This school bus driver delivered the kids, and some hats and gloves

It is an astounding truth - right here in America, this land of wealth and bounty, some people face winter without a hat and gloves. John Lunceford, a school bus driver for the Kennewick School District in Washington state, noticed a child crying at a bus stop. His ears and hands were red from the bitter cold, so when he boarded Lunceford's bus, Lunceford removed his own gloves and put them on the child's hands. 

As soon as his route was finished, Lunceford stopped at the local dollar store. There he bought 10 knit hats and 10 pairs of gloves. He brought them to the school, and with the help of an administrator, delivered the child his own brand-new hat and gloves. The other items will be given free of charge to elementary school children who need them. 

This $8 kindness reaped a $10,000 harvest

The man in front of Tracy Warshal at Aldi's had forgotten his wallet. He had a small order, just some fruit, so Tracy paid for it and wished him a Merry Christmas. It was a small gesture of kindness for Tracy, and she promptly forgot about it.

A couple weeks later, Tracy was contacted by administrators at her place of employment, Piedmont Cancer Network. An anonymous donor had gifted the foundation $10,000 in her name. Apparently, the beneficiary of Tracy's small kindness noticed her company T-shirt with her first name printed near the logo.

Now, those receiving cancer care at Piedmont will reap the benefits of Tracy's small seed of generosity. 

Holiday gifts that build a future

Millions of us spend December shopping for gifts. Malls and online stores offer great deals, coupon and member discounts, and a host of other enticements to get our dollars. Those dollars go into the pockets large corporations whose execs make big bucks and whose employees work their tails off and barely squeak by.

I recently found a number of websites which promote gift-giving with a social conscience. Forbes created a list of companies which donate 10% or more of their profits or match purchased items one-for-one. Some companies provide education, others clean water. Worth checking out.

American Express has promoted Small Business Saturday for years now, and they provide an online guide to help shoppers find local businesses with unique goods year round. This type of shopping allows jobs and dollars to stay local. Small businesses with their personalized service and unique goods provide a diverse, interesting landscape to our towns and cities. Without them, America would be one boring big box store.

Our Better World website provides links to unique goods made mostly overseas. Proceeds from the sales of these handmade items create a living wage for families below the poverty line.

Don't want to buy 'stuff?' Consider giving a gift certificate from a non-profit.

A personal favorite, Heifer International , takes your monetary gift and turns it into a flock of chickens or a goat. Those animals provide eggs or milk which can then be eaten or sold, creating both food and business opportunities for an impoverished family.

Kiva gives donors a chance to invest in a small business enterprise anywhere in the world. They coordinate micro-loans which can be used to purchase the goods needed to start a business. When the loan is repaid, the donor can choose a new business to support, so the same money is recycled over and over.

Interested in helping fellow Americans? Check out Society of St. Andrew's Potato and Produce Project. They organize teams who glean fields after the harvest. The produce gathered is then donated to food banks and shelters to feed the hungry fresh nutritious food.

Music to face down hate

About a month ago, the Juilliard School in NYC was notified that the Westboro Baptist Church planned to picket outside their school. This most un-Christian 'church' is well-known for its hate speech and is not affiliated with the American Baptist Church. They denounced Juilliard as a hub of pride and vanity.

Police were called and kept the picketers and the students about 50 feet apart.

The Juilliard students responded to the group's hate speech, not by shouting back, but by using their gifts. They brought their instruments right out onto the sidewalk and played selections of patriotic, sacred, and popular music. Vocal students from the nearby LaGuardia School for Performing Arts joined them.

Kudos to these young people for their classy response to hate.

These coats for the homeless turn into sleeping bags ... and jobs

When Veronika Scott was a student at the College for Creative Studies in her hometown of Detroit, one of her classes presented a challenge: create a product to fill a community need. Veronika decided to help Detroit's homeless population. She designed a coat which converts to a sleeping bag for nighttime warmth. She brought her early designs to homeless shelters and tweaked the details based on feedback she got from those who used it.

One day, a homeless woman confronted her. She was angry, and told Veronika that she didn't need a coat - she needed a job. Veronika decided she was right. The coat and the sleeping bag were good ideas, but they were a band-aid. Secure employment was the real solution . 

So Veronika founded the non-profit The Empowerment Plan. Seamstresses are hired from Detroit's homeless shelters - 39 people who were once homeless have been given jobs. Over 15,000 coats which turn into sleeping bags have been produced and distributed, not just in Detroit but in 40 states and 7 Canadian provinces. Each coat take over an hour to sew and costs $100. Donations to sponsor a coat are taken on their website. Sponsors now include American Express and Madonna. 

You know the old adage: Give a man a fish and he'll eat for a day; teach a man to fish and he'll eat for a lifetime. Veronika and her team have put their own twist on it. Give a man a coat and he'll be warm for a day. Give him a job and he'll create a new life.