 |
 |
|
Check out GoodThings Greeting Cards!
 |
|
Are you a GoodLetter subscriber?
 |
|
Have you told a friend about GoodThings?
|
|
|
|
|
The GoodLetter Thursday, January 2, 2003
GoodThings, Inc. :: Stories, actions, ideas, and greeting cards that connect us.
|
|
|
|
This Week's Feature
FAVORITE GOODTHINGS 2002: An Encore (Part 2)
by the GoodThings Team
With the announcement of our annual list of ideas, actions, and organizations creating a better world, we offer a much-needed reminder of all the inspiring "goodthings" that happened during a tumultuous 2002.
Note: Our Favorite GoodThings 2002 honorees were originally announced as a list of twenty in the December 12, 2002 GoodLetter. The following are the second ten honorees on the list, along with the descriptions that currently appear on the GoodThings Web site at www.goodthings.com/2002favorites
|
Dear GoodLetter readers,
Did you miss the announcement in our December 12 GoodLetter of the Favorite GoodThings 2002 honorees? Thanks to all of you who sent in your nominations for our second annual campaign. Thanks also to those of you who have already clicked through to our Web site to learn more about this year's honorees. We hope you'll consider getting involved with or lending your support to these ideas, actions, and organizations that are helping to make a better world. We think the Favorite GoodThings 2002 list is chock full this year of worthy honorees, each representing an issue or an idea that we hold dear and that we believe reflects not only the spirit of GoodThings and The GoodLetter but also humanity at its best.
Check out the second 10 Favorite GoodThings 2002 categories, honorees, and descriptions below (we published the first ten next week), and be sure to click the links to Web resources on each of them. You can also visit our Web site to see them all at once, all in one place: www.goodthings.com/2002favorites
~~~~~~~
Favorite Way to Inspire Youth
Street Universe
Street Universe is tackling the issue of South Africa's street kids with love. Firm in its belief that children left to try to stay alive on the mean streets benefit from having real relationships with responsible -- and responsive -- adults, Street Universe sponsors arts, athletic, and outdoor activities for forgotten youth. From its headquarters in Cape Town, Street Universe. They're offering good, old-fashioned mentoring to guide the first generation of children in a democratic South Africa. But in a place where challenges are profound, it's the rigor of Street Universe's approach that will help ensure the longevity of the country's new future.
:: Learn more about Street Universe
Favorite Inspired Youth
Free The Children International
What can kids possibly do to make a difference in the world? They can free other kids, that's what. Free the Children International was started in 1995 by a 12-year-old Canadian boy who read an article in the Toronto newspaper about another 12-year-old boy in Pakistan who had been sentenced to death for protesting the forced child labor that was his own fate. What Craig Keilburger, the young Canadian, soon learned was that there are over a quarter of a million children around the world who are being essentially enslaved as manual laborers. Six months after FTC was formed, Craig had already raised $150,000 to help build a rehabilitation center in south Asia for children like the boy whose story first caught his attention. His organization now galvanizes the efforts of kids in 35 countries.
:: Learn more about Free the Children International
Favorite Meaningful Ways to Reach Kids
This Land Is Your Land: Songs of Unity, by Various Artists (Earthbeat!
/ Music for Little People)
Parvana's Journey, by Deborah Ellis (Groundwood Books)
Sometimes, the best ways to connect with the good in our kids is through literature and music. Among the many wonderful examples of words and sounds that educated children this year, these two in particular rose to the top because of the way they helped kids make sense of current events. This Land Is Your Land: Songs of Unity is an amazing collection of songs and readings about diversity, social justice, and humanity for children and adults to share. It's full of lessons that are as fun as they are thought-provoking.
Parvana's Journey is the sequel to author Deborah Ellis' groundbreaking children's novel, The Breadwinner, about the extraordinary efforts of a young girl to support her family in Taliban-era Afghanistan. In desperation, Parvana is forced to impersonate a boy to enter the market in order to feed her family. Ellis' latest novel is suspenseful, challenging, and ultimately uplifting as Parvana demonstrates to other children what it takes to overcome tremendous adversity. All proceeds from sales of Parvana's Journey support the non-profit work of Women for Women in Afghanistan.
:: Learn more about This Land Is Your Land: Songs of Unity
:: Learn more about Parvana's Journey
Favorite Use of the Internet
NOVICA
With all that the Internet has done to improve the flow of information and to foster connectivity throughout the world, it's also flooded with worthless drivel. That's why we love to celebrate wonderful examples of how the Internet has been used to improve the world -- and the ways we understand one another. NOVICA, a for-profit venture affiliated with National Geographic, helps nearly 2,000 artists from all corners of the globe reach customers thousands of miles away. NOVICA beautifully presents handmade arts and crafts from Andean South America, Bali and Java, Brazil, India, Mexico, Thailand, and West Africa, coupled with the personal stories of the artisans who created them. By creating this sort of unique marketplace, NOVICA helps artists continue to do the work they love while it educates its customers about the world beyond their backyards.
