A Lift That Gave Me Joy
Last fall, before Thanksgiving, I was making my way in my car out of the shopping center parking lot. I was all alone in the car. I noticed a woman laden with bags and her two boys, one carrying a pumpkin and the other another bag. On a random impulse, I rolled down my window and asked "Would you like a ride?" "Oh yes!" was their excited reaction. This was special for me because, as a handicappe... posted on Apr 02 2010, 2,839 reads

Africa's Gift to Silicon Valley
After Kenya's disputed election in 2007, violence erupted. A prominent Kenyan lawyer and blogger, Ory Okolloh, who was based in South Africa but had gone back to Kenya to vote and observe the election, received threats about her work and returned to South Africa. She posted online the idea of an Internet mapping tool to allow people anonymously to report violence and other misdeeds. Technology whi... posted on Mar 27 2010, 1,917 reads

Cabbie from Congo
We often get so absorbed in the minutiae of our daily lives that we do not stay open to learning experiences. In her article, Jacqueline Novogratz writes about how a late cab ride home from dinner could have just been another opportunity to check her email or stare out the window. Instead, after a strange request from her cab driver, she had the opportunity to do small acts of kindness, and grow c... posted on Mar 15 2010, 4,919 reads

US Kids Skype With Afghan Kids
In 2005, teenager Kyleigh Kuhn met 50 students studying beneath a tent north of Kabul, Afghanistan. Distraught by the landmines and environmental hazards she saw nearby, Kuhn return home and began collecting pennies to raise funds for a safer environment and better school for the area's children. Since then, this small project has become the Roots of Peace Penny Campaign, and has removed landmines... posted on Mar 14 2010, 1,327 reads

The Power of An Open Heart
"I was on my lunch break in the city, enjoying a salad at an outdoor cafe, when a disheveled homeless lady came walking towards me. She was yelling and begging everyone who walked past her for spare change and she looked like a mess. My instant reaction was fear... to close off and hope she didn't come near me, but she did. I was on the phone and when she came over yelling, I said, 'I'm on the ... posted on Mar 13 2010, 11,025 reads

Science Says: Kindness is Contagious!
In findings sure to gladden the heart of anyone who's ever wondered whether tiny acts of kindness have larger consequences, researchers have shown that generosity is contagious. Goodness spurs goodness, they found: A single act can influence dozens more. In a game where selfishness made more sense than cooperation, acts of giving were "tripled over the course of the experiment by other subjects w... posted on Mar 12 2010, 4,096 reads

How Innovation Happens
Ever wonder how Michael Dell came up with the idea to create his own computer company? Or how Pierre Omidyar dreamed up the online marketplace eBay? Or how Jeff Bezos came up with the bold moves needed to develop Amazon.com into one of America's most successful companies? "I always thought creativity was genetic -- that some people have it, some people don't," Jeff Dyer said. But that was before... posted on Mar 10 2010, 8,282 reads

Dreams of a Mild Mannered Hero
The crowd, straining every muscle to get a brief touch of his robe, was violently thrown back by Indian police as the Dalai Lama passed. It was unlike anything I had experienced before or have since: such extreme fervor of religious devotion for a single man. How, I wondered, could this gentle, mild-mannered monk support such a high level of expectation? "I've never seen anything like this in my l... posted on Mar 05 2010, 3,918 reads

Art from Ashes
Orin spent a good chunk of 2009 sleeping on park benches. The 20-year-old admits he made it difficult on his parents. He ran away close to a half-dozen times. On the streets, though, he has become quite the poet. "I just want everyone to know I have something to say," Orin said. And every Tuesday night, Orin and other youth like him, get their chance to share their voice through 'Art from Ashes' ... posted on Feb 23 2010, 3,798 reads

Canada's Bravery Awards
Canada gives out three bravery decorations for selfless acts of courage: the Medal of Bravery, Cross of Valour and Star of Courage. Anyone can nominate a person who has risked injury or death to save another. This inspiring story highlights a few of the 47 people who were recently decorated by Gov. Gen. Michaelle Jean ... including an eight year old girl who saved her mother when she fell through... posted on Feb 21 2010, 1,927 reads