Hire Just One
During hard economic times, most people and businesses focus on earning and saving money, not giving it away. But one Philadelphia philanthropist believes that donating to charity is the key to boosting the economy and getting Americans back to work. In an effort called "Hire Just One," Gene Epstein is promoting a $250,000 effort, which donates $1,000 to charity in the name of businesses that hire... posted on Oct 24 2010, 4,622 reads

A Year Without Money
By choice, Mark Boyle basically doesn't have a cent- or, more accurately, a pence- to his name. Boyle lives in rural England in a trailer he spotted on Freecycle.org. He feeds himself by growing everything from barley to potatoes, foraging wild edibles like berries and nettles, and occasionally dumpster-diving for luxuries like margarine and bread. He brushes his teeth with homemade toothpaste and... posted on Oct 23 2010, 6,220 reads

Three Sisters and a Miracle
You might've used Craigslist to sell that old bike, or to look for another job or housing opportunity. But how about using it to save your dad's life? That's just what three sisters from New York did. After Jennifer Flood's dad was diagnosed with kidney disease, she and her sisters posted an ad on Craigslist... for a living donor. One year, four months, and one hundred responses later, a woman fro... posted on Oct 12 2010, 2,497 reads

A Call for Another Way of Living / Godfrey Reggio:
A gem from the man behind the film, Koyaanisqatsi: "To be is to fly the flag of one's own shadow. That's what I try to tell students who are graduating, 'Don't let your diploma be your death certificate.' It's endemic for all of us to get caught into mass ways of living, yet we have the gift of life. There is no limitation on that other than the real power of limit, and limits give us power. It's ... posted on Oct 08 2010, 7,968 reads

Classroom on a Pushcart
Not many recognized Efren Penaflorida as he left the Philippines for a Hollywood gala for CNN Heroes. But when Penaflorida returned from the event as CNN's Hero of the Year, he was greeted by hundreds of screaming fans at Manila airport. Penaflorida was honored for creating mobile "pushcart classrooms," stocked with books, chalkboards and other supplies that bring education to poor Filipino childr... posted on Sep 26 2010, 2,004 reads

On Perseverence
After losing financial aid and student loans due to unit limitations, college student Brian Smith became homeless and took refuge, sleeping in the practice rooms of his music department.Throughout his struggle, he remained focused on his education by accumulating a 3.65 GPA at CSULB while balancing a heavy workload. His efforts were recognized Tuesday as he received $3,000 from the Hearst/CSU Trus... posted on Sep 25 2010, 2,808 reads

Trespassing Snowmen
There is an elderly man who lives up the street from us. He has no one to shovel his driveway. he is a bit of a miser so most people aren't so inclined to help. One day, I don't know who did it, but someone used the snow on his driveway to make a whole bunch of smiling and waving snowmen on his lawn. As my son and I were walking by, I could hear him grumbling. "What's the problem?" I asked. He com... posted on Sep 17 2010, 4,544 reads

Portraits of Compassion
In the exhibit hall of Washington D.C.'s U.S. State Department, there's a new art exhibit that paints foreign relations in a whole new light. The subjects are orphan children from Thailand. Ben Schumaker calls this "The Memory Project." What began in a spare bedroom at Shumaker's parent's house is now a full time venture that has delivered about 25,000 portraits to orphans in 31 different countrie... posted on Sep 15 2010, 2,530 reads

Restorer of Slums
Santosh Thorat, a young father of five, was grateful to have picked up an extra day's work. That morning, he left his home, which he shared with 17 others in an East Mumbai slum, to help a bulldozing crew ward off protesters as they demolished a nearby slum. "That day when I went to work, I thought, 'I don't want to do this,'" Thorat recalls. Three days later, Thorat's bosses demolished his home. ... posted on Sep 04 2010, 3,318 reads

But Will It Make You Happy?
She had so much. A two-bedroom apartment. Two cars. Enough wedding china to serve two dozen people. Yet Tammy Strobel wasn't happy. Working as a project manager with an investment management firm in Davis, California, and making about 40K a year, she was, as she put it, caught in the "work-spend treadmill." So one day she stepped off. Inspired by books and blogs about living simply, Strobel and he... posted on Aug 31 2010, 8,390 reads