:: Learn more about NOVICA
[more]
Favorite Visionary
Sebastio Salgado
Brazilian photographer Sebastio Salgado believes in the power of an image to inform. He's traveled the world capturing stunning photographs of the planet's forgotten people -- its infirm, its displaced, its exploited -- and he's shared them. He uses photography to display what might be considered the terrible beauty faced by so many of the world's people and, as a result, makes a difference. He founded a non-profit organization, Instituto Terra, that demonstrates his commitment to his own birthplace and only elevates his visionary status. The group works to preserve Brazil's great Atlantic Forest -- often overshadowed by the country's interior rainforest -- and helps its inhabitants combine ecological stewardship with economic stability.
:: Learn more about Sebastio Salgado
[more]
Favorite Storytellers
1st Person Stories by MediaRites
This project emerged out of the ashes of September 11, 2001, as a place on the World Wide Web for the impassioned commentaries of public radio contributors to live long after being heard on-air. The Web site is organized around a different theme each quarter and features written transcripts, as well as links to audio clips, of pieces that have appeared on public radio -- or not. Recent themes have included "Landscape of Loss and Hope," "Acts of Peace," "Heart of Nature," and "Arts and Healing." All the pieces that appear on the 1st Person Stories Web site are unified by the personal, emotional voices they represent.
:: Learn more about 1st Person Stories [more]
Favorite Cross-Generational Connections
Jumpstart
Generations Inc.
The honorees in this category give new meaning to the concept of May-December relationships. Jumpstart enlists the help of energetic college students eager to dedicate themselves to helping at-risk children who are falling short at reading and social skills get prepared to start elementary school. Founded in 1994, the Jumpstart program is now available in 30 communities through the US and reaches 4,500 pre-school kids each year.
Boston-based Generations Incorporated innovatively pairs youth with seniors. School-age children get inspired mentoring and experienced help with reading, and the older adults who become their role models get companionship and sense of purpose. This ten-year-old program hopes to be reaching no fewer than 10,000 youth and seniors by 2006.
:: Learn more about Jumpstart
:: Learn more about Generations Inc.
Favorite Vacations with Purpose
Cross-Cultural Solutions
Most people would love to be able to volunteer to help other people. And everybody would love be able to plan a nice long vacation every year. But unfortunately, we don't always have time to do both. That's where Cross-Cultural Solutions comes in. This New Rochelle, New York-based non-profit makes it easy for adventurous souls to have their cake and eat it, too. With engaging international programs in Brazil, China, Costa Rica, Ghana, India, Peru, Russia, Tanzania, and Thailand, CCS fosters cultural sensitivity and gives people constructive ways to contribute to grassroots efforts to make lives better for people throughout the world.
:: Learn more about Cross-Cultural Solutions [more]
Favorite Approach to Restorative Health
Casting For Recovery
Avid fly-fishers revel in the serenity of a cool stream on a crisp blue morning and a culture of catch-and-release that is as much about honoring the simple majesty of the fish as anything else. That's why fly-fishing is such a perfect match for breast-cancer survivors. The non-profit organization Casting for Recovery helps women who have suffered from the ravages of breast cancer rediscovery their lust for life. They fellowship with other women, learn to appreciate being in a stream and the life it supports, and participate in an activity that rehabilitates their upper bodies and their spirits. In 2003, CFR will offer retreats in 18 US states for 400 survivors of the devastating disease.
:: Learn more about Casting for Recovery
[more]
Favorite Resource for International Activism
Global Exchange
Like so many of the non-profit organizations honored in this year's "Favorite GoodThings" list, San Francisco-based Global Exchange focuses its efforts on connecting people in the world with the ability to help with those who would most benefit from that aid. The non-profit provides helpful information and up-to-date opportunities for activists to get involved on civil and human rights and fair trade issues in hotspots around the world. Perhaps most importantly, Global Exchange is situated at the forefront of the movement for peace and reconciliation in the aftermath of the events of September 11.
:: Learn more about Global Exchange
[more]
Thanks again for your support. As always, stay in touch and have a wonderful 2003.
Peace,
:: GOODTHINGS
Seattle, Washington USA
|
 |
|
 |
|
TALK ABOUT IT
Thoughts on the Favorite GoodThings 2002 honorees? Which ones inspire you the most? Of course, many ideas, actions, and organizations didn't make this year's list. Which positive pacesetters would you nominate for next year? E-mail us at editor@goodthings.com --
don't forget to tell us your name, where you're from, and if we can use your words in a future GoodLetter or on our Web
site.)
LEARN MORE ABOUT IT
:: Each of the Favorite GoodThings 2002 honorees is helping change the world. Please remember to click the links above to get information about what they're all doing and how you can get involved.
DO SOMETHING ABOUT IT
:: Please support our Favorite GoodThings 2002 honorees this holiday season and into a positive and constructive 2003!
|
|
 |
|
 |
|
|
|
