Topic: Difference Maker
All Content
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Difference Maker Dave Valle plays on a new field: microloans that help to end poverty
As a pro baseball player in the Dominican Republic Dave Valle saw poverty up close. Now his microloans are helping to end it.
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Difference Maker He serves breakfast – with a side order of respect – to the homeless
Sunday breakfast at a Providence, R.I., church is more than a free meal. Half the volunteers are homeless themselves: 'It's their [own] breakfast that they're putting on.'
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Difference Maker He brought Christianity into the streets to promote civil rights
Episcopal priest Malcolm Boyd has taken the message of Christianity outside the walls of church to champion minority rights and show that God is everywhere.
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Difference Maker Seiji Yoshimura rushes to natural disasters to help
Inspired by the work of an American missionary long ago, Seiji Yoshimura helps out at disaster sites across Asia, including in his native Japan.
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Difference Maker Paul Giniès turned a failing African university into a world-class problem-solver
Today 2iE is recognized as a 'center of excellence' producing top-notch home-grown African engineers ready to address the continent's problems.
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Difference Maker Claudio Miranda's music is taming a once-violent Brazilian neighborhood
Raised in one of the world's most dangerous neighborhoods in São Paulo, Brazil, he now helps youths reimagine themselves creatively through music, video production, art, performances, and education.
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Difference Maker Bryan Hoddle helps wounded vets run – and dream – again
He's more than a track coach: He's a counselor and a friend, listening to a life story.
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Difference Maker Rewriting the story of polarized debate: He got Tea Party and Occupy to talk
Nabil Laoudji's Mantle Project puts citizens on stage to tell stories of the experiences that led them to their positions on tough issues.
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Difference Maker Russian teen's goal: an educational blog that doesn't bore his fellow students
Students from all over Russia visit the 16-year-old's site, The Blog of a School Wise Guy, to learn about math, physics, literature, new scientific breakthroughs, or just curious facts.
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Difference Maker Kimberly Ritter stands up to child sex trafficking in US hotels
Kimberly Ritter discovered that some US hotels harbor a horrifying secret – child sex trafficking. Now she and her employer are urging the hospitality industry to confront the problem.
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Difference Maker Jack Reece helps a Noah's Ark of animals in India
From elephants to buffaloes, dogs to donkeys, Help in Suffering (HIS), a nonprofit animal welfare group in Jaipur, India, treats animals large and small at low or no cost.
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Difference Maker Indira Johnson places intriguing sculptures to create dialogues on peace
Dozens of giant Buddha heads emerging around Chicago are meant to be a catalyst for conversations about peace in troubled neighborhoods.
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Difference Maker Anshu Gupta brings 'clothing for dignity' to India
His nonprofit group, called GOONJ, collects and gives away used clothing. The twist: The needy 'pay' for their clothes by doing service work in their communities.
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Difference Maker Wyatt Smith makes deal with students: Learn Chinese. Go to China.
Birmingham to Beijing sends inner-city high school students in Birmingham, Ala., on a study abroad in Beijing – if they first learn Chinese.
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Difference Maker He loves maps and Vietnam. That may put him in the eye of a storm.
Thang Dinh Tran's passion for all things Vietnamese has combined with his passion for old maps, placing him at the center of a territorial dispute between Vietnam and China.
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Difference Maker Rodney Jackson hikes high into the Himalayas to help snow leopards
Rodney Jackson and his team take 20 to 30 yaks, each loaded with 250 to 300 pounds of gear, into the Himalayas to study snow leopards, which take the word 'elusive' to an extreme.
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Difference Maker Rachel Goble helps stop sex trafficking of impoverished children
The SOLD Project helps young girls in Thailand avoid becoming prostitutes through mentoring and education.
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Difference Maker Stray Rescue reshapes a city's approach to animal control
Randy Grim, a passionate dog lover, and thousands of his Stray Rescue volunteers rehabilitate stray dogs in St. Louis and place them in loving homes.
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Difference Maker Eric Schwarz and Citizen Schools give inner-city kids a leg up
Citizen Schools helps level the playing field for students who grow up in low-income households by extending and enriching the school day with hands-on projects and citizen mentors.
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Difference Maker A grandmother hunts for Argentina's grandchildren 'stolen' decades ago
Estela de Carlotto heads the Grandmothers of Plaza de Mayo, who seek to reunite children taken from their mothers during Argentina's military dictatorship with their real families.
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Difference Maker Entrepreneur Joe Edwards helps make St. Louis vibrant again
By restoring buildings and activity to a historic St. Louis neighborhood Joe Edwards has become a powerful force for civic good.
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Difference Maker Izhar Gafni invents revolutionary cardboard bicycle
His two-wheeled creation, a $20 bike made out of cardboard, could revolutionize bicycling, especially in the developing world.
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Difference Maker Ellen Calmus helps Mexican families cope with cross-border challenges
The Corner Project assists families with relatives in the US, ensuring, for example, that children of migrant workers born in the US are able to register for school or other services in Mexico.
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Difference Maker Restaurant mogul George Schenk melds the needs of people, planet, and profits
Serving nutritious food, following ecological principles, and helping his community in Vermont make George Schenk a businessman with a social conscience.
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Difference Maker Ruben Garcia sought his mission in life. He found it helping the 'poorest of the poor'
Ruben Garcia founded Annunciation House in El Paso, Texas, which aids immigrants fleeing violence in Mexico and Central America.
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