For the past 20 years, the Rev. Gregory Boyle, a Jesuit priest who started Homeboy Industries, has mentored and counseled the more than 12,000 gang members who pass through Homeboy each year to learn job skills, get their gang tattoos removed and attend therapy sessions on everything from alcohol abuse to anger management. Now the group is in financial trouble.
Thousands of volunteers have been working in Nashville since floods devastated the city three weeks ago. College and high school students especially have given up leisurely weekends to become Good Samaritans simply trying to ease a stranger's pain.
With 40 pounds of excess fresh produce that he didn't want to waste, one home gardener brought it to the local food pantry and homeless shelter. Realizing how valuable it was to the pantry he set up a website to help divert more fresh food for those who needed it.
With every machete whack and every soggy step, Ed Stafford gets a little closer to joining the ranks of the explorer elite, becoming the first person to walk the length of the Amazon River - all 4,000 miles -- and be officially recognized for doing so.
April 30 marked a momentous day in the history of Room To Read, a charity that builds children's libraries around the developing world. On that day in Nepal 1,000 villagers lined up to celebrate the opening of the group's 10,000th library.
Two good Samaritans driving by on a freeway stopped to help save a group of children from a school bus after seeing smoke rising from the engine. Moments after they had lifted everyone out, the entire bus was engulfed by fire.
Until a few months ago, he was a butler in one of the more expensive residential buildings in Manhattan. But now, Nepal-born Indra Tamang is the owner of two multi-million dollar apartments in the historic Dakota Building.
To help ease a growing hunger problem in the U.S., Wal-Mart announced yesterday that it will donate $2 billion in food and grants to food banks and hunger relief organizations.
Searching for a mode of creative expression after losing her camera, Penny Proudfoot began writing messages of inspiration and humor for commuters along the busy 2-lane road outside her home. Did you make a difference today? They didn't go unnoticed. Drivers who were reading the board started writing back.
Two jail inmates on a work crew in Oregon helped to save the life of a deputy who collapsed. Instead of making a run for it, inmates Robert Parker and Michael Smith used the cell phone of the stranded motorist's cell phone to call 911.
Thousands of salons, groomers and wool farmers are sweeping up their floors to mail their hair, fur and wool clippings to help contain the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. The fibers are being stuffed into nylon stockings and covered in mesh to make highly effective "hair booms" to protect beaches and coastal waters threatened by floating oil, all thanks to a non-profit organization called Matter Of Trust.
Three times in Anne Frank's widely read diary, the young Holocaust victim wrote about a tree. She could see it from the attic window of the secret annex where her family hid for two years. Though the tree is dying, its chestnuts have been used to make new saplings that will be shipped around the world to like-minded groups and museums.
Recent Stories
A Heartfelt Reminder to Appreciate the Ones We Love
Cherish the Woman Who Stands by You
Breaking Generational Cycles of Pain
Living by Your Own Values, Not Others' Approval
When Life Brings Rain, It’s Okay to Rest
Before You Judge Someone's Life, Take a Moment to Walk in Their Shoes.
A Friend Who Spreads Gossip is Not a True Friend at All
The Value of Human Connection Over Digital Convenience
The Quiet Kind of Love
One Day, Your Mom Won’t Call You Anymore
I’ve reached a point in my life...
Happiness is a mindset, a conscious choice we make every day