Tuesday
Australian woman leaves $4 million mansion to help homeless children
"She couldn't have children of her own," her nephew, Michael Ellis said.
"But she loved children and left almost everything she had to a charity which supported them."
Thursday
12 creative little libraries from around the world.
Our cities are full of large libraries that are amazing and free, but here we have chosen to share the little tiny libraries that are springing up everywhere. These libraries can be created by anyone, anywhere and each one has a story to tell about the love of books, the love of sharing, and a sense of community.
Hundreds of little libraries have been created but not all of them have been photographed and shared. That’s why we set out to find as many little libraries as we could. We love how they add uniqueness to the areas of the cities and suburbs where they are found. We really enjoy the creativity that has gone into making these libraries and have included what we feel are the most creative from around the world.
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Tree stump library |
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Robot library Monica Thompson |
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Tardis in Kenmore Washington, USA. Jennifer Brozek Wizard of Oz Tornado library Pomeroy Street MASSACHUSETTS, USA Space age library |
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Winchester, Texas USA. 'We decided to build a library that reflected our small community. A chicken coop theme fit us perfectly!' - Margaret Atkins. |
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Created by Stereotank, a public installation project providing New Yorkers with a spontaneous opportunity to read a book. |
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Tree trunk library in Jackson Street Seattle, USA |
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Library in a phone booth |
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Public Bookshelf created in a bus stop in the city of Porto Alegre, Brazil Book house in Maleny, Queensland, Australia. |
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Houston, Texas USA. A boat-shaped Library at the church for Clear Lake Community. Diane Jones. |
Little Free Libraries and Tiny Sheds book cover |
If you liked this article you may also like History of the Little Free Library which includes the benefits of running a little library.
Tuesday
Pay it forward
Thursday, April 28, 2016
Pay it forward is an expression used when someone who is done a good deed repays it to others not the original benefactor. The concept is old, but the term is quite recent:
- First use of the term may have been by Lily Hardy Hammond in her 1916 book In the Garden of Delight: "You don't pay love back; you pay it forward."
- The Pay it forward concept was the key plot element in an ancient Greek play from 317 BC called Dyskolos by Menander.
- The concept was described by Benjamin Franklin, in a letter to Benjamin Webb dated April 25, 1784:
I do not pretend to give such a deed; I only lend it to you. When you [...] meet with another honest Man in similar Distress, you must pay me by lending this Sum to him; enjoining him to discharge the Debt by a like operation, when he shall be able, and shall meet with another opportunity. I hope it may thus go thro' many hands, before it meets with a Knave that will stop its Progress. This is a trick of mine for doing a deal of good with a little money.
- The term "pay it forward" was used by Robert A. Heinlein in his book Between Planets, published in 1951
- In 2000, Catherine Ryan Hyde's novel Pay It Forward was adapted into a film of the same name, starring Kevin Spacey, Helen Hunt and Haley Joel Osment. It describes creating a social movement of doing good deeds to make the world a better place.
Letter to Dane and Andy for The Foundation Contest
Stella winner donates money to other writers
Monday
Why Good Things Happen to Good People
Why Good Things Happen to Good People: How to Live a Longer, Healthier, Happier Life by the Simple Act of Giving
Thursday
What are Fair Trade goods?
Fairtrade products, that have the Fairtrade logo, come from farmers and workers who are justly paid for their work. This means the money you spend on goods can improve an entire community’s day-to-day lives: helping farmers and their communities build better roads, get health care and send their kids to school. Meet the Fairtrade Farmers
Find out more about Fairtrade in Australia.
Find Fairtrade:Find Fairtrade products near you.
Find out more about Fairtrade in the USA.
30 Famous People Who’ve Helped Demystify Depression
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Kurt Vonnegut Jr American author who wrote about his personal experiences with depression in |
Read the list of 30 famous people doing good for depression, by being honest, here.
- Kristen Bell who explains her experience with anxiety and depression In an interview on YouTube's Off-Camera Show.
- Jim Carrey who acknowledged he has spent much of his life dealing with depression in an interview with 60 Minutes.
- Eminem goes into detail about his battle with depression in his memoir, The Way I Am.
- Angelina Jolie, who has always been very open about her bouts with mental illness, has even revealed that her depression included cutting herself.
Monday
Good words, Good actions

