People wept with joy as a Kansas City businessman handed out $100 bills from his pocket to people in thrift stores and coin-operated laundries in Columbus, Ohio, a total of $4,500. (AP via MSNBC, with photos)
Having Coffee With a Beggar
He was dirty. His nose was black. His nails were black. His blue jeans were black. He had been begging the whole day and only managed to buy a hamburger and a Dixie cola.
He hates begging, but no one will give him work. He was happy to see me as I’d bought breakfasts for him over the years.
I was going to movies and had 15 minutes. He offered to share half of his hamburger and Dixie cola with me.
I declined his offer, thanked him and offered to get him some coffee.
How humble I felt and privileged to be able to sit and have coffee with John.
He was so appreciative and thanked me for the coffee and all the breakfasts I’d bought for him.
We got chatting and I asked him how his medication was. He replied that he had overslept on Thursday morning and missed his injection. He would have to wait till next Thursday for his monthly injection for schizophrenia. The doctor always asks him if he hears voices; He says no. What would they do to him if he said yes!
He said “I have been lying to the doctors for 35 years!”
I told him that he should get himself cleaned up, have a hair and beard cut, clothes cleaned and have a bath. He would feel better and people would react better to him.
He said that he went to this one woman’s house and was begging. She shouted at him and told him that he was useless!
“I am not useless; people just won’t let me work! I don’t know why I can’t work at Clicks Stores (a local store and pharmacy)”
“She said it in such a horrible way that she meant it.”
He said,” I live in a little wendyhouse at the back of someone’s garden. I just wash my hands and face at the tap with the dogs.”
“Thank you for sitting down and talking to me – no one ever does that. Thank you for telling me what to do-I really appreciate that and I will make an effort now. I am really going to come right.”
I had to leave, my movie was starting.
We shook hands — worlds apart — and I went to my movie.
Mike Kaufmann, 8th Feb. 2002
South Africa
Honest Man Turns in 10K to Authorities, Gets Back Ten Years Later
Ten years ago a maintainance worker found $10,000 in the pipes of Brigham Young University. He turned in the money to campus officials but his honesty — and patience — have paid off, after exhausive investigation into the nature of the money, and he received an unexpected holiday bonus… (AP report via MSNBC — with additional happy news about the Salvation Army receiving a rare Indian Head coin in its red holiday bucket, a donation possibly worth thousands!)
The Power of Touch Reduces Pain and Fights Disease
Research indicates that the touch of a loved one — even the touch of a stranger — can boost the immune system, halt or slow the progress of disease, and reduce the experience of pain. Scientists now guess that touch communicates emotion:
"When people were touched by a stranger they could not see, who had been instructed to try to communicate a particular emotion, they were able to tell the emotional state of the other person with great accuracy." (The Independent)
Hero Dog Digs Snow Tunnel To Save Couple
Check out this link to a story about a German Shepherd-timberwolf pet that saved an elderly couple in New York from freezing by digging a 20-foot tunnel to shelter after a sudden snow storm trapped them outside — photos included. (WNBC.com)
Encouraging Voice Will Never Be Heard Again
The first time Doris Barton phoned me, I was having a bad day… I probably answered by barking my name like a perturbed Jack Russell terrier. Undeterred, she said, "I just want to tell you reading your column makes my day." … Doris had me at hello after that. This retired lady rang me, maybe, once a month over the past five years, and her message was almost always affirming: "You’re getting better and better" or "you’re really going great, girl."…
500 Good Things for the Mind, Body, Soul, Home and Business
Editor’s Announcement
The Good News Network has just launched a new web page — a way for YOU to share your good news with the GNN community. It’s a directory of all the good sites, people, products and enlightened services, together in one place!
The best part is GNN readers can advertise — or pay tribute to their own good things — while supporting the Good News Network at the same time. It’s called 500goodthings.com.
