Secret Donors Stuff Stockings Of Needy With $100

A rabbi, a priest and a minister have been meeting in their town of Canton, Ohio, to look through more than 700 letters. About 360 of the letter writers will be chosen to receive $100 each.

The writers are people in need of help at Christmastime. The money comes from a special Christmas fund made of donations big and small.

The fund was started by three retired businessmen who had been fascinated by a story published in the local newspaper, The Repository, at Thanksgiving. The story told of an act of kindness during the Great Depression. Using the pseudonym B. Virdot, a Canton merchant had put an ad in the paper asking people who needed financial help to write. He then sent $5 checks to 150 families.

Two years ago, Ted Gup opened an old, small suitcase left by his grandfather, Samuel J. Stone, and found the letters to B. Virdot from 1933. Gup had solved a mystery, and he went on to write about his grandfather and many of those who sent the letters in a book called The Secret Gift.

The new Christmas fund was thought of as a way to pay tribute. And the new donors wanted to be anonymous as well.

"If somebody wants to say thank you, the simplest way is to send the money and do the same thing," one said.

The money has piled up to more than $48,000 in the week before Christmas. It would help during Canton's Rust Belt hard times.

"We had a story in November that fully 25 percent of the children in our county live in poverty," says Jeff Gauger, The Repository's executive editor.

Christy Nelson, a 33-year-old mother of two, made her case in a letter to the newspaper. Nelson is out of work and broke, trying to finish a nursing degree.

"I feel that I'm not doing my job as a mom," she says. "I can't make sure that my kids have a TV to watch. I get help from the government, and they're fed and they're taken care of, but I can't provide a Christmas."

Nelson's request? She'd like to pay her overdue utility bills.

http://www.npr.org/2010/12/21/132217435/secret-donors-stuff-stockings-of-needy-with-100

I Know Your Name

In the first days following 9/11attack on our country a person representing the federal government was visiting a kindergarten class. She told the children “someone who did not really like us” had attacked our country, but the government is keeping everyone safe, and their families are keeping them safe as well. They were not to be afraid because many people were around them to protect them.

One little girl came up to the speaker and said “If they knew our names would they like us?”

This bit of wisdom from a small child has inspired the “I Know Your Name” medallion. In English in says “I work and pray for peace.” In Arabic it says “I pray and work for peace.” The group of stars in the center is a symbol for people of all races and religions under one God.

Each person who orders a medallion is asked to 1) list up to three children’s names on the order form – children, grandchildren, nieces, nephews, or children of friends; 2) indicate if children’s names are Muslim or non-Muslim. These names will be inscribed on the back of the medallion.If they are Muslim names, that medallion will be mailed to a non-Muslim person to wear. If they are non-Muslim names, the medallion will go to a Muslim person to wear.

We will no longer be faceless, nameless people to each other. We will have begun to know each other’s names. It’s hoped that this medallion will move people to actions and to prayers that will help our children and grandchildren - be not enemy combatants – but friends and neighbors.

(Part of the proceeds of the sale of the medallion will go to groups that promote friendship and understanding between Muslims and non-Muslims.)

“I Know Your Name” Medallion
1534 North Moorpark Road #191
Thousand Oaks, CA, 91360

Giving African girls a chance to learn

Her mother explained that the girl was not intelligent and would probably fail. She stated that she would let her finish this school year, then keep her home to teach her how to be a good wife and mother. I could not accept that fate for a little girl who only wanted me to assist her. I asked her mother to allow me to work with her.

I researched the whys and wherefores of the little girls' educational failures and I discovered that many girls do not have books and school supplies, or the time or a place to study after school. I began haunting all the public and private development agencies, local and national government institutions, asking for assistance to support our little girls. I was refused. So we started teaching ourselves.

The girls wanted me to continue the program but I informed them that I hadn't been able to find the money. They said they could raise their own money. They raised enough to buy their school books and supplies. The little girls brought in older siblings and relatives who had already failed and been expelled from school. The older girls did the cooking and selling. They became our financial support and grew into our entrepreneurs. We export five blended hibiscus teas, dolls and household products to pay for the schooling. We have decided to become green, with an aggressive environmental education and agricultural development entrepreneurial program.

