Good People Make the World Go ‘Round

As promised in the last post, Sharing Makes the World Go ‘Round, I’m highlighting a few of the people I’ve found or met who have simple  ways to change the world around us.

For those of you who want to become involved but don’t have a lot of time or have a fear of commitment, try these:

ItStartsWith.Us is the concept of Nate St. Pierre. In about 15 minutes a week you can make a positive impact on someone’s life. Nate sends out a weekly e-mail with a short mission to those that have signed up to help “make a difference in the lives of those around them.”  As he says on the site, there’s no pressure to do the weekly missions.

Out of ItStartsWith.Us came a subgroup called Love Bomb where those who have signed up learn about someone dealing with a hard time. They direct members to that persons blog and together they “drop a love bomb” in words of encouragement, healing and help in the comments section of the blog.

On top of those two ideas from ItStartsWith.Us, there is now Love Drop, recently launched as a micro-giving program where members can donate $1 and the money is given to an individual in need.

I only know Nate through his tweets and e-mails, but he and his Love Bomb and Love Drop team really have  awesome projects and even more awesome attitudes.

Another inspiring place I have come across is More Than Purpose, founded by Nikki Junker.  The purpose is to raise awareness of human trafficking,but as you’ll see it’s more than that.  You will be surprised by what you learn at the site. Join together to abolish slavery, speak and fight for those who can’t and create a world that is truly free. More women and children are sold into slavery for sex than any of us realize. You can actively join this mission by becoming part of Operation Purple Squirrel. Check it out on twitter @OpPrpleSquirrel

Need more encouragement? Looking for some secret friendly spy missions? How about this one:

Secret Agent L, Laura Miller, from Pittsburgh came up with an idea along with her #2 Agent, Vivian to specialize in Random Acts of Kindness.  I’ve been fortunate to meet and get to know both her and Vivian and they are very special people with an idea that any one of us can do.

The goal is to spend $5 or less (“free is good,” says Laura) and secretly place a gift for an unknown recipient without giving away your identity.  Which is just inherently cool.

Secret Agent L  now has Affiliated Agents from all over the world.You can do one mission or you can do many.

You can also join me on my fight to end hunger by spending $5-10 each week
at the grocery store and donating the food items to your local food pantry.
No child should ever go to bed hungry.

Now, you can’t say you didn’t know how to help. I’ve given you a start. I’ll post more great places that need people like you.  Please share with me if you know of a group or organization like these that the world needs to know about. Let me know if you check out any that I posted and decide to join.  Leave a comment,  drop me an e-mail, or mention it on Twitter @mcb1219

Simply put- Around the world there are many good people and they all make the world go ’round.

Sharing Makes the World Go ‘Round

In an e-mail response to my Re:solutions post, I was given this suggestion for a follow-up post:

How the simple sharing of ideas can change the world one person at a time…

It’s true. I simply share my ideas with you.  I read ideas from friend’s and blogger’s that in turn prompt me to do something that makes me better, kinder or meaningful  in someone’s life.  In essence, that’s why I write here.  As I have said before, we all have the power to change the world. Your world might only extend as far as your own home.  That’s great, too! It starts by sharing our stories and motivating each other to be good people.

I was thinking of people I have come in contact with in my life or through social media that try to make a difference in the world.  The unique tie isn’t that they want to change the world. The common bond I found is that the work they do focuses on helping one person at a time. They change the world one person at a time, just like my reader said.  She shared my idea of creating a ‘new year solution’ with her husband. That prompted their discussion on what they could do to be part of a solution that means something to them as a couple. They made a plan and will put it into effect throughout the year.  She ended her e-mail with:

So kudos to you.  You just jumpstarted your re:solutions!

I say it’s  kudos to her and her husband for taking the idea and finding a way to make their own solution.  One that resonates with them.

Let what you see in this picture remind you: even if you can’t see the forest for the trees, there are people beyond our field of vision that need us.

Check back soon for my next post.  I will share some of those people who I mentioned above who are changing the world one person at a time. You might want to join them on their quest. Or they might inspire you to start your own project.  At the least, I am sure it will brighten your day to know there are wonderful people in the world around us.

I can’t say it better than my reader so…

Simply Put- The simple sharing of ideas can change the world one person at a time.