Nothing Stops a Bullet Like a Job
The gang member closest to Father Gregory Boyle hurls himself onto the priest like a bodyguard, and after two long minutes, the barrage of gunshots stops. On these streets of East Los Angeles, California, it's proof that the priest has deep respect from the gangs. Boyle earned that honor by coming up with a practical way to offer hope to residents -- giving them jobs. Fifteen years ago, he created... posted on Jul 02 2007, 2,124 reads

Bamboo Bicycles: A New Way To Pedal
Ten years ago, Luna the dog was gnawing on a piece of bamboo growing behind Craig Calfee's bicycle shop in California. Luna was adept at crushing wooden sticks with her powerful jaws. But the best she could manage with the hard, round stalks of bamboo was a tooth mark or two. Calfee wondered: If bamboo was strong enough to withstand Luna, why couldn't it be a bicycle frame? Calfee since has built ... posted on Jul 01 2007, 2,493 reads

From Furniture Rags to Riches
There's always a place to sit, no matter how many people crowd around Rose Tourje's conference table. The huge table is in the middle of a California warehouse -- one that's full of chairs and other office furnishings. Tourje is founder of Asset Network for Education Worldwide, or ANEW, a 2-year-old Los Angeles organization that provides free used office furniture to struggling nonprofit groups. T... posted on Jun 25 2007, 1,520 reads

Designing A Better World
“A billion customers in the world,” Dr. Paul Polak told a crowd of inventors recently, “are waiting for a $2 pair of eyeglasses, a $10 solar lantern and a $100 house.” Recognizing this, the Cooper-Hewitt National Design Museum is honoring inventors dedicated to “the other 90 percent,” particularly the billions of people living on less than $2 a day. For example, one of the simplest and... posted on Jun 14 2007, 2,413 reads

Shift Happens
"Did you know?" begins this elegant exploration of the exponential rate at which our technology is expanding. "That if MySpace were a country, it would be the 11th largest in the world? That the Top 10 Jobs that will be in demand in 2010 didn't exist in 2004? That the number of text messages sent and received each day exceeds the population of the planet?" A timely invitation to re-visit many of o... posted on Jun 04 2007, 3,414 reads

Karma Tycoon: Incubating Compassion
A New York-based nonprofit is hoping to strike a philanthropic spark with Karma Tycoon, a new online game for teenagers and a creation of the non-profit DoSomething.org. The idea was to put a twist on popular video games in which players try to maximize profit in order to amass wealth. "Why not create a game that maximizes karma in order to make the world a better place?" asks Aria Finger of Do So... posted on Jun 03 2007, 2,060 reads

Songs of Love: Music as Medicine
Seven-year-old Ronald Sterling of New York City loves baseball, hot dogs, doughnuts with sprinkles and Sesame Street. This week, Ronald, who has a serious genetic disorder that affects his immune system, received a special treat. Bob McGrath of Sesame Street along with 15,000 schoolchildren recorded a song all about him at Shea Stadium. The event marked the 12,000th song produced by the Songs of L... posted on May 27 2007, 1,761 reads

The Threshold Choir
A band of women in the seaside city of Santa Cruz give in an unusual way – they sing for the dying. They call themselves the Threshold Choir, and they perform at the bedsides of the terminally ill, singing in intimate tones, like a mother soothing a newborn. "We think of these as lullabies for ... on the way out," said choir founder Kate Munger. Munger, a minister's daughter, started the singing... posted on May 20 2007, 1,875 reads

Kindergarten Legend Retires
That Rosie Hymerling is not exhausted at the end of her kindergarten teaching day at Tatem Elementary is miraculous. Consider: In a recent span of seven hours, she did a somersault, jumped rope, wore a Cat in the Hat costume, broke into spontaneous song several times, donned a wig, gave dozens of kisses, held children on her lap, brokered peace treaties among fractious 5-year-olds, and listened to... posted on May 18 2007, 2,716 reads

Transforming a Village on $3 a Month
When Phulbasin Yadav and 11 other women set aside $3 a month to start a business, skeptical elders turned the town against them. When Ms. Yadav learned to ride a bicycle, traveling between villages to set up health clinics and offer hot meals for children, her husband threw her out of the house, saying she was ignoring her duties at home. Business in Sukuldhain, India had always been a man's world... posted on May 15 2007, 2,200 reads