All People Making a Difference
- New cruise ship brand devoted to volunteer trips
Carnival has launched a new brand, fathom, that will take volunteers to the Dominican Republic to teach English, build water filters, and cultivate cacao plants for a women's chocolate-making co-op.
- Pilgrimage on piggyback: Why one boy carried his brother 57 miles on his back
Hunter Gandee walked 57 miles with his younger brother on his back for Cerebral Palsy awareness. How did he also raise more than $200,000?
- How a once-homeless man revolutionized care for the homeless
After Allan Barsema lost it all, he couldn’t turn a blind eye to the people still trapped in a struggle he barely survived.
- Katie Meyler finds More Than Me in Liberia
Her effort to help girls in this West African country stay off the streets and get an education has turned into a personal cause.
- Difference MakerDaniel Arenas started over in his native land, a new Dream in Mexico
He grew up in the US but without citizenship. Now he's helping others return to Mexico.
- Lester Brown: Sustainable energy is here
Sun and wind are moving quickly to become highly competitive sources, says the longtime environmental analyst.
- Giving back: Nine-year-old builds homeless shelters and other selfless acts
The girl, from Washington state, is one of a number of children and preadolescents who are helping those less fortunate.
- This Minnesota town boosted walking by 70 percent. Here's how.
Albert Lea, Minn., adopted a communitywide approach to encourage walking that included widening and extending sidewalks by more than six miles near schools, senior centers, and businesses.
- Kelly Pajak combines an Army career with a passion for sustainable development
Working on a sanitation system for Mosul, Iraq, opened her eyes to the need to work closely with motivated local leaders.
- A 'mini-United Nations' pulls together through soccer
The North Dallas neighborhood of Vickery Meadow is home to refugees from around the world. A youth soccer league brings kids together – and off the streets.
- Never give up, says Aaron Baker, former quadriplegic
After a motorcycle accident, Aaron Baker was told he'd never walk again. Last year, he walked 20 miles across the Mojave Desert.
- Eric Stowe makes a Splash for clean water
The nonprofit group, which works in places like Nepal, sets up self-sustaining filtration systems.
- Difference MakerDonna Tabor is a one-woman charity in Nicaragua
One of her innovative ideas: a cafe where street kids have a safe environment to learn how to work.
- Project STEP changes young lives through music
At Boston’s nonprofit Project STEP, inner-city children learn life-changing skills through studying classical music.
- Chesapeake Bay oysters make a remarkable recovery
After being decimated by disease, pollution, and overharvesting, the Chesapeake Bay’s renowned oysters are thriving once again, thanks largely to a selectively bred oyster that grows rapidly and is more resistant to pathogens.
- From orphan to founder of a radio station aimed at peace building
Perry Saxe Gateka loved radio. So he attached his homemade antenna to the highest branch of an avocado tree and began broadcasting to more than 100 households in Burundi.
- Shadab Hassan turned down a corporate career to start a village school
H.H. High School, deep in the hinterland of India's Jharkhand State, transforms children's lives through education.
- Solar-powered 'ATMs' to deliver clean water in Pakistan
The two-foot-square prototype machine looks and functions like an ATM, but dispenses water instead of cash. Users are issued a card they use to claim a daily amount of water.
- Put water in the bank: a solution for drought-stricken California
One answer to California’s severe water shortage may be groundwater banking, in which municipalities, farmers, and other water users store water in aquifers for later use.
- Difference MakerOlga Murray in Nepal: shaken but undeterred
The founder of the Nepal Youth Foundation, profiled in a 2013 Monitor article, was preparing for a birthday party when the earthquake hit. Now she's back in the US raising funds to aid Nepal.