Trying to improve the world

scratch

Least Best Moderator
Staff member
I couldn't find a thread put this, so I decided to start a new one. I'm not trying to toot my own horn or anything like that, I'm just excited about this project because it is new to me and I'm wondering what other people do since we are so blessed to make a decent living.

Some of us do good things to try to improve the world around us a little bit. I used to work with young boys (and girls) as a program director with our local Boy Scout Council. I have helped nail together houses for Habitat for Humanity, an amazing program. I have feed homeless people from a soup kitchen in downtown Atlanta. My wife has been heavily involved for years with a local food pantry to help feed people, sometimes I go in and help on Saturday morning. I'm excited about this, my new church is heavily involved in domestic and international mission work. We send teams into Haiti and Honduras several times a year, and this is a new twist we added recently. We were asked to buy a water filter for $50, the goal was to buy 300. We doubled that goal with no problem and are still going strong. Clean water is a serious problem in impoverished areas, most deaths are caused by diseases due to unclean habits. This simple filter is attached to a 5 gallon bucket, it will produce 150 gallons of clean water a day for ten years. It can easily be back flushed to clean it out. This is enough to provide two families with plenty of clean water.
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The Filter Technology - Global Effect, Inc.
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upschuck

Well-Known Member
I also have put some nails into a Habitat for Humanity house, give food to the hungry, and have gone to Mexico to put in irrigation systems, build and repair houses each of the last several years. Today I packed up a bunch of stuff other people donated for the Philippines.
 

gingerkat

Well-Known Member
I don't make a decent living anymore, but I donate my time helping adults learn to read. I can't believe that the LAUSD (Los Angeles United School District) passed these people through the system year after year and let them graduate, without being able to read. SHAME ON YOU LAUSD!!!! They're functional illiterates and many of them just sneak by in this life, hold jobs, but can't read much past a few small words. Kudos to them, for reaching out and wanting to learn to read. I go two hours at least two days a week (schedule permitting) at a local library, but with all the stupid California budget cuts, things have shifted a little.

Most of them feel ashamed, especially at their age (anywhere from 30-70), but I always try to support them and tell them that it's never too late.It's very emotional for me to watch them when they struggle with something that comes so easy to so many of us. My 8 year niece reads at an advanced level, so when I see tears of sadness & frustration from these people, it breaks my heart and angers me that they were just passed by in school.

But when I see tears of joy from a goal or small feat that was reached, it feels wonderful, not for me, but for them. I've been doing this for a few years now and I often wonder if I can continue because I'm sensitive when it comes to others feelings. Sometimes I take it home with me and it affects me. But in the end, when that person gives me a hug and ends up reading one sentence on his/her own, it feels great. I love it when I get a call from that person telling me that they've enrolled in a community college or even that they were able to write their own check instead of asking spouse.
 
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