Whether it benefits the mind, body, spirit, home, or business, your good is worth sharing and what better community of readers, than the network of GNN for a target…
Zambian Tailor Wins AIDS Award for Providing Orphans with Free School Uniforms
Six years after a teenage Zambian tailor started using his only sewing machine to make free school uniforms for AIDS orphans, the organization he founded has won the Red Ribbon grand prize of $20,000, part of a new UN effort to honor grassroots generosity on World AIDS Day (Friday). Jonsen Habachimba was 18 when he began sewing free uniforms…
Volunteering Reaches 30-Year High in U.S.
The percentage of Americans volunteering has reached a 30-year high says a new study, due in part to a boom in teens’ dedication to community service. “We may be on the cusp of a new civic generation,” said the director of the Corporation for National and Community Service, which has tracked volunteer rates since 1974…
The report, Volunteer Growth in America: A Review of Trends Since 1974, finds that adult volunteering rose sharply between 1989 and 2005, increasing more than 32 percent over the last 16 years.
“Americans help their nation, their communities and themselves when they mentor at-risk youth, care for seniors, respond to disasters, and meet a wide range of other critical needs,” said David Eisner, CEO of the Corporation, which is spearheading a national effort to engage an additional 10 million volunteers by 2010.
The brief analyzes volunteering rates in 1974, 1989 and 2002-05, using information collected by the U.S. Census Bureau and the Bureau of Labor Statistics. It finds that the growth in volunteering is driven primarily by three age groups: teenagers 16 to 19, Baby Boomers ages 45 to 65, and older adults 65 and over. Among their findings:
- Older teenagers (ages 16-19) have more than doubled their time spent volunteering since 1989.
- Far from being a “Me Generation,” Baby Boomers are volunteering at sharply higher rates than did the previous generation at mid-life.
- The volunteer rate for Americans ages 65 years and over has increased 64 percent since 1974.
- The proportion of Americans volunteering with an educational or youth service organization has seen a 63 percent increase just since just 1989.
“Boomers’ high engagement in service today (along with teen increases) has the potential to foster a volunteer explosion among older Americans in the years to come,” said Robert T. Grimm, Jr., Director of Research and Policy Development at the Corporation.
Educational and youth service organizations (such as schools, 4-H, and Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts) are benefiting from the growth because they have received the largest increase in volunteers between 1989 and 2006. Nearly 24.6 percent of all adult volunteers serve through such organizations, a 63 percent increase since 1989. The biggest percentage of volunteers — 35.5 percent — serve through religious organizations.Grimm cited several reasons for heightened civic engagement today:
- Teenagers are volunteering in greater numbers, in part, because of an increase in service-learning programs in schools and colleges that combine classroom study with community activity. Another reason may be a response to traumatic national events such as the 9/11 terrorist attacks and recent natural disasters.
- Mid-life adults are more likely to have children in the home because Americans are delaying marriage and childbearing. The result is increased exposure to volunteering opportunities connected to their children’s school and extracurricular activities.
- Older Americans are living longer, are better educated, and more financially secure – creating an increased desire for them to remain active and seek ways to give back to communities.
“America needs more volunteers to mentor and tutor at-risk youth, care for seniors, respond to disasters, and meet a wide range of other critical needs,” said Eisner. “We are committed to working with volunteer and service-driven organizations everywhere to expand the number of Americans who volunteer by 15 percent over the next five years. I encourage any American who wants to make a difference to visit www.volunteer.gov to find the right volunteer opportunity for you.”
The Corporation’s 10 x 10 campaign aims to increase the number of volunteers in America from 65 million in 2005 to 75 million in 2010 while achieving the agency’s strategic goals, which include engaging more students and harnessing the experience of Baby Boomers.
(Video) Using Soccer to Fight AIDS in Africa
25-year-old filmmaker Silas Hagerty spent this summer in Zambia documenting the rise of football (soccer) as a tool to fight HIV/AIDS in local African communities.
