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Aug 29, 2009

"To appreciate beauty; to give of one's self, to leave the world a bit better, whether by a healthy child, a garden patch or a redeemed social condition; to have played and laughed with enthusiasm and sung with exultation; to know even one life has breathed easier because you have lived -- that is to have succeeded." --Ralph Waldo Emerson

A Snowballing of Generosity

Imagine this: shopper Jenni Ware gets $207 of groceries at Trader Joe's and realizes only at the checkout line that she has lost her wallet. Carolee Hazard, in line behind the distressed woman, spontaneously covers the tab! Jenni goes home and sends Carolee a check for $300, and suggests that her benefactress treat herself to a massage with the leftover cash. Hazard turned to her online Facebook community: What would you do? Friends gave good ideas, one of them being to donate the surplus to local food banks, and before long, an unusual outpouring of donations totaling more than $2,000 came in to feed the hungry. Says Carolee: "It's been incredible to see this grow and how excited people are getting. I have told the story to my friends and they say it gives them goose bumps."