Young adults gain knowledge and compassion when part of charitable projects. Their self-confidence increases as well as their sense of community, which has staying power for a lifetime. This story shows how students and communities work together to help needy families, and interestingly, help themselves:

Normally, the day before Thanksgiving on the campus of Gonzaga High School in Washington, D.C is found to be silent. All the students are at home with their families and enjoying the holiday break. However, that is not the case in the basement of the next door church. Faculty, staff and parents have gathered to volunteer their time to feed the needy.

Inside the basement, folks worked diligently all day long making Thanksgiving dinners with all the trimmings to feed about 50 people that are older and live nearby in the lower income dwellings. The meals are a welcome sight and are a blessing to those that receive them from the volunteers from the school. The holidays are not the only time that this charitable work occurs. Volunteers help feed the needy twice a week all year long in a project founded in 2001.

The project, started by Robert Egger is called the Campus Kitchens Project (CKP) and it uses resources that are both available and left over. They use the campus kitchens, the leftover food and volunteer students to help prepare and feed the hungry. The program has taken hold and spread to 28 colleges and 3 high schools.

Read more at Amazing News.

I usually pass on gifts during the holidays. I don’t like the excess and frankly, the things I need are beyond a ribboned box. But like anyone else, I still feel a thrill when a gift is given to me. Curiousity, thrill, the wonder of the unknown.

Here are some sweet quotes on gifts this holiday season - or any season of the year!

You give but little when you give of your possessions.  It is when you give of yourself that you truly give.  ~Kahlil Gibran, The Prophet

What is bought is cheaper than a gift.  ~Portuguese Proverb

A wise lover values not so much the gift of the lover as the love of the giver.  ~Thomas á Kempis

The only gift is a portion of thyself.  ~Ralph Waldo Emerson

We should give as we would receive, cheerfully, quickly, and without hesitation; for there is no grace in a benefit that sticks to the fingers.  ~Seneca

We do not quite forgive a giver.  The hand that feeds us is in some danger of being bitten.  ~Ralph Waldo Emerson, Essays

But it is a cold, lifeless business when you go to the shops to buy something, which does not represent your life and talent, but a goldsmith’s.  ~Ralph Waldo Emerson, “Gifts,” Essays, Second Series, 1844

If instead of a gem, or even a flower, we should cast the gift of a loving thought into the heart of a friend, that would be giving as the angels give.  ~George MacDonald

The manner of giving is worth more than the gift.  ~Pierre Corneille, Le Menteur

Christmas is the season when you buy this year’s gifts with next year’s money.  ~Author Unknown

A hug is a great gift - one size fits all, and it’s easy to exchange.  ~Author Unknown

If you give what can be taken, you are not really giving.  Take what you are given, not what you want to be given.  Give what cannot be taken.  ~Idries Shah

Celebrities often seem out-of-touch with the world around them, draped in excess and entitlement. But many are making sound contributions to their communities, such as Jon Bon Jovi, who opened up a “pay what you can” restaurant in Red Bank, New Jersey.

Soul Kitchen is a new restaurant opened in Red Bank, New Jersey, by Jon Bon Jovi and his wife, Dorothea. The establishment offers a “pay what you can afford” payment model, and serves wholesome, gourmet food made with fresh ingredients grown in the restaurant’s garden, and other local produce.

On the website, they explain that Soul Kitchen is “A community restaurant with no prices on the menu; customers donate to pay for their meal. If you are unable to donate you may do volunteer work in exchange for your family’s meal.”

But as NJ.com reports, this is no soup kitchen serving up desperation and gruel. “The décor is upscale. Patrons don’t wait in line — they are waited on.”

Read more.

Is there enough trash to build a viable house? This woman uses resourcefulness and ingenuity to prove it can be done.

House Made Entirely out of Trash

The shopping onslaught has begun. But that doesn’t mean you have to be sucked in! There are some GREAT organizations out there, so when you buy a gift, you help the world. I love shopping at 10,000 Villages, for instance. Its a wonderful feeling to know you’re helping small craftspeople around the world. It gives shopping a whole other feel:

1. 10,000 Villages Online Store: One of the world’s largest fair trade organizations and a founding member of the World Fair Trade Organization (WFTO), 10,000 Villages offers gifts and accessories representing the diverse cultures of artisans from 38 countries. Your purchases help improve the lives of tens of thousands of artisans worldwide. [Shop 10,000 Villages]

2. Best Friends Animal Society Online Store: There’s no reason to shop at the big box pet stores for the animal lovers in your life this holiday season when you can purchase collars, treats, and toys directly from one of the best animal charities in the United States. [Shop Best Friends Animal Society]

