People helping others in the San Francisco Bay Area and around the World
There are just a few days left in the Good Neighbor Stories 2013 Virtual Food Drive for Second Harvest Food Bank of Santa Clara and San Mateo 
Counties. You can help feed Silicon Valley families facing the challenge of hunger and food insecurity by donating to our drive today. It’s quick and easy, and for every one dollar donated, Second Harvest is able to provide two healthy meals.
Thanks to our readers who already donated to the drive. Your generosity is greatly appreciated!
Happy New Year! The world didn’t end in 2012, and the even better news is we get a fresh start in 2013. How will you make this new year better than the last for yourself, and
for the community? Here are five suggestions to make the world just a little nicer in the month of January. Try one, and let us know what happens!
1. Be a Mentor: January is National Mentoring Month, a time to highlight how important it is for every child to have a caring adult in his or her life. The awareness month is spearheaded nationally by the Harvard School of Public Health; Bay Area Mentoring is leading local awareness efforts. Thursday, Jan. 10, is “I Am a Mentor Day”, when all mentors are encouraged to go on social media to tell their stories, and inspire others to become mentors. Thursday, Jan. 17, is “Thank Your Mentor Day,” for anyone helped by a mentor in childhood to share his or her story. Keep up with the latest on the National Mentoring Month Facebook Page. To find out how to become a mentor in the San Francisco Bay Area, be sure to visit the Bay Area Mentoring website.
2. Donate Blood: January is National Blood Donor Month, established in 1970. The holiday season usually means less blood donations, because of holiday [Read more…]
Keeping Bay Area roadways safe for all this New Year’s Eve is as easy as planning ahead to avoid mixing drinking and driving, and local 
organizations are offering tips and services to help.
A one-page online guide from Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD) offers lots of great tips for planning a party that keeps guests from leaving your party under the influence. Helps hosts through the pre-planning process, as well as what to do during, and at the end of parties.
If you’re going out to a party with a group, designate one member as the one who will not drink any alcohol for the evening, and drive the rest of the group home safely at the end of the night. Click on the link above for MADD’s info on designated drivers, as well as downloadable coupons to present as gifts to friends when you’re willing to serve as the designated driver.
This AAA program in California, Nevada, and Utah, offers free 10-mile tows to anyone who asks on New Year’s Eve.Participants do not have to be members of AAA to use the service. It will be offered from 6 p.m. on Monday, Dec. 31, until 6 a.m. on Tuesday, Jan. 1. Call 800-222-4357 [Read more…]
As the clock ticks away toward the end of 2012, we all have an opportunity to make some last minute end-of-year tax deductible donations. There are thousands of great causes out there to support, but I’m asking you today to consider combating the challenge of hunger in the community by making a donation to the Good Neighbor Stories Virtual Food Drive for Second Harvest Food Bank of Santa Clara and San Mateo Counties.
This is the second year I’ve sponsored the virtual drive to feed hungry families in the Silicon Valley. I support Second Harvest, because I’ve seen firsthand the work the organization does. It delivers healthy food throughout the valley in a very efficient manner. According to Second Harvest leaders, each $1 donated provides two healthy meals.
Even better, in December each $1 donated translates into $2, or four healthy meals, because of a grant from the Westley Foundation and Koret Foundation, up to $89,000.
Online giving to Second Harvest is very fast and easy. Consider making an end-of-year donation to the GNS virtual food drive today! Help me reach my goal of $1,500 in donations to combat hunger. Thank you!
A grassroots wave of people across the United States are performing millions of acts of kindness to honor the memory of the victims of the Dec. 
14 mass shooting at Sandy Hook School in Newtown, CT., after a single tweet by a national journalist.
“Imagine if all of us committed to 20 mitvahs/acts of kindness to honor each child lost in Newtown. I’m in. If you are RT #20Acts,” was the tweet NBC News’ Ann Curry sent out soon after the shootings.
Within hours, thousands of people had tweeted in response; it quickly grew into 26 acts of kindness, to honor both the children and adults who died at the school. In a blog post, Curry said that there was some debate to make it 27 acts, to include Nancy Lanza, shooter Adam Lanza’s mother. Some even suggested making it 28, since Adam himself was struggling with mental illness.
The popular sentiment of 26 acts of kindness stuck, however, and over the last couple of weeks has gained in popularity. Besides the official 26 Acts of Kindness Facebook Page, many more unofficial pages, or pages for specific communities, are springing up. A Twitter account was also established, @26acts.
All over social media people are reporting their acts of kindness, from handing out cash to strangers, to paying for people’s coffee or meals, to baking cakes and cookies for others, to donating money to organizations, and much more.
If you’re feeling motivated to get involved in the 26 Acts of Kindness campaign, Good Neighbor Stories has a large number of ideas for you to choose from. Check out our Be Kind: Kindness Ideas or More Ways to be a Good Neighbor pages, or consider helping out one of the many organizations listed on our Be a Good Neighbor Page.