Eventually we got public and private financial and technical support to expand the number of girls that we teach each year. We now have 3,383 girls and want to increase our numbers to 5,000 this year.

To read the full story, please go to:
http://www.cnn.com/2010/OPINION/10/21/vaughn.senegal.education/index.html?hpt=Sbin

Rescuers save family adrift at sea for 6 days

Rescuers spotted a family of four who had been lost at sea for six days and helped them safely to shore in the Pacific island nation of Kiribati, authorities said.
Teams from the U.S. Coast Guard and the Royal New Zealand Air Force found the family Saturday.
They had gone missing October 31 after setting sail from Kiribati in a four-meter (13-foot) aluminum boat, Maritime New Zealand said in a statement.

To read the full story and to watch the video, please go to:
http://www.cnn.com/2010/WORLD/asiapcf/11/08/kiribati.family.rescue/index.html?hpt=Sbin

Why sharing is a beautiful thing

Jorge Munoz is a bus driver in New York City who started feeding the hungry in Queens five years ago, using food that would otherwise have been thrown away. And that's how he discovered a secret -- the power of sharing.

"People are telling me, 'Jorge, you have no money, you do all this and get nothing back.' And I say I have a checking account full of smiles."

Munoz has been recognized as a Top Ten CNN Hero in 2009 and received the U.S. Citizens Award from President Obama. His website is AnAngelinQueens.org.

Te readthe full story, please visit: http://www.cnn.com/2010/OPINION/10/28/munoz.sharing/index.html?eref=mrss_igoogle_cnn

A True Mother

A mother in Louisville, Kentucky, has died after saving her three children and two nieces by pushing them out the second-story window of her burning townhome.

Bystanders who noticed the flames helped catch the children as Tomarra Finley guided them out on Thursday morning. After the five children were rescued, Finley, 31, was found unconscious by firefighters. They gave her oxygen and CPR, but she died later of smoke inhalation.

Fire Capt. Salvador Melendez said Finley braved tremendous heat and smoke in saving the children.

"It was even extreme for us, and we wear all this gear," he told CNN affiliate WDRB-TV of Louisville. "We can only imagine what she went through. She did a brave thing. She made a sacrifice, but she did indeed save those children."

Karey Hudson said he saw a child hanging out the window and ran to help. He said a man delivering newspapers came running up and told the child to jump.

"'One of us will catch you," Hudson said the paper man told the child.

Firefighters said that smoke alarms alerted Finley to the fire.

To watch the video, please go to: http://www.cnn.com/2010/LIVING/10/08/heroes.louisville.fire/index.html?eref=mrss_igoogle_cnn

Good Samaritan describes chase that led to girl's freedom

A construction carpenter by trade until work slowed down, Perez has been recently cutting wine grapes, earning minimum wage. Perez,tuned in to television news coverage of the abduction of an 8 year old girl, paying attention to the description and video of the suspect's pickup truck. At about 6:45 a.m., Perez was outside his house talking with his cousin about the abduction when they saw a vehicle matching that description: an older-model, reddish-brown Chevrolet with a white stripe on the side.
"I thought, that could be the truck," said Perez, a father of two boys. That's when he sprang into action. He jumped into his 1988 white Ford pickup and followed the vehicle. Perez tried to cut off the vehicle several times to question the driver. One time, the driver told him, "I don't have no time [to talk]. My battery is dying."
The second time Perez pulled up to the Chevy, he saw the little girl, her head popping up from below view, and knew something was wrong.
"I kept telling him, 'That's not your little girl,'" said Perez. "We argued. We exchanged words."
Perez -- who admitted he did wonder at some point whether the motorist had a gun -- pulled up to the truck a third, and then a fourth time, when he blocked the pickup truck.
Immediately after the truck stopped, the girl was out. Perez said he believes the driver pushed her out.

To read the full story and to watch the interview, please go to:
http://www.cnn.com/2010/CRIME/10/06/california.child.samaritan/index.html?hpt=Sbin

Three Dying Israelis Saved With Organs Donated From A Palestinian Boy

4-year-old Abdul Hayy Salhout who fell from the balcony in his house in Jabal al-Mukabbir village in occupied East Jerusalem, became source of life for three dying Israeli patients when his parents decided to donate his organs.
According to the Ma'an news Agency, doctors at the Hadassah Medical Center spent eight hours trying to revive Salhout in the ICU, where he died six days later.

