Volunteers give food, shelter to storm survivors

"Church groups, students and other volunteers worked aggressively Saturday to bring food, water and other necessities to communities ravaged by the second-deadliest day of tornadoes in history."

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The Royal Wedding: Will Their Marriage Survive?

"Chuck Colson offers his take on the royal wedding of Prince William and Kate Middleton."

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Study points to 5-minute checklist as possible way to screen 1-year-olds for risk of autism

"A simple checklist that parents fill out in the waiting room may help doctors someday screen for warning signs of autism as early as a baby's first birthday."

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Media Attention Fixed on Royal Wedding as World's Largest Teen Hunger Awareness Campaign Happens Same Weekend

"While an estimated two billion viewers worldwide Friday will be focused on London’s Westminster Abbey and the royal wedding of Prince William and Kate Middleton, more than 150,000 young Americans will use the weekend to take part in World Vision’s 30 Hour Famine, the world’s largest teen hunger awareness campaign. Since 1992, 30 Hour Famine has raised more than $140 million and involved more than 6 million teens in fighting global hunger."

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Local scouts look to make a difference

"While driving home, one student put his Eagle Scout cool to the test.

Christopher Gomm, 18, is a senior at Oak Ridge High School in El Dorado Hills and said the Boy Scout motto, 'always be prepared,' helped him stay calm after witnessing an accident."

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Looking for food in the woods? It's time to forage

"Rock and I often take our boat to Bayou Teche in search of the American lotus during the summer. In south Louisiana, the plant is also known as 'graine a voler.' Loosely translated, the Cajun French term (pronounced grah-NUH VOH-lay) means 'seeds that fly' or 'seeds in the air,' because when the seed pods are left to wither, the husk retracts and pressures the seeds to pop out."

Find more foraging ideas here>

'Soul Surfer' and the God of the Possible

"What could be better than an inspirational sports movie? Not much . . . except an inspirational sports movie based on actual events! I love, yes love, these films filled with training montages, dirt-stained faces, and moving musical scores. I am unabashed and unashamed when it comes to cheering out loud. Even in the theater."

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Joint Efforts Reduce Malaria Cases and Child Deaths in Senegal

"Malaria has been a long-standing public health problem in Senegal, particularly in the southern region. In 2005, there were two million recorded cases and at least 2,000 deaths from the disease. Today, there is evidence that these numbers are improving."

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Digging the benefits

"Young and old patients reap a bounty of sensory and health rewards from therapeutic gardening."

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Giffords cleared to attend shuttle launch: husband

"Astronaut Mark Kelly says doctors have cleared his wife, Arizona Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords, now recovering from a gunshot wound to the head, as healthy enough to attend his space shuttle launch on Friday."

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Save the Children Receives Devex International Development Innovator Award for its Literacy Boost Program

"Save the Children has been chosen as one of the Devex Top 40 Development Innovators for its Literacy Boost program, an effort to improve language and reading skills among young school-age children in developing countries."

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The Atheist Message Rests on Easter

"The atheist message is everywhere these days: buses, billboards, subway stations. The ads declare, in essence, that people can live good, decent, moral lives without God. One ad in Washington, D.C.’s, Metro reads: 'You don’t need God—to hope, to care, to love, to live.'”

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Save the Children Ships Medicine to Ivory Coast; Supplies Run Dangerously Low

"As medicine runs low in Ivory Coast, Save the Children has chartered a plane to deliver six tons of life-saving medical supplies and equipment to the city of Man in the west of the country."

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More than glory: For Kenyans, a victory is a life-altering experience

"They have been coming here for so long now and in such numbers that most spectators, who can’t tell the Kipchumbas from the Kipkosgeis from the Kiplagats, refer to them collectively as 'The Kenyans.’ So when Robert K. Cheruiyot broke Robert K. Cheruiyot’s course record last year, a bit of explanation was necessary."

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Witness a rebirth during spring in Yosemite

"Spring in Yosemite unfolds like the complex opening movement of a symphony that becomes increasingly frenzied. Fortunately, the conductor has done this for an eternity, so there are no false notes.

From my front-row seat to this masterpiece, I see — and photograph — Yosemite's rebirth."