3. CARE Packages: CARE has a very unique holiday gift program that allows you to compile care packages to send to women entrepreneurs and girls worldwide. As a group or as an individual, CARE Packages can help send girls in Afghanistan to school for a year, or help expectant mothers in Peru safely deliver. It’s fun and you’ll be bringing hope to girls and women around the world. [Send a CARE Package]

4. Concern Worldwide Gifts: When you buy Concern Gifts, you support Concern’s work in 25 countries worldwide – bringing food, clean water, good health, education and a higher standard of living within reach of more people. Although Concern is based in the U.K., their gift program also accepts U.S.-issued credit cards. [Shop Concern Gifts]

5. Feeding America Tribute Gifts: With poverty and food insecurity at record levels in the Untied States, it’s practically your patriotic duty to donate to Feeding America!  [Give a Feeding America Tribute Gift]

6. Jane Goodall Institute Online Store: You don’t have to be primate activist to shop at the JGI Online Store. Their store also offers jewelry, African art and music, and clothing. That said, there’s also some great gifts for the primate activists in your life.  [Shop the Jane Goodall Institute Online Store]

7. Kiva Cards: Starting a $25, Kiva Cards change lives. You can purchase Kiva Cards which then can be redeemed by your gift recipient to fund a loan of his or her choosing. A microfinance nonprofit working to uplift entrepreneurs out of poverty worldwide, this is great holiday gift for those subscribe to the belief of giving a hand-up, not a handout. [Buy Kiva Cards]

8. Save the Children Gifts of Joy: From ornaments  handmade in India to the sponsorship of a girl’s education in a developing nation to providing health snacks at school to children in the United States, Save the Children has put a together a great online catalog for giving this holiday season. [Give a Save the Children Gift of Joy]

9. Sea Shepherd Conservation Society Online Store: If you have a family member or friend who supports saving the whales and dolphins from slaughter with direct action and activist intervention, then Sea Shepherd is a great choice for a holiday gift. The nonprofit behind Whale Wars, their online store also includes numerous items ideal for skaters, surfers, and other ocean-loving hipsters. [Shop Sea Shepherd]

10. Special Olympics Tribute Gifts: An excellent choice for the athletes in your life, Special Olympics Tribute Gifts enable those with intellectual disabilities to experience the power of sports to create champions. [Give a Special Olympics Tribute Gift]

11. Women for Women International’s Gifts That Give Back: Women for Women’s gifts enable you to empower women to rebuild their lives after the ravages of war. You can purchase everything from looms to farming supplies to books, rulers, and pencils which are then given in the name of your gift recipient to a woman in war-torn country.  [Give a Women for Women's Gift That Gives Back]

Source: NonProfits.org

While we don’t celebrate Thanksgiving all over the world, we all acknowledge the importance of gratitude. Or sitting down with our friends and families and sharing a meal. Feasts are a time to acknowledge the plenitude of our lives as well as give pause to others less fortunate.

Here are some quotes on Thanksgiving in particular, which hopefully can be appreciated by all cultures.

A lot of Thanksgiving days have been ruined by not carving the turkey in the kitchen.
Kin Hubbard

An optimist is a person who starts a new diet on Thanksgiving Day.
Irv Kupcinet

Dear Lord; we beg but one boon more: Peace in the hearts of all men living, peace in the whole world this Thanksgiving.
Joseph Auslander

Even though we’re a week and a half away from Thanksgiving, it’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas.
Richard Roeper

From too much love of living, From hope and fear set free, We thank with brief thanksgiving Whatever gods may be that no life lives for ever; that dead men rise up never; that even the weariest river winds somewhere safe to sea.
Algernon Charles Swinburne

Gratitude is the inward feeling of kindness received. Thankfulness is the natural impulse to express that feeling. Thanksgiving is the following of that impulse.
Henry Van Dyke

I celebrated Thanksgiving in an old-fashioned way. I invited everyone in my neighborhood to my house, we had an enormous feast, and then I killed them and took their land.
Jon Stewart

I love chicken. I would eat chicken fingers on Thanksgiving if it were socially acceptable.
Todd Barry

If you think Independence Day is America’s defining holiday, think again. Thanksgiving deserves that title, hands-down.
Tony Snow

It is now common knowledge that the average American gains 7 pounds between Thanksgiving and New Year’s Day.
Marilu Henner

It’s like being at the kids’ table at Thanksgiving - you can put your elbows on it, you don’t have to talk politics… no matter how old I get, there’s always a part of me that’s sitting there.
John Hughes

It’s so warm now, and Thanksgiving came so early - is it just me, or does it not really feel like Ramadan?
David Letterman

My cooking is so bad my kids thought Thanksgiving was to commemorate Pearl Harbor.
Phyllis Diller

Whether you are for or against the Occupy Wall Street movement, one thing can be agreed on: people have the power to make change globally. If you believe in what these groups are doing around the world, help them in whatever way possible. Here are some suggestions.