According to the Israeli news site Ynet, the boy's liver has since been successfully transplanted to a critically ill 7-year-old Israeli boy. A kidney was given to an 8-year-old Israeli girl, whose body has accepted it. The other kidney went to a 55-year-old Israeli man, and he is in good condition too despite concerns of rejection due to the age difference.

"My son arrived at the hospital in very serious condition, and it was impossible to save his life. But we're so happy to see him alive inside other people," Abdul-Hayy's father told Ynet. "It makes no difference to us whether the recipients speak Arabic or Hebrew, because saving a human life is the same."

Source: http://www.imemc.org/article/59370

A man with no arms or legs set to swim 22 miles

A Frenchman who lost all his arms and legs in a freak accident is preparing to swim cross the English Channel. He has flippers connected to his specially designed swimsuit and an extra long snorkel that runs straight up between his eyes.
Amazingly though, he was was barely able to swim two lengths of his local pool two years ago.The 42-year-old Frenchman, who is nicknamed ‘Iron Man’, lost his four limbs in 1994 when a TV aerial he was trying to mend touched an overhead power line.
He was immediately hit with 20,000 volts of electricity and had to have both arms and both legs amputated.Philippe has been swimming for up to 30 hours a week for the past two years, and building up his body strength in his local gym.‘This is a dream and I’m determined to fulfil it,’ he said

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/worldnews/article-1282860/Frenchman-arms-legs-set-swim-22-miles-English-Channel.html#ixzz0zzkL0aNj

12 year old boy walked 2478 miles for homeless youth

Zach Bonner has walked across America from Tampa Florida to Santa Monica California. He has walked approximately 2478 miles & has crossed over 8 states... all to bring awareness to the plight homeless youth. Big dreams for a 12 year old boy who wanted to make a difference, take action, and to bring awareness to youth that were out on the streets.Zach walked an average of 20 miles per day, sometimes longer. His last mile was walked from Virgina Ave. Park to the Santa Monica Pier. Zach was joined by Cody Simpson, an Australian pop/R&B singer, as well as many others for his final mile.

To read the full story, please go to:
http://ireport.cnn.com/docs/DOC-492630?hpt=Sbin

Blind man guides traffic

Blind traffic reporter Tommy Edison has been leading Connecticut drivers for years, as WTNH reports.

To watch the video, please go to
http://www.cnn.com/video/#/video/us/2010/09/13/pkg.blind.traffic.reporter.wtnh?iref=allsearch

A baby Saved in Pakistan

Medical "A Team" aids flood victims.
Please watch how they saved the life of a baby:

http://www.cnn.com/video/#/video/world/2010/09/13/am.larsen.a.team.pt2.cnn?hpt=Sbin

Pilot survives plane crash into home near Aurora

A small plane crashed into a house near the Aurora Airport Friday afternoon and the pilot walked away with minor injuries.
Homeowner Sally Jones said she came outside just before the crash and eventually turned around to find the conscious, but dazed pilot sitting on top of her garage. She was not injured. Her 18-year-old dog also escaped injury.

To read the full story, please go to:
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/38996944/ns/local_news-portland_or/

Jews, Muslims Make Pilgrimage To Auschwitz

The scenario might have seemed unlikely: prominent Muslims and Jews from the United States, trekking across the Atlantic in mournful, spiritual solidarity to visit two Nazi concentration camps. Together.

The trip to Dachau and Auschwitz was meant to combat the rise in Holocaust denial that has popped up in various Muslim and non-Muslim circles around the world--and online--in recent years.

"The best way to convince someone about the truth of something is to let them see it for themselves and experience it for themselves," said Rabbi Jack Bemporad of the Center for Interreligious Understanding in Carlstadt, who organized the trip.

To read the full article, please go to http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/08/17/auschwitz-pilgrimmage-jew_n_685436.html

US billionaires pledge 50% of their wealth to charity

Thirty-eight US billionaires have pledged at least 50% of their wealth to charity through a campaign started by investor Warren Buffett and Microsoft founder Bill Gates.
"The Giving Pledge" lists all the families and individuals who have committed to the project.The site says the pledge is a "moral commitment" not a "legal contract".
The campaign was started in June to convince US billionaires to give away at least half of their fortunes either during their lifetimes or after their deaths.

