Here are four real stories from this week that reminded me people still show up for each other. Each one links to the original, so go read the full story if one grabs you.
A church wipes out $14 million in medical debt
Covenant Presbyterian Church in Austin, Texas, gave $75,000 toward erasing medical debt for neighbors. Local reports say it clears about $14 million owed by more than 10,000 people. Nobody has to apply, and nobody has to pay it back.
Small gifts can reach farther than they look. Read the original story.
A 12-year-old fills a truck with diapers
Sloan, 12, spent her summer collecting diapers for Nourish Phoenix, a nonprofit that says diapers are its most requested item. She delivered nearly 30,000. She ran her first diaper drive at seven and has kept going every year since.
She started small and she did not stop. Read the original story.
A forest trail you can read with your fingers
Wisconsin state staff opened a one-third-mile trail in a Milwaukee state forest with braille signs, audio guides, and white canes visitors can borrow. The team built it themselves over about a year with a $15,000 grant.
Somebody asked who was being left out, then did something about it. Read the original story.
Women replant a mangrove forest, one sapling at a time
In Nigeria’s Niger Delta, Martha Abgani started a community center that trains female farmers to restore mangroves damaged by decades of oil pollution. One of her trainees and a dozen other women have planted more than 150,000 saplings.
Big repairs get done by people who keep planting. Read the original story.
Your small move for today
Pick one of these and do a tiny version of it. Send a thank you. Give one thing away. Notice who is left out of something you are part of. Small wins add up, and so do small acts of good.