We cannot go on expecting solutions to come from the political and economic elites who ride in limousines with security guards. They are not exposed to the impacts of their policies, so the feedback loop has been broken by the concentration of wealth and power in a few hands. This is why so many people are out in the streets demanding a transition from the dominant system (guns and money) to a new system that will give social justice and environmental restoration a higher priority than corporate profit-making.

By Kevin Danaher – Co-Founder,  Global Exchange

Many of us, globally and locally, are feeling the pinch (or the stranglehold) of a trying economy. Here are a few quotes about a different kind of wealth to remind us that we’re all rich in our own ways:

Health is the greatest gift, contentment the greatest wealth, faithfulness the best relationship.
Buddha

It is health that is real wealth and not pieces of gold and silver.
Mohandas Gandhi

It is neither wealth nor splendor; but tranquility and occupation which give you happiness.
Thomas Jefferson

Wealth is not his that has it, but his that enjoys it.
Benjamin Franklin

It is only when the rich are sick that they fully feel the impotence of wealth.
Benjamin Franklin

The first wealth is health.
Ralph Waldo Emerson

Fear of death increases in exact proportion to increase in wealth.
Ernest Hemingway

In a country well governed, poverty is something to be ashamed of. In a country badly governed, wealth is something to be ashamed of.
Confucius

He is richest who is content with the least, for content is the wealth of nature.

Socrates
Books are the treasured wealth of the world and the fit inheritance of generations and nations.
Henry David Thoreau

Probably the greatest harm done by vast wealth is the harm that we of moderate means do ourselves when we let the vices of envy and hatred enter deep into our own natures.
Theodore Roosevelt

Ability is a poor man’s wealth.
John Wooden

Wealth, like happiness, is never attained when sought after directly. It comes as a by-product of providing a useful service.
Henry Ford

All the breaks you need in life wait within your imagination, Imagination is the workshop of your mind, capable of turning mind energy into accomplishment and wealth.
Napoleon Hill

Read more: http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/keywords/wealth_2.html#ixzz1bEaMyYcV

Let’s take a moment of thanks and appreciation for the Occupy Wall Street protesters. You don’t have to agree with them. But they are exercising their rights as US citizens and taking a stand and attempting to make a positive change.

What can you do today to take a stand, no matter how small? Make a difference in your own life first and the ripple effect will occur. How can you instill in others around you the importance of standing up for your rights?

Sometimes, we create wonderful events in our lives. And sometimes amazing events happen to us. This story exemplifies people’s innate connection to wildlife and their occasional need for our aid. How can you help out an animal today (and yes - as little extra love and attention count!)

4 Deer Saved from Certain Death in Alaska Sea Passage Way

A foursome of young button bucks fell upon some good luck Sunday as they were pulled from the icy waters of Stephens Passage by a group of locals out to enjoy the last few days of recent sunshine.

These good Samaritans describe their experience as “one of those defining moments in life.” A group of four juvenile Sitka black-tailed deer. They swam right toward the boat, then, they started to circle the boat. They were looking up and looked like they needed help.

Four deer swim toward the Satre’s boat Sunday. Once they reached the vessel, Satre said they began to circle the boat and looked obviously distressed. The typically skittish and absolutely wild animals came willingly and once on the boat, collapsed with exhaustion. They were shivering.

Four Sitka black-tailed bucks pulled from the waters of Stephens Passage Sunday recover on the back of Tom Satre’s 62-foot charter vessel, the Alaska Quest. All deer were transported to Taku Harbor and witnesses reported they all recovered from what appeared to be exhaustion and a bit of hypothermia. Once the group reached the dock, the first to be pulled from the water hopped onto the dock, looked back, then leapt into the waters of the harbor and swam to shore. He quickly disappeared into the forest. Two others followed suit, after a bit of prodding and assistance from the group.

One of the four Sitka black-tailed bucks pulled from the waters of Stephens Passage Sunday is seen being transported via wheelbarrow by Tom Satre after reaching Taku Harbor . Witnesses reported all the deer recovered fully from what appeared to be exhaustion and a bit of  hypothermia.

From left: Tom, Anna and Tim Satre help one of the “button” bucks to its feetafter they rescued it from Stephens Passage. Four bucks in all were rescued.

Source: Northern Sports Network