As Zambian Football announcer Denis Lewewe states in Hagerty’s new film, “Football is religion.” When a soccer ball hits the ground in Africa, people unite. Through this powerful platform, knowledge is spreading and stories are being told…
Recycle Old Cell Phones and Aid Domestic Abuse Survivors
Verizon Wireless was the first wireless carrier in the nation to collect and recycle old cell phones to protect the environment, and has done so since 1999, but even more inspiring, the proceeds from recycling and selling older wireless phones have been donated to assist survivors of domestic violence…
On Road to Clean Fuels, Automakers Debut 21 New Innovations
Electric vehicles, gasoline-electric hybrids, diesels, and flex-fuel and hydrogen-powered cars are inching up the consumer on-ramp at a faster pace, judging from world debuts of 21 alternative-fuel vehicles. (CM Monitor)
Change Your Life, No Matter the Circumstances
Part 3 in our series on Gratitude and how it can change your life features a man so down on his luck that calling him a victim would be the sensible story line. But, as Harry Tucker explains, his Attitude lifted him to a place where his own story became the impetus for a positive, inspiring life — much like the moth (right) emerges from a cocoon. The A in Gratitude stands for Attitude. If we assume that our world is filled with problems and impossible odds, then we are right. Conversely, if we believe that our world is filled with beauty, opportunity and infinite love, then we are also right…
Wal-Mart Goal: Selling 100 Million Energy Efficient Light Bulbs
In the face of global warming peril and consumers facing higher energy costs, the world’s leading retailer yesterday announced an ambitious campaign to sell 100 million compact fluorescent light bulbs (CFLs) at its Wal-Mart and Sam’s Club locations by the end of 2007. If achieved, this goal has the potential to save customers as much as $3 billion in electrical costs over the life of the bulbs. In addition to saving money for consumers, 20 million metric tons of greenhouse gases can be prevented from entering our atmosphere…
Climbing the Seven Summits Lifts Lid on Depression
Expedition Hope is a program to raise awareness and funds while helping to erase the stigma of depression through recognition generated by the rare accomplishment of climbing the Seven Summits, the highest mountain on each continent. Its founder, Joe Lawson, is an Indianapolis native and accomplished mountain climber and adventurer who was 16 when his father, Virgil, 50, committed suicide after years of battling depression. Expedition Hope is dedicated to Virgil and others like him…
Sweet Tired Kitten (Video :30)
Watch this sweet kitty for 30 seconds and sprout a smile!
Photo Students Volunteer to Shoot Portraits for Homeless Families
For homeless people, posing for family portraits can seem like a luxury. But students from a Santa Clara University photography class traveled to shelters and volunteered to shoot portraits, delivering the power of images that tug on the heart. "The students give prints to the residents, who plan to send them off to relatives or tuck them away until they can hang the portraits on walls of their own." (Christian Science Monitor)
Development Averted by Purchase of Forest Near NYC
Instead of a planned new golf course and 100 luxury homes, an expanse of rolling hills, wetlands and scenic waters have been preserved as public parkland through the purchase of one of the last large, privately held open spaces in the New York City metropolitan area. Governor George E. Pataki yesterday announced the purchase of 575 acres from developers and its reunification with the adjacent Sterling Forest State Park in Orange County…
Inspirational, Colorful Magnets – Only One Dollar!
Buy yourself a stocking stuffer, or a gift for an office mate who makes you happy. Hay House Publishing is featuring a holiday sale on inspiring magnets, two dozen colorful designs. US Shipping is $5.00 on orders under $15. I need to stop writing and order! No connection with GNN: Hay House
Town Rescues Dog from Icy Waters
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North Dakota townspeople gathered around a frozen pond where Brutus, a seven-year-old Keeshound/ Samoyed dog struggled to pull himself from the numbing cold waters onto the ice. They cheered as two men grabbed a boat across the road and made their way toward the exhausted Brutus… Read the heart-warming story about a town that came together, donating all their winter coats, to help save a neighbor’s pet. (Minot Daily News)