To read more about the project, please go to http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-10870361

A Thousand Sisters

"It was there that I learned about Congo, widely called the worst place on earth to be a woman. Awakened to the atrocities—millions dead, women being raped and tortured, children starving and dying in shocking numbers—I had to do something". Lisa Shannon

Lisa Shannon founded the first national grassroots effort to raise awareness and funds for women in the DR Congo through her project Run for Congo Women. They have sponsored more than a thousand war-affected Congolese women through Women for Women International. These women are raising more than 5000 children. She traveled solo into Eastern Congo’s South Kivu province for five and half weeks in January- February 2007, and again in May 2008. Prior to Lisa’s travels through Congo, was named a “2006 Hero of Running” by Runner’s World Magazine and O, The Oprah Magazine wrote, “Lisa Shannon read our report—and started a movement.” Lisa presently serves as an ambassador for Women for Women International.

To read more, please visit the website @ http://athousandsisters.com/
To listen to Lisa Shannon's interview on NPR, please go to http://www.onpointradio.org/2010/08/helping-women-in-congo

From Uganda: Mirembe Kawomera, Delicious Peace Coffee

Mirembe Kawomera Coffee began with one man’s dream. In 2003, JJ Keki, a Ugandan coffee farmer, walked door to door asking his Jewish, Christian, and Muslim neighbors to put aside old differences and come together. In 2009, the Peace Kawomera Cooperative has grown to over 1,000 members. Thanks to their collective effort, the farmers sell directly to Thanksgiving Coffee Company, and receive prices four times higher than what they were previously paid. This has enabled farmers to send their children to school, start savings accounts, and reinvest in their farms.

To read more about Delicious Peace Coffee, please visit their website @ http://www.deliciouspeace.com/

Painting For Peace

On April 25th, PeaceMakers from area mosques, synagogues, and churches broke the myth that Muslim, Jew, Christian and others can not work together for peace."This myth, that we fight and always have been fighting, is historically false," says organizer Bruce Barrett. "We paint these signs before you today as a public demonstration of our commitment to peace, health, and justice for the Israeli and Palestinian people," declares the group. Popular media and bad preaching told us that our faith traditions have nothing in common; and yet here we are, painting and working together for peace and justice in Israel and Palestine.


To read the full story, please go to:
http://iwagepeace.org/PaintingOnTheGreen.html

Ag Against Hunger

Ag Against Hunger was founded to provide hungry people with nutritious, fresh, surplus produce from local fields. Ag Against Hunger's mission is to alleviate hunger by providing the necessary link between the agricultural community and food assistance organizations. In the 20 years since its inception Ag Against Hunger has provided over 160 million pounds of fresh produce to people in need throughout California and the West Coast.

To read more about AG Against Hunger, please visit their website @ www.agagainsthunger.org

Year of Giving

Reed Sandridge was laid off last year as a director of a nonprofit group in Washington, D.C. The 36-year-old came up with a pet project to keep him busy while he looked for work. He calls it the "Year of Giving". Every day, Sandridge walks up to a stranger and gives away $10. So far, he's handed out close to $1,200. He also interviews the recipients about their lives and posts their stories on his blog. Think of it as Studs Terkel meets Santa Claus.

Listen to the story on NPR:
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=125816181

And read more about Sandridge's project on his blog:
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=125816181

Millionaires who, rather than live rich, gave their money away

Here are a half-dozen individuals who have found that the highest and best use of their wealth is in helping others.

Please follow this link to read about them:

http://articles.moneycentral.msn.com/RetirementandWills/EscapeTheRatRace/
millionaires-who-gave-it-away.aspx?GT1=33013

Inspiring Africans

In 2009, the Jewish-Palestinian Living Room Dialogue of San Mateo, Calif. -- a handful of U.S. residents -- air-mailed to Nigeria 60 gift sets of its how-to, inspirational documentary DVDs for attendees in Africa at the October INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON YOUTH AND INTERFAITH COMMUNICATION: Building Bridges through Interfaith Dialogue and Citizen-to-Citizen Collaboration -- http://interfaithdialogue.cfsites.org/
The grassroots videos were DIALOGUE AT WASHINGTON HIGH, and PEACEMAKERS: Palestinians & Jews Together at Camp -- http://traubman.igc.org/vids2007.htm .

