So No One Dies Alone
Alison Bunce, an award-winning nurse, has pioneered a community that aims to provide companionship to individuals in their last hours. Originating from the No One Dies Alone (NODA) program in the United States, Bunce adapted this model in the UK, calling her project Compassionate Inverclyde. What began as a palliative care initiative has evolved into a larger community service project, offering su... posted on Aug 6, 1953 reads

Dr. Frederick Sontag: A Time of Searching
"Almost 60 years ago, professor Frederick Sontag opened a door I could not have opened on my own. Perhaps it saved my life. On a visit to Claremont, California 30 years later, I proposed interviewing him. He graciously accepted. Revisiting it today, I’m amazed at its relevance, particularly as the November election is almost upon those in the US. He says, 'America has gone through odysseys, ... posted on Sep 15, 1835 reads

Untitled
In a national survey of 1,305 employed adults, 13% reported that they or their coworkers had committed an act that they would describe as "desk rage" out of stress or anger, and nearly one in five had quit a job because of stress.... posted on Jul 28, 844 reads

Untitled
Known as "the hugging saint," Ammachi, from Southern India, spends 15 hours a day spreading love and compassion through her hugs. For the past thirty years, crowds have lined up daily to experience her warm embrace. To this day, it is reported she has hugged over 20 million times.... posted on Jul 29, 1179 reads

Untitled
Did you know that 200 residents of the planet Earth have amassed a combined wealth of more than $1 trillion, while 100 million children are living on the streets? The UN's Human Development Index (HDI) reports that 1.2 billion people get by on less than a dollar a day. While the US has the world's highest gross national product, it also has high levels of illiteracy and the highest poverty rate ... posted on Jul 31, 1000 reads

Untitled
After 247 days alone at sea, circled by sharks and almost run over by a tanker, 54-year-old Jim Shekhdar becomes the first person to row across the Pacific solo. Further proof that a determined person can do whatever they decide to do.... posted on Aug 16, 590 reads

Untitled
You'd like to help a child - give them some positive encouragement and maybe a little sensible advice, but you just don't think you have the time to be a mentor. Think again - mentoring organizations are focusing on bringing together busy working adults with at risk kids - to the great benefit of both.... posted on Aug 17, 716 reads

Untitled
Specialized rescue teams from all over the world flooded into El Salvador after the big earthquake to provide hope, comfort and rescue aid to disaster victims.... posted on Aug 21, 595 reads

Untitled
Job stress costs employers more than $200 billion each year in absenteeism, tardiness, burnout, lower productivity, high turnover, worker's compensation and medical insurance costs. ... posted on Aug 29, 604 reads

Untitled
Wind is the fastest growing source of energy in the world. Windmills are non-polluting and based on renewable energy sources; they also often make economic sense. ... posted on Aug 31, 487 reads

Untitled
Scientists have observed that tears of joy, and tears from being in the vicinity of onions, have a different chemical structure.... posted on Sep 1, 570 reads

Untitled
Loneliness has been shown to double the risk of catching a cold. Lonely people are four times more likely than others to suffer a heart attack, and four times more likely to die from it. By comparison, smokers are only twice as likely as nonsmokers to die from a heart attack.... posted on Sep 2, 619 reads

Untitled
Trevor Loflin got perfect 800 scores on the SAT college admission tests - that's pretty amazing. Perhaps even more amazing is that he managed those test scores despite the fact that his family had no permanent home. And did we mention that he has no school either? The 17 year old was home-schooled - obviously quite well - while his family slept, well, wherever.... posted on Sep 3, 755 reads

Untitled
Only 37% of youth report feeling a sense of personal power, and only half feel that their life has a purpose.... posted on Sep 13, 648 reads

Untitled
Seventy-six percent of workers age 16 and older drove alone to get to their jobs, while about 11 percent carpooled.... posted on Sep 16, 513 reads