However many you speak,
What good will they do you
If you do not act on upon them?
Buddha
What good will you do today?
LINKING UP WITH NOBH
Sunday
Good Giving

The Greater Good Network of websites offer a unique opportunity to support all of these causes.
There is no charge to you.
You can click once a day, every day of the year on each of the sites:
Hunger - Breast Cancer - Animal Rescue - Veterans - Child Health - Literacy - Autism - Rainforest
When you click 100% of sponsor advertising fees go to the charitable partners.
Your click at the Hunger Site Fight Famine in the Horn of Africa & Combat Hunger in the U.S.
Your Actions at the Breast Cancer Fund Mammograms For Women In Need.
Your Actions at the animal site Fund Food And Care For Rescued Animals
Your click at the Veterans site Fund Meals For Homeless And Hungry Veterans.
Your Actions Here at the Child Health site Fund Healthcare For Children In Need.
Your Actions at the Literacy site Fund Free Books For Children In Need.
Your Actions Here Fund Therapy To Help Children With Autism.
Your click at the Rainforest Site Fund The Protection of Vital Wildlife Habitat
Mum's United online
They have a free online recipe finder which includes breakfast, lunch, dinner, dessert and snack recipes including Banana Pikelets, Peach and Almond Tarts, Moroccan chicken and Mini Pizzas.

Japanese
Kids
Lebanese
Mexican
Moroccan
Spanish
Thai
Vegetarian
To receive the Tick, products are independently tested to meet nutrition standards with less salt, more fibre and wholegrain, more calcium and less kilojoules.
There is a shopping guide listing all the products which have the Tick, including all fruits and vegetables which is great for people with health problems who want more information.
Thursday
Celebrating Spring

$7.000.00 raised this year on 27th and 28th August for rural fire fighters. The Wattle Day Association gave 3,100 Wattle Day badges to the Volunteer Brigades Association to help raise funds for rural fire-fighters.
PHOTO BY Melburnian via Wikipedia Golden Wattle, Burnley Gardens, Victoria, Australia.
Ancestors can return home

Britain's Natural History Museum is to return the largest number of indigenous ancestral remains to date.
Torres Strait Island leaders, with the aid of theAustralian Government, have been campaigning to bring home the remains of their ancestors, which are held in may different museums, so the spirits of their ancestors can rest.
The remains of 138 Indigenous people will be returned and buried in many different ceremonies in the Islands which are situated between the northern coast of Australia and Papua New Guinea.
"After Torres Strait Island elders asked for the remains museum scientists were able to identify the origins of 141 skeletal and soft tissue remains, ranging from a single tooth to a rare mummy. They linked 119 individuals to the Torres Strait islands, including 19 to specific islands." ScienceInsider
Ned David, a community leader from the islands, said it was "a key step in the healing process for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people from injustices committed against our people in the past..."
The remains had been taken from the islands by early explorers, sailors and missionaries in the 19th century and many of them where sold to the National History Museum, by one dealer, in 1884.
Ned David said he is "deeply touched" by the decision to return the remains, that it is a solemn occassion and that many islanders are very emotional about the return. He also said that no blame will be given and that he hopes for the continuation of a good relationship with the museum.
PHOTOGRAPH OF THURSDAY ISLAND, ONE OF THE LARGER TORRES STRAIT ISLANDS.
Saturday
eco friendly gift ideas