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Save the Children receives $400,000 from employees of DreamWorks Animation to aid Japan and New Zealand

"Save the Children today announced that it has received $400,000 from employees of DreamWorks Animation SKG, Inc. to provide relief to children and families affected by the disaster in Japan and earthquake in New Zealand."

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Humanitarian consortium to release revamped industry standards

"The Sphere Project, a leading initiative promoting quality and accountability in humanitarian work will release a revised version of its Handbook: Humanitarian Charter and Minimum Standards in Humanitarian Response."

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Chef, artists collaborate on new culinary experience

"Kevin Lasko, the executive chef at Park Avenue Winter, the New York restaurant that changes its name, menu and decor with the season, is offering customers a new multi-sensory culinary experience."

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Thomas Nelson launches Buy A Bible Help a Child Promotion with World Vision to Raise Funds for Global Poverty and Child Health Programs

"Beginning in April, anyone who buys a Thomas Nelson-published Bible in a Christian retail store will be doing more than bringing home God’s Word—they’ll be putting it into action and helping children. Through the God’s Word in Action 'Buy a Bible, Help a Child' promotion, sales of Thomas Nelson Bibles—including children's and Spanish-language Bibles—will help World Vision, the Christian humanitarian organization, end preventable deaths among children in the U.S. and worldwide."

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Schwartzel wins Masters in wild final round

"Even informed golf fans might not have known a lot about Charl Schwartzel before this year's Masters. It will be tough to forget the way he finished his week at Augusta National."

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Wood is good: Cool Stuff

"While home decor made of reclaimed wood is a nationwide trend, it has particular resonance in the New Orleans area.

Designers use wood rescued from trash bins, tear-downs and salvage stores to create pieces that give a nod to history and new life to what was lost."

To view the photogallery of reclaimed wood decorating ideas, click here.

Their Generation

"No matter how hard you try to hide from them, your worst fears will eventually find you. Mine found me in what someone I know calls 'the good part of the paper': the part of the Sunday Washington Post containing sales flyers, the comics, and the Sunday magazine."

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40th annual Strawberry Festival kicks off in Ponchatoula

"If you don't think it tastes sweet to turn 40, you need to consider a trip to the Ponchatoula Strawberry Festival this weekend. Since 1972, the north shore community has carefully tended its annual party, watching it grow from a strictly local affair to a popular regional destination."

For more on the festival, click here.

Long Black Train: Glimpses of Grace in Country Music

"A dear friend and I are having one of our periodic good-natured debates over contemporary Christian music (or CCM, as it’s often called). Specifically, over my lack of interest in it."

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Essex troop provides a home for special-needs Boy Scouts

"As members of Boy Scout Troop 117 gathered to discuss their trip to see the Baltimore County Council in action, a troop leader leaned in, trying to coax details from the easily distracted boys."

To learn more about this big-hearted troop, click here.

Don't Say It: Whither Free Speech?

"A Chicago-area high school student named Heidi Zamecnik wore a t-shirt to school reading 'Be Happy, Not Gay.' She wore it the day after the 'Day of Silence,' on which students -- at the instigation of gay activist groups -- wore clothing expressing support for homosexuals and their lifestyle."

Click here for more of Chuck Colson's commentary.

A new wedding brand for brides to have, behold

"One of the newest to appeal to the emboldened bride is BHLDN — a modern spin on 'beholden' — dreamed up by the creative team at Anthropologie, with a similarly free spirit."

To read more, click here.

Forty years later, Hope House shines on

"Just to the right of the front door as you step inside Hope House, a new plaque on the wall takes you back to its beginnings: 'Hope House Founders, Sr. Harriet Louise Waldo, 03/17/1927 -- 09/18/2010; Sr. Lory Schaff, 09/26/1932 --.'”

Read more - click here.

Cubs Fans Attempt to Reverse the Curse with Good Causes

"Cubs fans are growing restless after 103 years without a championship. So restless that a group of them decided it was time to lift the infamous Billy Goat curse that’s supposedly kept them out of the World Series since 1945 – by partnering with World Vision, an international non-profit that provides goats to families for milk , meat products, and a source of sustainable income."

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