Untitled
Approximately 25 million American adults have enough hearing loss to qualify for disability payments. Yet certain Bushman tribes in Botswana and the Maabans of southern Sudan exhibit no significant hearing loss as they grow older.... posted on Sep 17, 838 reads

Untitled
Our intention behind this daily e-mail has always been to bring inspiration and to help encourage each other in being good forces in the world. Our daily actions may be small, but they have a ripple effect. With anger in the world, there is a clear need to keep increasing the love in our actions, until the ripples reach every heart on this planet. Until that time, we can always do more. If you... posted on Sep 19, 518 reads

Untitled
The internet has proven to be a valuable tool for providing information and facilitating charitable giving after the terrorist attacks.... posted on Sep 25, 1073 reads

Untitled
The abdomen of the ant contains two stomachs. One stomach holds the food for itself and second stomach is for food to be shared with other ants.... posted on Oct 3, 569 reads

Untitled
A recent study determined that employees perceptions of the psychological climate at work influenced job involvement, work effort and work performance.... posted on Oct 23, 562 reads

Untitled
In 2000, firearms killed 5,285 children in the U.S. (compared with 0 in Japan, 19 in Great Britain, 57 in Germany, 109 in France, and 153 in Canada).... posted on Oct 29, 523 reads

Untitled
The more teenagers feel loved by their parents and comfortable in their schools, the less likely they are to have early sex, smoke, abuse alcohol or drugs, or commit violence or suicide.... posted on Nov 3, 623 reads

Untitled
If you cut a redwood tree, its root system will create "angel rings" around the stump and as many as 100 trees will grow around it in a circle.... posted on Oct 25, 465 reads

Untitled
To make one pound of honey, the bee has to tap into 2 million flowers and travel 55,000 miles.... posted on Nov 2, 491 reads

Healing Power of Doing Good
In his 1991 book, "The Healing Power of Doing Good", Allan Luks documented that serving others produced a 'helpers's high' that also functioned as an antidote to stress and other medical conditions.... posted on Nov 28, 1049 reads

Untitled
Stanford psychiatrist David Spiegel took 86 women with advanced breast cancer and gave half of them weekly psychotherapy combined with lessons in self-hypnosis. The group receiving therapy survived on average twice as long as group that received none. (Source: Ageless Body, Timeless Mind)... posted on Dec 1, 850 reads

Untitled
Two Buddhist monks, Rev. Heng Sure and Marty Verhoeven, took a pilgrimage of about 800 miles, except that after every three steps they took one full bow to the ground wishing joy for all beings. Read some excerpts from their journals online:... posted on Dec 11, 660 reads

Untitled
Larry Scherwitz, a University of California psychologist, taped the conversations of nearly 600 men, a third of whom were suffering from heart disease, the rest of whom were healthy. Men who used the word "I", "me", and "mine" most often had the highest risk of heart trouble.... posted on Dec 19, 562 reads

Untitled
The Earth is not perfectly round but is slightly flattened at the poles and bulges a little just south of the Equator.... posted on Dec 20, 388 reads

Untitled
An organization in San Francisco allows you to travel and make a difference -- Airline Ambassadors. Started by a flight attendant, you can find more online:... posted on Dec 21, 887 reads

Untitled
According to the A.C. Nielsen Co. (1998), the average American watches 3 hours and 46 minutes of TV each day (more than 52 days of nonstop TV-watching per year). By age 65 the average American will have spent nearly 9 years glued to the tube.... posted on Dec 28, 472 reads

Untitled
The movie 'Waking Life' is being heralded by critics as a one of a kind and is even filmed in a unique way (animation superimposing live actors). Theme of the movie -- perhaps we are all dreaming right now.... posted on Jan 1, 751 reads

Untitled
Drinking 5 glasses of water daily decreases the risk of colon cancer by 45%, plus it can slash the risk of breast cancer by 79%, and one is 50% less likely to develop bladder cancer.... posted on Jan 9, 808 reads

