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Your Chance to Be a Real Superhero!

Mike Meyer, courtesy of Boing Boing

by Luke Goldstein

A few weeks back I came across this article on Boing Boing:

Mentally disabled man robbed of his epic Superman collection

Immediately after reading it, I mentally tried to cleanse myself of the stain from knowing someone out there would actually do such a lowdown, despicable thing. Then, immediately after that, I called my uncle, where I have my comics still stored from before moving to California. I asked him to look through my boxes and pull out the still-in-the-bag copy of Superman #75 (The Death of Superman).

My plan was to find an address, send it to him and write a post about it, hoping to draw a little more attention and get maybe some other Super-donations. Well my plan turns out to be fairly easy because thousands of people beat me to it:

Facebook page / Get Satisfaction page

Also, in amazingly great news, while waiting for my special comic to arrive, the person who stole Mike’s collection has been caught and the original collection has been returned to him.

Now you might think there is really no reason to send anything now that he has his prized possessions back, but I think there is still a statement to be made. First off, it helps to remind people that there is more good in the world than evil. Secondly, Mike has promised that whatever duplicates he receives he will donate himself to a local charity. So, someone somewhere will undoubtedly be appreciating whatever generosity comes their way.

Here is the address in case you still have an urge to send something along:

Mike Meyer c/o Bill Smith
7041 Kingsbury Blvd.
St. Louis, Mo. 63130

Thanks for reading, as always.

Take Part: Leaders of ‘The Cove’ movement and more…

Documentaries are at their best when you feel absolutely compelled to jump out of your seat and help before the ending credits roll. Few of them can make such claims, but recently I was enthralled by The Cove and the images I saw made my eyes water and my stomach turn.

This post is not meant to be a review of the movie, but let me be as straight as I can when I say everyone should see this. There is no excuse at all for the massacre of dolphins still taking place in those waters. Even if you mock those who rally under the title ‘animal lover’, you would have a hard time defending those being exposed in this film.

Yet, as I mentioned before, the goal is not to just bring this terrible tragedy to light, but to also motivate you to help in whatever way you can. Take Part is a group that is not only managing the information about the current status in the cove and where all the help is going, but also a number of other charities and causes are listed there.

If you have any time, money or even free space in your brain, please take a look at their website and see if you can find a way to lend them a hand. I know there is an overwhelming number of issues and causes in this world, but if everyone just picked one and actually donated just a little time, money or effort, the results would not only change the world in the present, but it would help make sure places like ‘the cove’ never appear again.

To Write Love on Her Arms

I have been blessed in my life with an amazing family and amazing friends and those two things combined have helped me through many dark times, but not everyone has such a solid network to lean upon and when they look for that support only to find empty stares and muted voices, they sometimes turn towards desperate ends. I’ve met and been introduced to a growing number of people who have attempted suicide, many in completely different manners, but the one thing which connects them all is they are still here to talk about it and for that I am extremely grateful.

Too many people in this world look down on people with suicidal tendencies as weak and think they need to buck up and learn to deal like the rest of us, but what those people never choose to learn is what would drive someone to make such a terrible and final decision. The sceptics might be surprised how strong these so-called ‘weak people’ are for just enduring what they have up to that point and many times there are factors which were never in their control, like chemical imbalances and hereditary conditions.

So, for those people in need, the ones I have met and the ones I hope to meet someday in their hopefully happy futures, I am thrilled there are groups out there like this one. To Write Love on Her Arms is a suicide prevention group which states their mission as:

To Write Love on Her Arms is a non-profit movement dedicated to presenting hope and finding help for people struggling with depression, addiction, self-injury and suicide.  TWLOHA exists to encourage, inform, inspire and also to invest directly into treatment and recovery.

Even if you have never known anyone who has attempted or succeeded at suicide, trust that there are many out there and they could all use a helping hand, or sometimes just a working ear and an open heart. Please click through, find out more about them and support them if you can.

p.s. Also, it doesn’t hurt that their online store has some really cool shirts. I rock mine whenever it’s clean.

Jamie Oliver’s Food Revolution

For a long time now I have followed the career of British chef and master of rustic cooking, Jamie Oliver. Recently he began a one-man mission to overhaul the way the world looks at food, one country at a time. He started in his home country of England, but now he is bringing his gargantuan efforts to the United States. His hope is if he can change the eating habits of Americans, the rest of the world will follow suit. To launch and lead this effort he has created a TV show and charity under the title Jamie Oliver’s Food Revolution. Here are his own words to describe the cause:

I believe that every child in America has the right to fresh, nutritious school meals, and that every family deserves real, honest, wholesome food. Too many people are being affected by what they eat. It’s time for a national revolution. America needs to stand up for better food!

You live in an amazing country full of inspirational people and you have the power to change things. With your help, we can get better food into homes, schools and communities all over America and give your kids a better future.

Sign the petition to save America’s cooking skills and improve school food. It could be the most important thing you ever do for your family. America’s health needs you now!

So please give this a concerted look and sign the petition at the very least. If you are feeling even more moved by Jamie’s march towards our children’s health, then click here to donate what you can.

If you need any more convincing about his desire to see this through and his dedication to the cause, check out his acceptance speech at this year’s TED awards. It is really a powerful and moving piece of work.

Kiva – Loans That Change Lives

Kiva’s mission is to connect people, through lending, for the sake of alleviating poverty.

Kiva empowers individuals to lend to an entrepreneur across the globe. By combining microfinance with the internet, Kiva is creating a global community of people connected through lending.

Kiva was born of the following beliefs:

• People are by nature generous, and will help others if given the opportunity to do so in a transparent, accountable way.
• The poor are highly motivated and can be very successful when given an opportunity.
• By connecting people we can create relationships beyond financial transactions, and build a global community expressing support and encouragement of one another.

Kiva promotes:

• Dignity:   Kiva encourages partnership relationships as opposed to benefactor relationships. Partnership relationships are characterized by mutual dignity and respect.
• Accountability:   Loans encourage more accountability than donations where repayment is not expected.
• Transparency:   The Kiva website is an open platform where communication can flow freely around the world.

As of November 2009, Kiva has facilitated over $100 million in loans.

Darfur Dream Team

Young people everywhere are more alike than different. They want a good education and opportunities for the future. Children in refugee camps who have survived the war in Darfur are no different. They dream of quality education and a chance to help rebuild their lives and homes.

When Tracy McGrady of the Houston Rockets heard about the massive challenges children from Darfur were facing in the refugee camps in Chad, he decided to see for himself. After spending days listening to the harrowing stories of young Darfuris in the refugee camps and their incredible thirst for a better education, he decided to act. When Tracy and his traveling companions from the Enough Project returned, they hatched the idea for the Darfur Dream Team’s Sister Schools program linking American middle schools, high schools, colleges, and universities with schools in the Darfuri refugee camps. Tracy’s Journey to the refugee camps in eastern Chad is chronicled in the movie 3 Points.

The Darfur Dream Team is a dynamic partnership of organizations and professional basketball players working together on the Sister Schools Program, an initiative to connect American middle schools, high schools, colleges, and universities with sister schools in 12 refugee camps in Chad.

Women’s Aid

What more is there to say?

Human Rights Campaign

The Human Rights Campaign represents a grassroots force of more than 700,000 members and supporters nationwide. As the largest national gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender civil rights organization, HRC envisions an America where GLBT people are ensured of their basic equal rights, and can be open, honest and safe at home, at work and in the community.

Click on the pic to learn more and donate.