Frugal said... "Good News for the environment. Give gifts that use themselves up and don't clutter peoples lifes with stuff like :
- memberships and courses,
- lotions and soaps,
- art materials,
- stationary supplies
- food, like jam or salad dressings " Frugal website.
•support local food growers, local artists and crafts people
•give vouchers for luxury items like beauty treatments e.g. manicures and facials, or a restaurant meal voucher
•movie tickets, theatre tickets, rock concert tickets, fun park tickets
•enviro friendly wrap - wrap gifts in material e.g. tea towels for food gifts, scarves for clothing or jewellery, re use paper,
•Earth Sky Sea eco friendly gift suggestions.
•Things from nature - like potted plants, flowers from your garden, mini cactus, a herb garden; pine cones and other seed pods you have collected make wonderful decorations; learn how to create with from Garden Mama
•Handmade - this idea is building momentum and has a really big following all over again. Why is handmade better for the environment? "Every item you make or purchase from a small-scale independent artist or crafter strikes a small blow to the forces of mass production." buy handmade.org Check out craft tutorials with Shannon at Rhythm and Rhyme; Handmade Items on Etsy or Made it
•support others who need help at The Green Gift collection were your money helps protect the environment and your gift is tax deductible or The Oxfam Collection where you can browse for charitable gifts
Most Helpful Person Award
Dianne Carroll won a competition run by American Express with the support of Oprah, as part of Oprah's Australian tour.
For her ongoing and amazing efforts, Dianne has been awarded a one hundred thousand dollar grant for her charity, Trans-Help, to help truck drivers and their families and given the title "Australia's Most Helpful Person."
Dianne Carroll is the daughter of a truck driver and one of six children. She knows first hand what her mother and siblings lived through with one parent often not at home and on the road. Dianne could see a unique problem where drivers were working away from family and home for long stretches at a time. Families had to deal with many issues including loss, trauma, depression, injury and drivers health issues.
She started the Trans-Help Foundation to help transport drivers and their families in times of need.
Just one of Trans-Helps amazing initiatives is the travelling Health and Support Unit. The "Health and Support Unit has enabled drivers to be checked on the road for high blood pressure, diabetes, cholesterol, obesity, depression, and also a variety of support brochures covering road trauma, cancer etc...
Trans-Help believes this unique program is ensuring the industry a healthier one, whilst also reducing fatalities on our roads." TRUCKERS NEWS QUARTERLY You can check here regulary to find out where the Unit will be next.
Sunday
What is your good resolution?

It is interesting to hear what others attempt for their new years resolution beyond the norm of stop smoking, lose weight, drink less - all less, less, what about more?
We wish each other health, happiness and success but how do these wishes translate and manifest in our ordinary lives? Maybe you could eat more vegetables or take some vitamins for good health but this all sounds a bit mundane to me. Why not try doing some good for others and lift ourselves out of the everyday? There are many causes and many ways of giving, as you can see at right, but what good will you try?
INSPIRATION:
"We make a living by what we get, we make a life by what we give." Winston Churchill
"It is not length of life, but depth of life." Ralph Waldo Emerson
More good quotes at right and scroll down.
THANKYOU
lizette_natalie
for Bokeh photo
Thursday
Track santa on Google earth!

Happy Holidays to you and your family wishing you All Things Good - Health, happiness, safety, friends, family, laughter and the ability to be grateful for this life that we have...
Welcome to NORAD Tracks Santa where you can track Santa on google earth
Tuesday
Helping Haiti
They are acheiving some great things for this poor nation:
- working with farmers to plant trees and help acheive better yields
- providing food for orphans
- training 76 at risk youth in classical music
- providing tents and water throughout Port-au-Prince
To find out more about this organization, donate or volunteer please check out YÉLE HAITI
Friday
Good craft
Felt owl ornament with cut out - thanks Jessica
Sunny window star from Twig and Toadstool craft classes
Magic wands - thanks Shannon from Rhythm and Rhyme
Tuesday
Good things come in small packages

Making things with our hands is good for the soul
These things are just so cute and just ooze goodness. Little felt gnomes and pixies in purses and handmade felt animals.
Shannon also is generously good - showing us all how to create many of her good things: beautiful fleece birds
peg doll flowers