Untitled
Instead of bar-hopping, there was a group that was interested in community service. So they started Single Volunteers, where singles organize volunteer activities and meet other singles with similar interests:... posted on Jan 18, 538 reads

Untitled
Pollution and traffic are big problems in many cities. City Car-Share is an innovative solution that allows you to get a car on an hourly basis. Started in San Francisco, it is now expanding rapidly.... posted on Jan 29, 496 reads

Untitled
A national directory of social change email lists and forums:... posted on Feb 1, 447 reads

Untitled
Wouldn't it be incredible if, in addition to reading, writing, and arithmetic, our schools offered classes about making peace? Boston-based Peace Games partners with schools to do just that.... posted on Feb 20, 537 reads

Untitled
The only son of the founder of the Baskin-Robbins ice cream empire, John Robbins was groomed to follow in his father's footsteps, but chose to walk away from the immense wealth to be a spokesperson for nonviolence, vegetarianism and a sustainable Earth.... posted on Feb 12, 782 reads

Untitled
Only 33% of pantry programs and 55% of soup kitchens have any paid staff at all, which means that many programs rely entirely on volunteers.... posted on Feb 9, 2142 reads

Untitled
Penelope Cruz, often considered one of the most beautiful actresses in Hollywood, spent a week with Mother Teresa in India and later donated her entire salary of her movie, 'The Hi-Lo Country', to Mother Teresa's charity.... posted on Feb 7, 596 reads

Lungs of a Smoker
When she became a flight attendant, her colleagues told her three things: you are going to meet the most interesting men, travel to exciting places and have the lungs of a smoker, even if you never smoke. The last one struck her. It especially hit her when her colleague, Norma Broin, was daignosed with lung cancer. Patty, immediately, launched a relentless crusade against smoking on airplanes ... posted on May 4, 1205 reads

Untitled
National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse at Columbia University reported this week that teens consumed 25 percent of all alcohol consumed in the U.S. Furthermore, 87% of adults who drink had their first drink of alcohol before age 21.... posted on Mar 6, 1380 reads

Untitled
To produce a single hamburger patty takes as much fossil fuel as it does to drive a small car 20 miles, and uses enough water for 17 showers.... posted on Jan 11, 669 reads

Untitled
At 100 years of age, Harold Fisher is still going strong – in fact, he's continuing his work as an architect of churches, a profession that he still finds fun and stimulating after 85 years. ... posted on Jan 17, 749 reads

Untitled
A good laugh can be beneficial in all sorts of ways. Laughter brings a sense of well-being, reduces stress, strengthens the immune system, improves likability, and is just plain fun! These are some of the reasons behind the Laughter Club, which is making its way around the world.... posted on Jan 25, 600 reads

Untitled
Independent studies show that children who learn piano tend to do better in school. This is attributed to the discipline, eye-hand coordination, social skills building, learning a new language (music) and the pleasure derived from making your own music.... posted on Feb 19, 466 reads

Untitled
Steve Dinan's Consciousness Timeline lists various key books and events that demarcate the growing Western interest in the nature of consciousness, from William James to Freud to Huxley to Yogananda to Allan Watts to Ken Wilber.... posted on Mar 29, 575 reads

Untitled
To the question "Have you realized your dreams?" 5% of those who made $15,000/yr said yes. When the same question was asked to those who made $100,000/yr, 6% said yes. (from Here and Now in the 90's, by Ram Dass)... posted on Mar 5, 1315 reads

Untitled
The Kiwi, national bird of New Zealand, can't fly, lives in a hole in the ground, is almost blind and lays only one egg each year. Yet it has survived for 70 million years. (Source: San Diego Zoo)... posted on Apr 3, 1226 reads

Untitled
A free encyclopedia? In 2001, a collaborative project started to produce a complete encyclopedia from scratch. No one owns the projects and anyone can contribute to it. To date, close to 30,000 articles have been added.... posted on Mar 23, 1258 reads