Making a Difference

Sure, Bono and Richard Branson can change the world. But there are millions of individuals making a difference who are not rich or famous. This section is for that unheralded community – “to honor the decency and courage and selflessness that surround us,” as Editor Richard Bergenheim described the Monitor’s journalistic mission in 2005.

Difference Maker
People making a difference: Ellington Bell

Drill-team discipline saved his life. Now this one-time school-bus driver drums a sense of purpose into Kansas City youths.
Difference Maker
People making a difference: Andi Arnovitz

This Israeli fabric artist stitches Jewish and Palestinian themes into 'Garments of Reconciliation.'
Difference Maker
How to clean up a lake? Floating islands might be the answer.

Man-made islands can remove ammonia, heavy metals, and other chemicals from the water.
Difference Maker
People making a difference: Anna and Phina Mojapelo

Building an orphanage is a powerful mission of love.
Difference Maker
People making a difference: Steve Korman

With the US mired in a deep recession, this CEO is challenging fellow business leaders to resist layoffs.
Difference Maker
Finnish teacher unlocks music for special-needs students

Simplified, accessible music notation lets their talent, not their needs, take center stage.
Difference Maker
People making a difference: Teny Gross

The best way to curb gang violence, says this Providence, R.I., mediator, is to offer help from street workers who've been there themselves.
Difference Maker
A Thai housewife becomes a human rights activist

Angkhana Neelapaichit works to solve the mystery of her husband's disappearance.
Difference Maker
An independent bookseller stars in her own fairy tale

Nancy Traversy took on the big chain-store dragons to rule her own realm – Barefoot Books for children.
Difference Maker
New online dictionary redefines 'look it up'

Lexicographer Erin McKean’s interactive ‘Wordnik’ is projected to be the largest online dictionary ever.
Difference Maker
Amid 18 percent unemployment, Indiana county finds unity

With one of the highest US jobless rates, Noble County sees a rise in volunteer efforts to help those who are struggling.
Difference Maker
A chess champion crusades to make the game ‘cool’

Russian Alexandra Kosteniuk, the women’s world title holder with a fashion-model image, wants to broaden the game’s appeal to young people.
Difference Maker
One man helps the disabled see the world

Craig Grimes broke his back 12 years ago. From Nicaragua, he launches the first online booking engine for disabled travelers.
Difference Maker
In Japan, foster parents blaze an unpopular trail

The government is taking small steps to boost interest. But prejudices remain in a society where the pull of traditional family structures and blood ties is strong.
Difference Maker
How do you teach third-grade math?

Reconciling diverse languages, experiences, and the playfulness common to all 9-year-olds, Ann Griffith’s job is to get her students to the right answers.
Where imagination meets farming

Local-food pioneer Pete Johnson's movable greenhouses have yielded a lettuce harvest in the dead of a Vermont winter.
Difference Maker
Filipina activist boosts overseas workers

Connie Regalado prods officials to do more for workers hit hard by the global financial crisis.
Difference Maker
Dining on a dollar a day

A California couple’s experiment in extreme food budgeting taught them a lot about how the poor eat.
Difference Maker
Meet Lula Mae Walker, who’s been a foster parent to 300 kids

The Fort Lauderdale woman has also had nine kids of her own and adopted 11 others. Happy holidays ... from a busy household.
Difference Maker
A college push for Hispanic teens

Maria Gonzalez helps teens excel with an after school program.
Difference Maker
Richard Bergenheim: an appreciation

As editor, he brought spiritual strength, compassion, and an omnivorous appetite for news.
Difference Maker
Borrow a Muslim? A 'living library' to prick stereotypes

In 12 countries, people check out people for a 30-minute conversation to challenge their own prejudices.
Difference Maker
Basketball's Chris Webber gives a clinic – in African-American lore

The Golden State Warriors forward turns a personal passion into a pass-along for the next generation.