On February 2010 -- across the ocean and many time zones -- a new era of interfaith Dialogue began across old lines -- bridging chasms, closing distances, dignifying Nigeria and all of us.
SEE PHOTOS at: Nigeria 2010: New Interfaith Dialogue February, 2010
http://traubman.igc.org/nigeriadialogue.pdf

Source: www.traubman.igc.org

News from Israel

On March 26th The Future Interfaith Encounter group of mothers and daughters had its encounter on the theme of El-Umra (visit to Mecca not during the Hajj time).
Since some of the Muslim mothers were planning to go to Saudi Arabia to fulfill the Umra – we decided to dedicate the encounter to that theme. The Muslim mothers began by explaining about this commandment while the Muslim daughters performed a play in which they presented the different stages of the Umra pilgrimage to Mecca and what is said in each stage.
The girls dressed with dresses and head coverings and prepared a model of the Kaaba. In this way the mothers together with the daughters managed to give a clear explanation of the theme. Then we had a conversation and also some questions of clarification.
Finally we divided the girls into groups who played different games together. As usual, the games included use of the two languages in order to improve communication between the girls. The encounter was accompanied by refreshments and was very interesting.

Source: Interfaith Encounter Association

It happened in LA

A paraplegic Egyptian man (who I believe was a teacher, just laid off of his job) had his van first break down and then burst into flames. Just in the nick of time, some fellow motorists who saw the fire, freed him from the van before he got hurt, saving his life. This happened on the 91 Freeway.


Source: Michael Tobocman

Working together for peace

A group of Jews and Muslims are meeting on a monthly basis in LA, CA to build bridges of understanding and peace. They believe that "an enemy is one whose a story we have not heard". They introduce themselves by saying: We are Muslims and Jews who want to hear each other's stories. We are Arabs, Israelis, Americans, and people from other parts of the world who want to listen and learn about the "others". We don't talk about politics. We don't discuss who is at fault or where borders should be drawn. We simply tell our stories, one at each meeting.And we listen. With our hearts as well as our ears. We listen because we believe that when we hear "their" stories - when we learn what they've experienced and why they believe what they do - then we can see them as fellow human beings deserving of the same respect and security we wish for ourselves.

To read more about them, please visit their website @ www.jewishmuslimdialogue.org

Argentinian Man saves a van and a train

An Argentinian man has become a hero after pushing a stalled van out of the way of an oncoming train. Watch the video on http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AQ6nYjAA53k

Why?

Why did I start this blog?

Every day I listen to news on the radio, I watch it on TV, and I read it on the Internet. Every day I learn something new; however, it's always bad, sometimes even very bad ... wars, poverty, natural disasters, economic crises, the murder of innocent people, crime, rape, etc.
I always ask myself "why is it constantly bad news? why do not the media focus on good news as much as they do on bad news?" I tried several times to contact the media and invite them to come and write/talk about some Jews and Muslims who are getting together on a monthly basis in order to build bridges of peace and understanding; however, they never responded or they did but they were not interested. I asked myself "If I told the media about a group of terrorists who are meeting every month, would they ignore me?" I don't think so. The media has gotten used to reporting bad news and we are used to watching it. So all the good things that are going on in this world and all the good people who are working tirelessly and honestly for peace or justice or whatever, there is no one to hear and to write about them ... WOW!!
So, I decided to start my blog and call it "Good News ... ONLY" It's where I get the chance to let everyone know about the good people and good things that are going on in our world. I also felt that I've got to do this in order to give people, and I'm one of them, some positive perspective about our planet, as well as hope for a better tomorrow. I began thinking and saying to myself "Imagine if you get up in the morning and go online to read good news about a person who saved a train from an accident, or another one who donated his kidney to someone he does not know, or a group of people who are dreaming about a better future and working hard to make peace between two other groups" "Imagine reading all of that, and even more, before you leave your home to go to work or to school or just to walk ... or even if you are not leaving your home. Imagine how your day will be, and what kind of energy you will have during this day. Imagine how this might touch you and encourage you to join and do something good, too.