A place of perpetual rest is transforming into one buzzing with renewable energy. This is an interesting use of land that normally doesn’t get put to any productive use. Great way to let your Ancestors contribute eh? (Atlanta Journal-Constitution has the AP story and photo)
A British doctor volunteering in DR Congo used text message instructions from a colleague to perform a life-saving amputation on a boy. The BBC reports the story here.
Thanks also to Christine for submitting the story!
25 young people from 17 countries will receive between $5,000 and $15,000 to enhance their work as social entrepreneurs, awarded through a 2008 competition launched by Starbucks and the International Youth Foundation (IYF).
An organization in the Philippines that provides small loans to unemployed youth to start their own businesses and a program in Pakistan that combats violence against women by changing the behaviors of men are two of 25 programs to win grants helping the young social entrepreneurs leading the way. All programs have been selected by Starbucks and (IYF) to receive grants through the Starbucks Social Entrepreneurs Fund.
The grantees announced yesterday were chosen through a competition in early 2008 by IYF and the Starbucks Foundation.
“Today’s young social entrepreneurs work tirelessly in support of their social change visions, yet struggle to access the financial resources to take their important work to scale,” said IYF President and CEO William S. Reese. “Starbucks has provided much-needed support to expand the impact of their efforts.”
“We are proud to support the amazing efforts of these young leaders who have the passion to create positive solutions to real needs,” said Ben Packard, Starbucks vice president, global responsibility. “Through their hard work and dedication, we hope to see measurable change in local communities and help them inspire others to act.”
All the young leaders have completed IYF’s YouthActionNet Global Fellowship. The Fellowship is a program that aims to develop a new generation of socially conscious global citizens who create positive change in their communities, their countries and the world.
Among the 25 projects to receive a total of over $300,000 are:
A committee comprised of IYF staff and Starbucks employees selected the final grant recipients.
Look for personal profiles to be featured on the Good News Network in December highlighting more of these Youth Action Fellows. First up will be Sarah Koch, co-founder of DIG (Development in Gardening). Launched in 2006, DIG empowers HIV affected individuals to meet their nutritional needs by teaching them to create self-sustaining community gardens.
To learn more now, visit: www.youthactionnet.org.
With recorded telemarketing calls on the rise, make sure that your U.S. mobile phone number and home numbers are protected from unwanted solicitors with the help of the government’s Do Not Call Registry. The National Do Not Call Registry is managed by the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), the nation’s consumer protection agency.
You can register your home or mobile phone for free. It will only take a minute of your time. It blocks your number for five years. You must call from the phone number you want blocked (toll-free, 888-382-1222) or you can file it online at www.DoNotCall.gov.
Brazil announced on Monday a plan to cut destruction of its Amazon rain forest by more than half over the next 10 years, the first time it has set a deforestation target as it seeks to fight global warming. Brazil will aim to reduce deforestation of the world’s largest forest by 70 percent by 2018. The announcement coincided yesterday with the opening of a United Nations climate conference in Poland. (Read the details at Reuters)
Tuy “K.K.” Sobil, a former gang member from California, has turned misfortune into opportunity, forming a dance and education center for Cambodian street boys. He has taken them under his wing after being deported from the US, teaching them his break dancing, as well as his hard lessons in life. (New York Times, Nov. 29, w/ photos)
Thanks to Shanti for submitting the link!
President George W. Bush was honored today with a medal by pastor Rick Warren in recognition of his unprecedented efforts and contribution to the fight against HIV/AIDS and other diseases.
“No world leader has done more for global health than President Bush,” Warren said. “The President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief [PEPFAR] has saved millions of lives in the past five years.”
Through PEPFAR and other humanitarian programs, President and Mrs. Bush and their respective staffs have been instrumental in initiating and sustaining the largest humanitarian commitment to a single disease in history,” Warren added. “All around the world, lives have been saved and improved because of PEPFAR’s battle against AIDS, malaria, and tuberculosis.”
In July 2008 Bush signed legislation from congress tripling funds to fight three killer diseases in the world’s poorest countries, funding a five-year program with 48 billion dollars, up from 15 billion dollars, pledged in 2003.
Warren’s Saddleback Church leads a coalition of Christian churches, businesses and individuals cooperating together to solve humanitarian issues that promote reconciliation, support “servant leaders”, assist the poor, care for the sick and educate the next generation.
The award ceremony, part of the Saddleback Civil Forum on Global Health convening in Washington, DC this week, featured video tributes from President-elect Barack Obama; UN General Secretary Ban Ki Moon; former British Prime Minister Tony Blair; Rwandan President Paul Kagame; Bono, the U2 frontman and humanitarian activist; Bill and Melinda Gates on behalf of the Gates Foundation; and Dr. Michael Kazatchkine, executive director of The Global Fund.
Read the GNN report on the US legislation for AIDS, malaria and tuberculosis in this July story.
For additional information about the Saddleback HIV/AIDS Initiatives, visit www.HIVandTheChurch.com or www.RwandaHealthcare.com.
