April 30, 2012 – The Huffington Post –  By Ana Roca Castro

Engaging our kids in our social good projects is the only way we can guarantee a better tomorrow. I’ve been involved in international social projects since the age of 16 when (by pure chance) I spent three months in Calcutta with Mother Teresa and her sisters. Every summer after that I spent a few months building a new project in a new country. Twenty+ years later, I’m still very involved in social good projects. This time, however, I cannot go for two or three months because now I’m a mom. However, I do not see this as a limitation; instead, it’s an opportunity to quadruple my reach.

Last year we started a new family tradition where we go to a country for a few weeks to build a sustainable project. We built a Cyber Room on the border of Haiti with LATISM. Ten-year-old Pepe gave computer lessons to many artisans who are now selling their work online. He taught things that we usually take for granted, like using the mouse, uploading a picture, dragging objects, changing font sizes, and so forth. The younger ones taught English. Six-year-old Pier was in charge of the price lesson. He taught them the numbers, and a list of words and phrases they would use every day with tourists. Five-year-old Emmanuel, instead, played the role of the tourist and asked them a list of questions to practice the lessons they learned with Pier. The empowerment those kids felt by doing these simple but life-changing activities was indescribable.

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Toronto –  April 20, 2012 – CNW -

Your daughter hitting her first home run; a husband and wife’s first dance; volunteering your time at a local charity … what do you define as richness in your life?

Today, Scotiabank launched The Richness Project, a one-of-a-kind social experiment that will raise money for 18 Canadian charities and give Canadians a platform to share moments special to them which make life truly fulfilling or ‘rich’.

“The idea behind The Richness Project is that one person’s moment of richness can help create another rich moment for someone else, whether inspirational or in the form of a donation to one of our partner charities,” said Anatol von Hahn, Scotiabank Group Head, Canadian Banking. “This important initiative embodies our brand expression ‘You’re richer than you think’, and is a part of Scotiabank’s larger Bright Future community investment and sponsorship strategy intended to enrich lives in communities across Canada, where we live, work and do business.”

Some of Canada’s most beloved personalities are getting behind The Richness Project and will be sharing their personal moments throughout the campaign to inspire the rest of the country to get involved.

The first Canadians to share their ‘rich’ moments are two-time Olympic Gold Medalist, Cassie Campbell-Pascall, who selected a photo of her favourite Sunday walk with her daughter, and hockey icon and former Stanley Cup champion, Lanny McDonald, who shared a photo of his uplifting hockey game in Kandahar, Afghanistan with men and women in the Canadian Armed Forces.

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Charity for Children - April 21, 2012 – News.com.au National Features – By Fiona Baker

Encouraging children to engage in philanthropy fosters an awareness of the welfare of others and helps instil a sense of compassion.

Australian kids today are very globally minded. Even if they’re not watching the Kony video or sending letters to a sponsored child in Asia, they are taking part in gold-coin collection days at school, raising money for charities and causes worldwide.

Kids are being exposed to the world of fundraising more than ever – but does that mean they are learning to be more benevolent and philanthropic?

Not only does charity start at home, so does learning to be charitable and compassionate. And then that needs to be reinforced through education, says Kristi Mansfield, Sydney Community Foundation CEO, ?who has just launched a new fund called Kids in Philanthropy.

“It’s just as important to instil a sense of compassion and charity as it is to instil healthy eating habits, maths and literacy skills and the benefits of exercise,” she says.

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April 17, 2012 – The Roanoke Times – By Matt Chittum

Mitchell Brumfield was “our friend, our counselor, our confidante,”  a colleague said.

You paid him for the hairdo, but what Mitchell Brumfield did for you didn’t stop at your roots.

Brumfield’s clients over nearly four decades of dressing hair knew him as much more than a talented stylist. He was a beloved salon chair shrink and small-time philanthropist whose best work reached far deeper than the cosmetic.

“He wanted nothing more than everyone around him … to be happy,” said Julie Roach, owner of Laurel Hill Salon in Roanoke County where Brumfield worked the last eight years, until his death Wednesday from injuries in an April 6 car crash. He was 54.

As word of his death spread, condolences and memories poured into the salon’s voice mail and Facebook page.

“Mitchell always made me look and feel like a million dollars,” one client wrote.
Brumfield began styling hair not long after graduating from Cave Spring High School.

For about 20 years he worked in Bakersfield, Calif., before returning to his hometown, where he worked at a few different salons.

“The great thing about what I do is that I rarely feel as if I have to ‘go to work.’ Normally, I ‘d go to play,’” Brumfield said in a 2011 Roanoke Times story about people who love their jobs. “Sharing both a professional and personal relationship with many people proved to be of greater value to me than any of the things I believe I offer them.”

Those in the chair knew the greater value of being Brumfield’s client, too.

“It’s funny how someone who spends a precious 2 hrs with you every five weeks can have such a profound effect on you,” wrote a former client in California in an online memorial. “Mitch had rescued me from a self-inflicted horrific haircut at the age of 13. He continued to care for me though high school, college, a marriage, the birth of my twins, and a divorce. I can’t begin to count the tears he endured.”

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April 11, 2012 – Mashable Entertainment – By Brian Anthony Hernandez

Name: WeTopia

Big Idea: The WeTopia social game on Facebook turns players’ points into monetary donations for children’s charity projects.

Why It’s Working: WeTopia takes popular social gaming fundamentals proven enormously successful on Facebook and introduces an element of philanthropy to help users game for good. The company has also donated 50% of its profits to charities for children.

Sojo Studios wants to democratize philanthropy, and it has tapped into the enormous social gaming population — which is expected to reach 68.7 million players by year’s end according to a report by analysis firm eMarketer — to do just that.

The company’s WeTopia, a free Facebook game that turns players’ points into monetary donations for children’s charities, has roped in 800,000 players since November and is already impacting the world offline. By the end of May, players’ in-game actions will have accomplished the following:

Built two schools for more than 400 children.
Funded an after-school program in Kentucky and a mobile health clinic in New York.
Donated 1 million gallons of water, 650,000 meals, 2,000 multi-vitamin doses, 2,500 shoes and 4,000 coats.

“We felt that if we could harness the power of millions of players already playing social games, and give them a way to work together and give back, it could change the landscape of gaming,” Lincoln Brown, founder and CEO of Sojo Studios, tells Mashable.

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Play Wetopia.

Story series presented by GE.