What acts of kindness will you perform to honor the children and staff at Sandy Hook Elementary? Tell us in comments!
Jacob Goeders, a.k.a. The Leukemia Slayer, a.k.a. Santa
Imagine being a kid stuck in a cancer ward at Christmastime, getting poked and prodded, feeling sick, and very often bored waiting for the next test or blood draw, while missing out on all the magic and fun of the season.
Jacob Goeders of Mountain View, CA., 11, doesn’t have to imagine, because he’s lived it. And because he knows what it’s like, Jacob is in his second year playing “Santa” to dozens of children at Lucille Packard Children’s Hospital in Palo Alto this week, delivering presents he purchased after raising money from Facebook friends, and friends of friends.
Two years ago on Dec. 2, Jacob was diagnosed with high risk Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia, landing him in the Packard cancer ward during the holiday season. Christmas was suddenly upended for Jacob, his mom, Sherry, his dad, Todd, and his little brother Jordan, then age 4.
As the one-year anniversary of the diagnosis approached last year, Jacob got an idea: what if he asked all his friends to donate $1 so that he could buy Christmas presents for the other children on the cancer ward and bring them a little holiday cheer?
“I wanted to make other kids feel good, and I wanted to do something,” Jacob told me recently. “I felt good because I was helping other kids who were stuck in the hospital like I was.” [Read more…]
In the wake of the unbelievable tragedy at the Sandy Hook School in Newton, CT. on Friday, Dec. 14, there is a tangible way for those of us far 
away to help the community.
The United Way of Western Connecticut (UWWC) and the Newton Savings Bank partnered soon after the shootings of students and staff at the school to create a fund that will directly help the Sandy Hook community, as well as others in the rest of Newton and surrounding areas impacted by the event.
To donate online, go to https://newtown.uwwesternct.org
Or you can send a check to:
Sandy Hook School Support Fund
c/o Newtown Savings Bank
39 Main Street, Newtown CT 06470
Here’s an excerpt from the UWWC announcement:
United Way of Western Connecticut (UWWC) extends our most sincere condolences and prayers to all those families affected by the devastating events in Newtown/Sandy Hook, Connecticut. While the eyes of the world may be on Newtown/Sandy Hook, to our staff, volunteers and contributors, Newtown is home. We will stand with the community and everyone affected directly and indirectly by this senseless event as we face the days and weeks ahead.
“We are committed to providing support and resources where and when they become identified and needed,” said United Way of Western Connecticut CEO Kim Morgan. “I have been in touch with United Ways across the country who have responded to similar tragedies within their communities in an effort to identify best practices in dealing with the short term and long term needs that our community will face. We will work directly with the community to determine the best ways to support the families of the victims.”
As people from our area and beyond respond to this heartbreaking tragedy, they are turning to United Way looking for ways to help. In response, UWWC, in partnership with Newtown Savings Bank, has created the Sandy Hook School Support Fund that will provide support services to the families and community affected by this senseless tragedy.
“When I was a boy and I would see scary things in the news, my mother would say to me, ‘Look for the helpers. You will always find people who 
are helping.’ To this day, especially in times of ‘disaster,’ I remember my mother’s words, and I am always comforted by realizing that there are still so many helpers – so many caring people in this world.” — Mr. Rogers
Let’s be helpers.
You could be a winner in our end of the year promotion contest! To enter, ask your friends on 
Facebook or Twitter to “like” our Facebook page, or follow us on Twitter. Make sure you tag us (@goodneighborstories for Facebook; @gnstories for Twitter). Double your chance to win by doing both! The contest ends at 12 midnight, PST, on Friday, Dec. 28.
For helping introduce us to more new neighbors, you’ll be entered to win a copy of the Good Neighbor Stories 2013 Datebook! The datebook features uplifting stories and photos from the Good Neighbor Stories website, as well as inspirational quotes, and reminders for all the major holidays. Use for yourself as a calendar, or perhaps a gratitude journal, or give as a gift to make someone’s New Year bright.
Commentary: Time to Show Up and Speak Up For Our Communities
It’s time to show up and speak up. Too many of us have been quiet and inactive for too long when it comes to the dual public health and safety
crises, gun violence, and mental illness. Too many of us have been in a type of waking slumber, waking up occasionally after nightmares like Columbine, Tuscon, Aurora, only to fall back asleep after some cry, ‘Too soon! Look away! Nothing will ever change anyway!’
Friday, Dec. 14, 2010, we woke up as a country to a terrible nightmare. The date “12/14” is now our “9/11” when it comes to the realization that we have been inactive for too long in dealing with our gun culture, as well as the very broken system that is supposed to help the mentally ill. The twin towers came down on Friday in Newtown, CT, and nothing must ever be the same.
Each of us as members of our communities, has a responsibility to make those communities strong and safe. We can’t wave it off and say, ‘someone else will do it.’ We all have to show up and speak up. [Read more…]