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Improving our own environment

Madison Kuklentz Gabriella DeMelfi Thomas Garlick

August 09, 2019 |

The Mercury |

Text |

800-1500 Words

Response Location: United States, Schwenksville, Pennsylvania

Pennsylvania’s Perkiomen Watershed Conservancy has built a grassroots base of volunteers that help clean up the local environment. Through education at schools and summer workshops, outreach projects, and asking volunteers to recruit new people, the Conservancy saw over 1,000 volunteers at its annual stream cleanup event. While the organization is still trying to figure out how to retain volunteers for long-term projects, the response to immediate projects has been overwhelming.

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When There's No Doctor Nearby, Volunteers Help Rural Patients Manage Chronic Illness

Maggie Mullen

June 20, 2019 |

NPR |

Text |

800-1500 Words

Response Location: United States, Laramie, Wyoming

In Wyoming, volunteers are given health care trainings to help them as caregivers to those with chronic illnesses who are too far away from a doctor to receive adequate care. That curriculum, along with support groups, is helping those in rural communities practice chronic disease self management to improve quality of life.

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Eye On the Elderly: Ohio Increasingly Relies on Volunteers to Handle Aging Adult Affairs

Katie Ellington

June 09, 2019 |

Eye On Ohio |

Text |

1500-3000 Words

Response Location: United States, Columbus, Ohio

Though Ohio has traditionally relied on volunteers to be guardians to elder folks who don't have support of family or loved ones, the court system looks to partnerships with external organizations to give at-risk seniors the support they need. The state has a long way to go, but the collective action between government entities, private ventures and nonprofit organizations is closing the gap for seniors without solid guardianship.

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New playground at Hope Harbor provides children with a safe space

Lauren Kummer

June 05, 2019 |

KHGI-TV |

Broadcast TV News |

Under 3 Minutes

Response Location: United States, Grand Island, Nebraska

Hope Harbor, an emergency and transitional shelter in Grand Island, Nebraska, is renovating its facilities to include a playground for the shelter’s children. Funded by various grants, the new addition will provide children experiencing housing insecurity with an outlet to be creative and play during a time that can often be traumatic.

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These Millennials Got New Roommates. They're Nuns.

Nellie Bowles

May 31, 2019 |

The New York Times |

Text |

1500-3000 Words

Response Location: United States, Burlingame, California

For millennials looking to gain a stronger sense of commitment to social justice and service work, religious traditions can provide a helpful framework. The Nuns and Nones program in Burlingame, California, places young participants into convents. In exchange for low-income housing, the young people help provide care and company for the aging sisters, while also drawing lessons from their participation in—and devotion to—service work.

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Oakland's 'Pothole Vigilantes' Take Street Repairs Into Their Own Hands

Sonja Hutson

May 20, 2019 |

KQED |

Radio |

Under 3 Minutes

Response Location: United States, Oakland, California

In Oakland, CA, two men deemed the Pothole Vigilantes have paired up to fix every pothole in the city. Made possible by crowdfunding the venture, the two have now developed public meetups to teach others how to fix potholes themselves. This has caught the attention of city officials, who, partly because of this effort, have passed a $100 million plan to repave Oakland streets.

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The Indigenous Guardians of the Amazon Rainforest

Max Baring Karla Mendes

May 13, 2019 |

Thomson Reuters Foundation |

Video |

Over 15 Minutes

Response Location: Brazil

The Guardians of the Forest is an indigenous volunteer group who patrols protected areas of the Amazon rainforest being destroyed by illegal logging. Volunteers seek out and destroy logging camps, chase loggers off the land, educate locals about the harms, and advocate for government resources. The loggers use violence, but the Guardians use non-violent techniques to protect uncontacted tribes, stop deforestation and species extinction, and protect indigenous culture. Despite federal obstacles, some local officials express a desire to integrate the work of the Guardians into official conservation efforts.

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The library of things: could borrowing everything from drills to disco balls cut waste and save money?

Leo Benedictus

April 24, 2019 |

The Guardian |

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1500-3000 Words

Response Location: England, Oxford

From London to Vancouver, across the globe libraries of things are popping up to rent out common, but rare-to-use, household objects. Items include telescopes, lawn mowers, ice cream makers, power drills, you name it. These volunteer-led shops take reservations online and lease the items at no or low-cost to the user, all while strengthening the sharing economy and reducing waste.

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The grassroots groups helping asylum-seekers on the border

Sarah Tory

April 22, 2019 |

High Country News |

Text |

800-1500 Words

Response Location: United States, Tucson, Arizona

The Kino Border Initiative is a volunteer binational organization that provides food, aid, and shelter for migrants crossing the border between Mexico and Arizona. The rate of asylum-seekers is steadily rising, and this organization makes sure that they have a safe place to live while they wait for their day in court. Every day up to 60 volunteers conduct services that range from preparing meals to translating Indigenous languages.

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In the Search for Missing Women, Neighbors and Family Members Pair Drones With Indigenous Knowledge

Janice Cantieri

April 18, 2019 |

Yes! Magazine |

Text |

1500-3000 Words

Response Location: Canada, British Columbia

The Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women Drone Search Team is a group of volunteers in British Columbia, Canada that use a combination of indigenous knowledge and drones to search for missing women. Indigenous women are 12 times more likely to be murdered than other women in Canada, and although there is some police help, the lack of progress and transparency drove this group to take the matter into their own hands. The group has varying success in finding evidence that is being used in on-going investigations, but along the way they also provide solace and answers to the families still searching.

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