Existing technologies which use water power, relying on the action of waves, but a new revolutionary device can harness energy from slow-moving rivers and ocean currents that scientists claim could provide enough power for the entire world. (The UK Telegraph)
Energy prices are the silver lining in today’s dark economic cloud because utility bills are finally shrinking. Here are five FREE things you can do to cut your electricity use; five inexpensive ways to lower your power bill; and five steps that you may think are saving money, but which actually cost you — like the use of space heaters. Read these and other very useful tips here, in The Dallas Morning News. (Photo by John Stone, eyeclectic.net)
Try telling Lucia McLain that she should wear a helmet when she hops on her bike for a spin to Mercy San Juan Medical Center, where she volunteers twice each month. “I have one,” says McLain, who’s 93. But, it is stuffed in the back of a closet at the senior assisted-living home, which is home base for her busy lifestyle.
(Photo courtesy of Sun Star)
Workers at the family-owned Peer Bearing Co. in Waukegan, Ill., broke down in tears after seeing the checks given to them as year end bonuses.
Thanksgiving turkeys were passed out continuing an annual tradition, but this year each of the 230 employees also received an envelope with a special holiday bonus, along with a handwritten thank-you card from the Spungen family addressed, “to our extended family”. One employee took home $100,000, based on his years of service… (Read more from AP via MSNBC – or watch the inspiring video below)
Stuck on a highway with flat tire or overheated engine? You might get some help from Thomas Weller, who patrols the highways to make sure anyone in need is quickly on their way again. In return, he asks only that they perform a good deed for someone else. Steve Hartman reports on the man who sows seeds of kindness in San Diego.
(YouTube)
A Lithuanian team became the Latin sport dance world champions again after three years. The Klaipeda University formation team, Zuvedra (“Seagull”), regained its world championship title with their six-minute James Bond medley in the world class competition. It is the team’s sixth title.
They beat the German club which eventually took second place in the Austria event. 24 clubs participated, including England, Austria, Germany, Ukraine, Poland, Check Republic, Russia, Holland, Belorussia, and Serbia.
(WATCH the video below w/ German announcers – the finale is very impressive)
The US holiday shopping season got off to an encouraging start, with sales on the day after Thanksgiving up 3% from last year. “Under these circumstances, to start off the season in this fashion is truly amazing and is a testament to the resiliency of the American consumer, and undeniably proves a willingness to spend,” said Bill Martin, co-founder of ShopperTrak. (Read details in BBC News)
In other economic news, Wall Street climbed again Friday, wrapping up its biggest five-day rally in more than 75 years. It was the first time the Dow rose for five consecutive sessions since July 2007, and the biggest five-day percentage gain over five sessions since 8 August 1932. (AP story at KansasCityStar)
I have a 7 year old son and we don’t watch TV, listen to the news, or read newspapers because so much of it is negative and full of pain and hate — things his little body does not need. I am SO thrilled to be able to show him stories on your Website and talk to him about the positive, Good work that is occurring here on Earth. You have given me a safe place where I can allow my son to browse and follow the stories that interest him. Thank you! – Esther Colwell
While sitting in front of his computer in Georgia, B.J. Elliott read a blog post by Maureen Forbes about her desire to make 100 handmade teddy bears and cookies for children impacted by AIDS in her town of Wilderness, South Africa. Forbes only had enough fabric to make 20 bears. Elliott offered to help her raise enough money to make 1,000 teddy bears. Word spread and a group decided to launch Operation Teddy Bear Care at www.teddybearcare.org.
A monarch butterfly with injured wing has been mended by a New York couple in time to complete its famed migration south, “thanks to some tiny cardboard splints, a bit of contact cement and a trucker from Alabama”. (Read the full AP story on MSNBC)
Archbishop Desmond Tutu has launched a new global anti-whaling campaign on Thursday, along with other high-profile supporters like Pierce Brosnan. The campaign seeks to ban whale hunting worldwide.
(READ the story from Reuters)
Canada’s biggest supermarket chain, said on Thursday that it will start charging customers a fee for every plastic shopping bag they use. Loblaw, with more than 1,000 grocery stores across Canada, said it would begin charging customers 5 Canadian cents a bag on April 22, 2009, which is Earth Day. More moves in Canada point to a coming reduction in use of the environmentally hazardous plastic bags. (Read the Reuters story on Canada.com)
With just a click of your mouse, Let’s Say Thanks sends personalized cards to servicemen and women overseas. Choose one of the designs created by the Boys and Girls Clubs, write a personal note to be printed on the card, and Xerox and it’s corporate sponsors will send the card, along with a care package of personal items to soldiers serving in the US Armed Forces. The postcards, depicting patriotic scenes and hometown images, will be mailed in care packages by the military support organization Give2TheTroops. (The card design, right, is by Adrielle, 12, of Conesus, NY)
Take a minute to send a card at LetsSayThanks.com.
