It’s often the furry critters that we as a society are concerned about but there are certain people who think its just as important to care for some of “less furry” of our animal kingdom; namely bats. Jason Corbett makes it his mission to help these nocturnal creatures.

Corbett is a conservation biologist living in Arizona who has taken it upon himself to make sure bats don’t become casualties when one of their habitats, abandoned coal mines, are closed down. He recognizes the importance of bats in our ecosystem by eating insects that often destroy crops and realizes there are ways to protect bats that are relatively easy and cost-efficient.

Corbett travels around the Southwest, examining abandoned coal mines that are about to be shut down and ensures the bats stay safe. This could mean maintaining the coal mine by making it safer or closing them down completely and excluding the bats in a humane way, via the use of chicken wire which makes sure they can leave but can’t return. It’s a simple enough process that ultimately protects people AND animals:

‘It’s easy enough to exclude bats from mines. There’s no reason for them to be entombed,” said Corbett.

Jason Corbett IS Batman!

Send us your comments or other positive news! We’d love to hear from you.

Many of us are creatures of habit. We drive to the grocery store, even though its a ten-minute walk or 5-minute bike ride. We forget how simply taking our bike to work wakes our bodies up and enlivens us in addition to helping the environment. And while fuel prices are at an all-time high, we still often jump in the car for the simplest of tasks.

When Tian Harter started his “Don’t be Fuelish” campaign as a way to promote bicycle commuting, he never knew it would become such a huge success.

“I just wouldn’t have predicted a few years ago when I started producing my bumper stickers that I’d be seeing $4/gallon gas so soon.” he comments.

He soon formed an allegiance with the Silicon Valley Bicycle Coalition as a way to promote “Bike to Work Day”. Together, this group of bike afficianados set up close to 50 stations (called “Energizer Stations”) which provides the bicycling commuters refreshments, give aways and plain old encouragement.

Every year in California’s Santa Clara County, this group of bike enthusiasts sets up nearly 50 “Energizer Stations” to provide free refreshments, give-aways, bicycling information, and encouragement to thousands of bicyclists on their way to work in California’s Santa Clara County.

His philosophy is to make everyone who breaks free from the fuel trap feel special and noticed on a community level. Local businesses are happy to donate as well, so the prizes these bicyclists receive are often quite substantial, like a free dinner or discounted sports equipment.

In addition, Tian and friends work with local heavyweights like Google and Yahoo as well as major government and community agencies, whom also help foster a “commuter bike approach” with their employees.

“Bike to Work Day,” which started 14 years ago in San Francisco, has now spread nationwide. Bicycle friendly cities from across the U.S. participate, increasing the public awareness and importance of moving away from fuel-reliance.

“Whether you drive or ride, please remember…share the road!”

And share your comments with us! We’d love to hear your positive news!

http://www.bikeleague.org

http://www.sfbike.org

The Homeless World Cup is a transformative and life-altering football tournament for homeless people around the globe. It’s a sublime example of positive news!

What is it exactly?

It’s a tournament that unites homeless people from 48 nations, where 500 players are given a chance to represent their country in a globally-loved and revered sport. This year, Scotland beat Poland in the finals by 9 to 3, in front of a throng of fans.

But its not just the players that benefit - 25,000 homeless people are part of the pre-tournament training. This training is so thorough and the guidance so great that many homeless people (77% according to one year’s statistics) move on to find homes or get an eduction or a job or repair relationships with their family.

The Homeless World Cup is sport, community, guidance and training all in one.

Poland’s Captain, Rafal Rozonski, had these touching words to say:

“One of my strongest dreams has been realized - to represent my country and participate in a World Cup Final. It can be very hard to be homeless but playing soccer makes you forget about that. You can be free.”

The 6th Homeless World Cup 2008 will be held in Melbourne, Australia.

While many students are learning the fundamentals - reading, writing and arithmetic, some Canadian students are being asked to delve deeply inside themselves and understand the meaning of the word “peace.” The Canadian Cultivating Peace project was created in 2002 and was build upon the idea that if a child can truly understand alternative ways to deal with conflict, then a peaceful and cultural “ripple effect” would take place.

So what specifically are these children taught? They learn about long-term solutions to cultural differences, sustainable development, economic disparity, fair trade not consumerism and positive news from around the world, where peace has made a difference. In addition, and perhaps more importantly, they are taught ways to be personally accountable. What can they do to make their world a more peaceful place? When can they choose a peaceful resolution to a difficult situation? How can they handle conflict differently?

Four chosen students, 11 years old, went to Peace Camp, held in Cairo, Egypt and worked with other students from around the world, cross-pollinating their new beliefs…and hopefully, spreading them throughout the world.

Send us your thoughts!

Dr Prakash and Manda Amte are now both now 60 and have done charitable work that would stun most people in scope. 37 years prior, Dr. Prakash moved he and his family to the heart of a jungle in India to care for the Madia Gonds, an indigenous tribe that had seen very little if any medical care, save the work of the local witch doctor, and were suffering from malaria, tuberculosis, diarrhea, whooping cough, gangrene and malnutrition.

