Helping others

[CielOnTap]

Spring breakers focus on community service
Wednesday, March 18, 2009
By GENEA NOEL
Freeport News Reporter

As thousands of spring breakers flock to Grand Bahama for sand, sun, sea and most importantly fun, one group of college students are hard at work opting to spend their vacation giving back to the community.

Eleven students from St. Petersburg, Florida, are wor-king diligently with the YMCA to assist in repairs, renovations and tutoring as a part of their school's Spring Service Trip.

Felicity Keely, a senior and co-leader of the trip, said that their college is really keen on service and comunity building and every year groups are dispatched to various countries abroad and in the U.S. to lend a helping hand.

She noted that it is a drugs and alcohol free week for the students as they focus more on giving back. http://freeport.nassauguardian.net/national_local/348312391806984.php

An alternate way to spend the week off from school in a new locale. The conversations at school will be about what was accomplished on the service trip, not who got sick the most from the partying.

[CielOnTap]

Would you turn in a wallet you found on the sidewalk? Watch this experiment conducted by the Toronto Star and learn which wallet was turned in without the money inside. Really.

http://www.thestar.com/fpLarge/video/623436

[pretzels]

The link is not working, Ciel. See if you find the story and post the link to it here. I'm interested in the outcome.

[CielOnTap]

Well, pretzels, I did find the story (published in today's newspaper edition) but not the video link. Sigh. Good idea to test people's honesty. Did the paper get permission to stash the wallets in stores? Or the rival newspaper lobby? I sort of speculate that security would have noticed that activity.

We left 20 wallets around the GTA. Most came back

The Star took 20 wallets filled with cash, fake IDs and a contact number, then 'lost' them in 20 locations around the GTA. Then we waited. An interactive map shows what we found.

Apr 25, 2009 04:30 AM
Diana Zlomislic
LIVING REPORTER

Take 20 wallets. Fill each with $43.77 (enough change for a TTC ride and a little extra for good measure), photo ID, baby pictures, a grocery list, receipts, a contact number, an ATM card, a fancy hankie and a handwritten love note.

Now "lose" the wallets in high-traffic areas across Greater Toronto where people work, play and pray. Now wait.

Would the one stashed beside the $197 bottle of Fonterutoli "Siepi" in the Vintages section of the Summerhill LCBO stand a better chance of being returned than the wallet dropped on the pedestrian bridge in Humber Park? Would lawyers-in-training at Osgoode Hall out-Samaritan the patrons of the Parkdale Public Library?
Wallets

[burnt fare]

Any chance of the newspaper doing that test in Washington DC? Much different results I 'd think would be gathered, as there are some people who could use the money in those wallets.

[CielOnTap]

Clean, Sexy Water
By NICHOLAS D. KRISTOF
Published: July 11, 2009
People always ask: What can I do to make a difference?

So many people in poor countries desperately need assistance. So many people in rich countries would like to help but fear their donations would line the pocket of a corrupt official or be lost in an aid bureaucracy. The result is a short circuit, leaving both sides unfulfilled.

That’s where Scott Harrison comes in. Five years ago, Mr. Harrison was a nightclub promoter in Manhattan who spent his nights surrounded by friends in a blur of alcohol, cocaine and marijuana. He lived in a luxurious apartment and drove a BMW — but then on a vacation in South America he underwent a spiritual crisis.

“I realized I was the most selfish, sycophantic and miserable human being,” he recalled. “I was the worst person I knew.”http://www.nytimes.com/2009/07/12/opinion/12kristof.html?_r=1&em

[CielOnTap]

I was informed of a project whose members have groups in various North American cities and in countries around the world. Their purpose? To give free portraits to individuals in need who may otherwise not be able to have their own photos. The photographers volunteer their equipment and time and volunteers with their own kits, to help out in hair and makeup before the photos are taken, set up a session day and time in their community. The website is http://www.help-portrait.com.

How many of us take photos for granted? In schools, the annual photo day is a must for the school to have visual records of their students. In post-secondary school or work life, photos are more of a social occurrence, unless work requires ID badges with photos or future graduates pay for a sitting in grad gowns/backdrops for their exit photos.

If one has not had his or her photo taken in years, s/he might like to know of the project session date in the community and have a souvenir photo. And if you happen to be a photographer or esthestician or hairdresser, consider joining your local group to help out on the session day as your gift to the community.

[Smitty]

This bit about giving to others like furniture to clothing & such, really does not work as expected. I remember with the storm to flooding in New Orleans & some people had boxes of clothing they no longer wore. It was sent to the said place only one saw a maze of that clothing being discarded to stepped on to being garbaged.

A few people aimed at sending used sneakers to some place in Africa, only to find out the cost would be at an amazing price of where new sneakers could be purchased in said country of Africa.

Dreams are one thing & what it really turns out to be can be dramatically different.

[CielOnTap]

During the Portugal-Cote d'Ivoire soccer match, the commentator mentioned Didier Drogba's charitable deeds. A hospital in the capital city of his country is one such deed.

Later today, I will seek out soccer names and their charitable deeds to show that some are cognizant of needs and provide funds or resources to meet those needs.