Amazing Do-Good Reinventors

When I was younger, I never would have believed anyone who told me that I’d one day be rescuing child slaves in West Africa – or for that matter, take into my care more than 200 former street children in Vietnam, or travel to a remote jungle area to find a legless baby whose parents had tried to kill her in a family suicide pact, or visit a brothel for teenage prostitutes in Phnom Penh, Cambodia. For most of my adult life, my idea of “travel” typically entailed a drive to Target or to visit my parents, who lived a good five minutes away, in the house where I grew up in Neosho, Missouri….Continue reading Pam Cope’s story.

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A former artist, Shalit (right) was determined to help African women sell their beautiful baskets in the U.S. Now, thanks to her company, Fair Winds Trading, thousands of them are living better lives. Read her reinvention story here

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I had a Camelot life. I enjoyed rapid ascension in a great career in retail at Macy’s, found a deep and sustained love in my soul mate early on, gave birth to twins at 41 years old, and reveled in the best job in the world: being a mother. Then tragedy struck. The love of my life was diagnosed with terminal cancer in 2006. And over the ensuing months, as I loved and cared for my husband and watched over my children, we entered the tangled web of hospital red tape and figured out how to effectively maneuver medical, legal, and financial obstacles….Continue reading Barbara Newman’s story.

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She gave up her successful acupuncture practice to open a pay-what-you-want restaurant that helps feed the world. Read about the epiphany that lead her to break all the rules of restaurant ownership and come out ahead.

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Vivian Glyck gave up a six-figure salary to help hospitals in Uganda get much-needed medical supplies. And she has never felt richer….Read the full story here.

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I’d had a successful career as a television producer/director, an 18-year marriage that friends envied, and two beautiful teenage daughters. Life was good, if not exciting. My future was neither frightening nor particularly exciting. Was this all there was? My life had been about caring for others. Trying to be the perfect friend/daughter/wife/mother, but too often feeling I was never good enough….Read how Robin Smalley moved to Cape Town to work with HIV-positive mothers..

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Kay McElroy (left) was reading her local paper when she saw an ad: “Six-month-old cougar cub for sale. $1,000.” The year was 1987, and the classifieds were then a form of window-shopping for McElroy, who couldn’t afford to buy anything. A divorced former schoolteacher looking for a fresh start, she’d just moved from California to Mississippi and was unemployed.
“I’d never seen a cougar before and was curious,” McElroy says. “So I called the owner to make an appointment.” What she found stunned her. Continue reading.

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Deborah Morosini lost her sister (Dana Reeve, wife of Christopher) to the deadly disease. Bonnie Addario is a lung cancer survivor. They came together with a shared mission. Read the full story here

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I am in my mid-life years, age 51, and wonder about goals I still wish to
achieve like returning to school and obtaining a Ph.d in archaeology. I wonder is this the right time to do this? 

I’m not 20; can I juggle a job and attend school? Shouldn’t I just invest money in my retirement? My daughter
 
just graduated from college, and like many other parents, I am concerned about what kind of job market she faces.In this time of dire budgetary woe and mid-life questioning, I have turned to saving seals.
…Continue reading

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In September 2007, my son, Logan, showed me an article in The Washington Post that described one man’s mental anguish at not having any books to read. The man, a Darfur refugee living in the Gaga camp in eastern Chad, Africa, changed my life. Five years into retirement from education program work with the Federal government and only one month after this front page news story appeared, Logan and I founded Book Wish Foundation — a public charity with a mission to provide a form of humanitarian aid we call “reading relief” for some of the world’s most vulnerable populations — especially refugees….Continue reading Lorraine Kleinwaks’ story.

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In July 2000 our middle son, Max, was diagnosed with AML Leukemia. He was only seven but he will always be my biggest hero because of the way he faced his greatest challenge and ultimate death.After a painful journey back to life, I wanted to reconnect with my creativity to help heal. I began in Max’s room with watercolors and eventually handbags. Designing handbags allows me to combine my love for color and texture with art while honoring Max.

The most important element to my company is our non-profit, Max’s Blue Butterfly, www.maxsbluebutterfly.org, whose mission is to raise research funds to fight childhood leukemia and to raise awareness that leukemia is the #1 disease killer of children….Read Jayne Dearborn’s story.

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In the summer of 2008, I was working as the fashion & style columnist for a newspaper. I was planning an event that would celebrate the fabulous lives of women in their 40’s. My life consisted of fashion shows, store and art gallery openings, invitations to visit new spas and resorts. Sounds wonderful doesn’t it? Then one summer afternoon, I phoned my sister and began to express to her my desire to become more. I told her that I didn’t find the world of fashion to be as exciting as it once was. I remember my sister asking me, “So, what do you want to do?” With that simple question came a flow on inspiration that could nolonger be contained. I said, “I want to comfort women with cancer. I remember when Mommy was sick, I would pamper her and make her feel pretty. I wish I could package what I did for Mom and give it to other women.”…Continue reading Glenda Harrison’s story.

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Social worker Marla Petal gave up her career to move with her family to Turkey. When a disaster hit, she found a new calling: saving schoolchildren from being crushed in earthquakes….Read the full story here.

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