In the early stages of his career, socially conscious hip hop artist Devine Carama began to notice that his Lexington, Kentucky, community was in need. He lost friends to gun violence. He saw at-risk kids who wanted to play competitive-level basketball, but who were unable to join a league due to the costs. Devine was driven to get involved and help those in need within the community.
Posts for April, 2018
Apr
19
Posted by aknowles to Daily Point of Light, Volunteer Stories, Volunteer Recognition, National Volunteer Week
Apr
18
Posted by aknowles to Daily Point of Light, Volunteer Stories, Volunteer Recognition, Youth Service
Two years ago, Will Gladstone studied the endangered blue-footed booby in his fifth-grade science class. He learned its population had declined by 50 percent in the past 60 years, and scientists didn’t know why. Most kids would have closed their book and forgotten about the endangered bird, living far away in the Galápagos Islands. But not Will, who was intrigued by this “really cool bird.”
Apr
17
Posted by aknowles to Daily Point of Light, Volunteer Stories, Volunteer Recognition, National Volunteer Week
At the age of 16, Rana Abdelhamid was the victim of a hate crime in New York City when a stranger tried to rip the hijab from her head. “I felt shaken and all alone,” she said. She wanted to find a way to help bring Muslim women together to find a safe space to heal. The experience led her to start (IM)WISE, a nonprofit organization and grassroots movement supporting Muslim women’s empowerment through self-defense and skills-based training.
Apr
16
Posted by aknowles to Daily Point of Light, Volunteer Stories, Volunteer Recognition, National Volunteer Week
It all started in 1990 when Barbara and Ira Smith heard about a family that had fled to Massachusetts from their home in San Salvador due to violence, and were in need of furniture for their apartment. The Smiths put an ad in their church bulletin seeking donations to help the family, and received more furniture than was needed. They contacted their community’s local housing authority, to offer the extra items to its low-income clients. “We thought once all the stuff was gone, we’d be done,” said Barbara. But they were just getting started.