For the first six months, the tribe would have nothing to do with them, but after years of good deeds, slowly but surely, tribes people from hundreds of miles away would pay a visit to Dr. Prakash and Manda Amte, in great need of medical help. Since that point, Dr. Prakash has helped tens of thousands of people and animals (he created a rescue center for injured animals as well). He and his wife are recent recipients of The Magsaysay Award, which is often referred to as the Asian Nobel Prize. When Prakash Amte heard the news, he was busy tending to the injuries of an eight feet long python.

Again, the scope of Dr. Prakash and his wife’s work is dwarfed by this blog entry. Their work is stunning in its vastness and history. If you’d like to read more, you can do so here.

And if you have any comments about positive news, send it our way. We love hearing from you!

Orrin Hudson is changing the way inner-city kids think, one chess game at a time. A chess champion, U.S. Air Force veteran, and former Alabama State Trooper and entrepreneur, Hudson began offering free, 16-week chess workshops across the nation in 2001.

He knew that chess was more than just a game; it offered strategies that a troubled youth could apply to a myriad of areas in his or her life. He knew that chess sharpened a young mind and helped them to think many steps ahead. He knew it was a way that a kid could stay off the street and continue another form of education.

At this point, Hudson, often called “The Pied Piper of Positivity,” has coached more than 20,000 kids in over 15 states. The name of the program “Heads Up, Pants Up, Grades Up” (”Pants Up” encourages the kids to abandon the baggy pants look in favor of something more professional.) In a remark that has many meanings, Hudson tells his students:

“If you make the right moves, you can get the right results.”

If you have some more positive news to share, send it our ways. We’d love to hear from you!

Campi ya Kanzi is a Kenyan safari camp making great strides in environmental awareness. Recently awarded its second annual World Savers Award by the magazine Conde Nast Traveler, this solar powered camp changes the face of resorts and safari camps around the world, as more and more travelers purposefully choose places that care about the land on which they live and giving back to the community.

Campi ya Kanzi (which means camp of the hidden treasure) is staffed primarily by the local Maasai tribe, (http://www.maasai.com) and is located between Amboselli and Tsavo National Park. For $500 a night, you are treated to a luxury tented experience and the opportunity to track game with experts in the area.

The awards given by Conde Nast celebrated resort destinations that are making efforts to preserve the environment, alleviate poverty, further education, conserve wildlife and improve health.

Please send in your comments or suggestions if you have any destinations that are eco-friendly and giving back to their community. Positive news spreads positive news!

When Terri Johnson fled her New Orleans home for a safe shelter in Fort Worth, she had something on her mind other than the oncoming Hurricane Gustav: her son’s first birthday. Christopher Lewis was turning one and she feared that she’d have to overlook his birthday due to the extenuating circumstances.

But the people at the Fort Worth shelter refused to let that happen. Gathering funds of their own, they arranged a proper birthday for Christopher Lewis, complete with balloons, cake, an animated movie, party favors and gifts. It was positive news for Terri and her son, amidst the concerns of the impending storm.

“They surprised me with this. This is wonderful,” Johnson said through sobs. “I feel more happy than he is.”

The director of operations at the shelter, Becky Wach, explained that it’s important for the evacuees to feel a sense of normalcy during a stressful time, so this party is just what the doctor ordered.

“Our mission is always to reach out to those who need us the most,” Wach said. “We wanted to try to make it feel like home as much as we could.”

If you have any comments or positive news you’d like to send our way, please do so!

It began in a papermaking studio in Burlington, Vermont. Drew Cameron and Drew Matott wanted to figure out a way to aid return vets from Iraq to process and assimilate their experience. They experimented with shredding old military uniforms and found they could make paper from it.

This is how the Combat Paper project began.

Since then, the pair has toured Combat Paper throughout the U.S., where soldiers were invited to bring their old uniforms and transform it into paper.

The two Drews rationale?

That this transformative process would aid the soldiers in processing their experience. If the soldier could see how an old uniform, which may have carried negative connotations for them, into something positive, then he or she could see the process of internal transformation as well, via art therapy.

Combat Paper also allowed veterans from all across the country to meet and share their experiences, transformative and healing process in and of itself.

“Most of the time the veterans have never met. It’s amazing to see how much they have in common.”

- Drew Matott

What do you think about turning negative into positive news via art therapy?

We’d love to hear from you!

Art Therapy - Positive News for Vets

Sonya Barclay was in serious need of some positive news. Her breast cancer had spread through her bones and feeling worn-out from treatment. But that didn’t stop her from wanting to make some improvements to her old home, in serious disrepair, that housed her four children, her husband and herself. She and her husband decided to compile a tape for “Extreme Makeover: Home Edition.”

Surely the producers of the TV show would see this family’s need and want to take on the project. Her family worked hard to compile a video that displayed the hardship they had fallen under, with her husband explaining to the camera how he had recently lost his job at the local mill, which had recently shut down.

But the TV show receives a lot of tapes. And unfortunately the Barclays weren’t one of the chosen families.

So what did her community do? They built a house for her. The city of Old Town, Maine gathered and in the old “barn raising” tradition built a new, 3 story home for the Barclays within 22 days with the help of 400 volunteers and 22 businesses.

The Barclays were floored (literally!)

Says Sonya:

“This to me is more than a dream come true. And it didn’t take a TV show to build this house. It was built out of love, compassion and they knew that we needed it and they went ahead and did it.”