A Promise To A Fourth-Grade Class
A nine-year journey ended Tuesday for about 50 high school students who, as fourth-graders at Wallace Elementary, were promised college scholarships if they completed high school. For Kelso High School senior Katrina Hobbs, the I Have A Dream program and its volunteer mentors helped her become the first high school graduate in her family. "I couldn't have done that without this program," said Katr... posted on May 27 2009, 2,260 reads

Mirakle Couriers: Delivering Possibilities
"I walked into Dhruv Lakra's office in Mumbai, but was not expecting to witness an unusually quiet courier agency room. Seconds later, I saw a rapid -- almost electric -- exchange of messages in sign language between Dhruv and his team. Yes, all the employees in Mirakle Couriers are deaf or have only partial hearing. Questions race in my head, and so does curiosity. The imagined boundaries of core... posted on May 14 2009, 4,815 reads

Angels on the Atlantic
Vince and Jeanie Hubach always wanted to share the sandier side of life with others. The couple now run a nonprofit called Angels on the Atlantic that makes it easy -- and free -- for local city kids to visit the beach. Some of the kids have never felt sand between their toes, inspected a seashell, or even seen waves. It's not that they live so far inland -- they're from the Philadelphia area, onl... posted on May 06 2009, 2,439 reads

Cleaning A Country ... In 5 Hours
Half of Estonia's territory is forest. Yet, these forests are plagued with a traditional acceptance of being the country's dump sites. Watch how a group created a grassroots initiative to rid Estonia of 10,000 tons of trash littering its forests and natural environment. In one day, over 50,000 volunteers - or 4% of Estonia's population - cleaned their country in 5 hours.... posted on May 02 2009, 4,648 reads

Raising Kids Who Care
John Holland-McCowan was sitting on a beach in Hawaii with his parents and his baby brother, Harrison, happily playing with coconuts and driftwood. "I'm so lucky," the almost-five-year-old suddenly announced. "I have all these toys to play with and all my toys at home." His startled parents replied that he was indeed lucky, since a lot of kids didn't have any toys at all. "That's when he started t... posted on Apr 25 2009, 4,559 reads

A Father & Son On the Road Home
"A few months ago, while driving home from work, I was thinking about my long tiring day at work and worrying about my other half, and would he be okay when I got home. My partner of 6 years, was sick and facing a long illness. That day several clients had paid for their jobs and one of them even paid extra, since he was very pleased with our graphics and photography work. On the way, I stopped a... posted on Apr 22 2009, 6,352 reads

Putting the Cycling in Recycling
Alex Jarrett, 33, has never owned a car. Around town, he gets almost everywhere he needs to go by the power of his own two feet-walking or biking. So it seems only natural that Jarrett's business, which he started with Ruthy Woodring in 2002, is bicycle-based. Jarrett and Woodring are the founders of Pedal People Cooperative Inc., which they describe as "a human-powered delivery and hauling servic... posted on Apr 15 2009, 3,019 reads

The Art of Being A Good Neighbor
Eve Birch used to believe in the American dream that meant a job, a mortgage, cable, credit, warranties and success. One year, through a series of unhappy events, it all fell apart, leaving her homeless with her truck and $56. She found an abandoned shack to fix up and call home. As she rebuilt her life, she also began learning the art of being a neighbor from the locals. Read her first-person ... posted on Apr 14 2009, 5,664 reads

Hey World (Don't Give Up)
What happens when a rocker turns peace activist? You get Michael Franti. "Hey World" is a call to roll up your sleeves, to shake off apathy: "I didn't come here to chill, I came here to rock ... You got to let go of the remote control." Watch an inspiring music video about civic participation, set to the backdrop of Jamaican reggae rhythms of Sly Dunbar and Robbie Shakespeare.... posted on Apr 13 2009, 3,303 reads

A Dynamic Duo Makes People's Day
For 31 days these two women have been paying-it-forward hiding money at a car wash, leaving behind free umbrellas throughout Grand Rapids on a rainy day, and on this particular morning treating someone in this drive-thru to a free cup of Java. This CNN news video chronicles the month-long adventures in generosity of two friends out simply to make people's day.... posted on Apr 08 2009, 5,021 reads