that would sell homemade ice cream flavors. With a loan from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, they designed, built and staffed their new shop, which opened two months ago.

A massive elm tree, 217 years old and the largest left in New England, finally succumbed to Dutch elm disease and had to be cut down earlier this year.

But, “Herbie,” as the town of Yarmouth affectionately called the 110-foot-tall giant, is leaving a lasting legacy thanks to local artisans who were given segments of the tree to craft into decorative items, bowls and cutting boards.

A disabled veteran raising more than $94,000 for the Wounded Warriors project with an online gaming website was surprised Thursday with a giant check for his lifelong cause.

While participating in a Veterans Day parade in New York City, the casual gaming site IWon.com presented Frederick J Wendt III with a check for $100,000 after he won the company’s sweepstakes this year.

More than 7,000 online gamers have joined Wendt’s charity effort at IWon.com raising money each time they win — for a total of more than $94,000 since 2008.