Better Off

Hazel and Nazih Zebian read the story of an Egyptian farmer who was forced by the government to give up his herd of pigs, which was his main source of income. That got them to thinking that perhaps they were still quite blessed, even though their own family's furniture business was struggling in the current economy. They decided that they would donate the money to the farmer to help replace what he had lost. Abu Sayed, the farmer, plans to buy a flock of sheep as a new source of income for his family.

MSNBC blog

Bright Future

The Prudential Spirit of Community Awards program recently announced its 2009 winners. These are middle- and high-school-students who have made a difference in their communities and around the world. For example, Brittany Berquist, a senior, organized a foundation that collects old cell phone, sells them to a recycling company, and uses the money to buy phone cards for troops around the world. You can read the stories of all the kids at...

The Prudential Spirit of Community Awards

A Real Boyscout

In North Carolina, Brant Taylor earned his Eagle Scout award. How did he do it? He brokered a $200,000 deal between his city and the local minor league baseball team, the Grasshoppers, to renovate a softball field so that it could be more easily used by people with disabilities. He had been inspired by his older brother, Austin, who has cerebral palsy and developmental delays. Austin had been an avid member of a baseball league for people with disabilities, and Brant saw how much it had meant to his brother and other league members. And so when it came time to come up with a service project for his Eagle Scout award, this is idea that he tenaciously pursued.

Greensboro News Record article

Changing the Odds

In Harlem, Geoffrey Canada and his organization, Harlem Children's Zone, have changed the odds for impoverished children in a struggling neighborhood. Through a comprehensive set of services--which includes charter schools, parenting education programs, after-school activities, and programs to help manage health conditions such as asthma and obesity, and other social services--they have achieved successful children who have a better vision of their future.

New York Times op-ed
ABC News video
Harlem Children's Zone

In it for the Long Haul

British soldier Phil Packer was injured in Iraq and was told he would likely never be able to walk again. But for the last 2 weeks, he has been walking--on crutches, for 2 miles a day. He is on a quest to complete the London Marathon and anticipates finishing this weekend. It is part of his effort to raise the equivalent of $1.5 million for a British charity that helps wounded vetarans, ,and he has raised more than half of that amount already.

Phil Packer's website
CNN story

Door to Door

When Andrea Ivory was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2004, she says she "just knew that it was for a higher purpose." For her, that purpose was realized when she founded the Florida Breast Health Initiative to help low-income women. She and her crew of volunteers spend the first 3 Saturdays of spring and fall months knocking on doors, raising awareness, and signing women up for mammograms. On the last Saturday of the month, a mobile mammography van comes to the neighborhood and provides screenings. In this way, Ivory continues her battle with the cancer, and she is winning.

CNN story
Florida Breast Health Initiative



(thank you, Jen)

One for the Books

A generous donor (or potentially a group of donors) has contributed a total of over $45 million dollars to 9 universities. The lucky recipients are the University of North Carolina at Asheville, the University of Iowa, the University of Southern Mississippi, the University of North Carolina at Greensboro, the University of Maryland University College, the University of Colorado at Colorado Springs, and Penn State-Harrisburg. The only stipulation was that the schools could not try to figure out who the giver is.

AP story