World Vision supporters launch global online campaign to make #FamineNoMore

"Supporters and donors of Christian humanitarian organization World Vision today helped launch a social media campaign across the United States and a dozen other nations to increase awareness and raise more funds for the devastating drought in the Horn of Africa."
Learn more about the movement here.

Hurricane Katrina memorial at Shell Beach honors St. Bernard Parish residents who died

"Two St. Bernard Parish councilmen took eight minutes to read the names of Hurricane Katrina’s dead. Other onlookers, mainly St. Bernard officials and television news crews, stood on the sidelines, quiet and still as a strong wind ruffled the plants in front of the stone memorial."

Read more about the memorial here.

Parents who know of preemies' pain more confident

"Parents who are taught to recognize and respond to signs of pain in their prematurely born babies are more confident in caring for their children once they leave the hospital, a new study shows."

Read more about these findings here.

Micro-irrigation – with Bollywood backup – points to new way to beat hunger

"Tonight almost one billion people will go to bed hungry. Frequent drought spells, pressures on land and water resources and sharply rising food prices make it harder to change that.

One priority target to boost world food security should be the millions of smallholder farmers in developing countries who live on less than two hectares – some of the poorest people on the globe."

Learn more here.

In Seeds We Trust

"Nestled along a narrow winding road off of Iowa’s Rt. 52, near the small town of Decorah and nearly swallowed by the surrounding endless acres of corn and wheat that typify modern industrial farming, sits a tiny respite from the ravages of today’s genetically-refined, fast-growing, fertilizer-and-pesticide-stoked crops. It is a place named, appropriately enough, Heritage Farm, home of the Seed Saver’s Exchange, the largest non-government owned seed bank in the nation."

Read more about Heritage Farm here.

Jaw-droppingly gorgeous video captures the Milky Way as Earth spins

"'Tempest Milky Way' presents 3 minutes of incredible, jaw-dropping scenery as the Earth spins, the stars revolving through the night sky as if riding a conveyer belt. The clarity and detail presented is absolutely astounding, giving you the chance to watch the sky in breathtaking color."

And the heavens declare His handiwork here.

Therapeutic hypothermia: Keeping cool in emergencies

 "The technique, which lowers a patient's body temperature to stave off brain damage, is gaining in popularity, but some doctors are slow to adopt it."

Get the cool facts here.

African Union must show leadership before it's too late, says World Vision

"As the African Union (AU) meets in Ethiopia for a pledging conference to tackle the drought and famine in the Horn of Africa, aid agency World Vision stresses that time is running out for hundreds of thousands of children across the region."
Click here to read more.

5 ways to cut 500 calories from your diet

"Empty calories, bigger portions, and fats and sugars can also creep into your diet when you're not paying attention. Even if you're eating healthy foods, there are some bad habits which may lead to ingesting more calories than you should."

Click here for these tips.

Birth date equals room rate? Sure, at Starwood hotels

"Here's a deal where the older you are, the more you save. Starwood hotels and resorts offers a second and third night for a price tied to the year you were born. So if you were born in 1960, you pay full price for the first night and $60 for extra nights."

Read more about this great deal here.

'Big Easy Brides' brings the French Quarter Wedding Chapel to the world

"Statistically speaking, marriage may be about as sound a bet as a coin flip, so why not have a little fun with the entry ritual?

That’s been the business plan for the French Quarter Wedding Chapel on Burgundy Street for a decade-plus, and business has been very good. "

Check out the chapel here.

Volunteer goes the extra mile to end domestic violence

"As the application deadline loomed for vendors who want to participate in a fundraising event in Bel Air next month, Hazel U. Hopkins fretted that a favorite caterer might have forgotten to sign up.

So she drove an application to the business in Kingsville, waited for the owner to fill it out and then returned it to the offices of SARC, a nonprofit organization dedicated to ending domestic violence, in Bel Air."

Read more about Hazel here.

World's largest refugee camp expands today; tens of thousands expected in coming months

"The first of 30,000 Somali refugees are expected to move into a new area of the world's largest refugee camp Thursday thanks in part to a donation of 5,000 tents by international aid agency World Vision. The new tents are going up just as the region faces the possibility of heavy rains – and the risk of flash floods – despite months of dry weather. The tents will also help protect the vulnerable from malaria, a potentially deadly disease for children and those weakened by malnourishment."

Read more about this enormous undertaking here.

How should you talk to a person in crisis?

"When people are in the midst of a crisis, it's not just shelter, food, water and medical care that they need.

They are worried, stressed, even traumatised. As an aid worker, coming across disaster-hit men, women and children on a regular basis, how do you talk to them in a way that eases the mental anxiety they're going through?"

Read more here.

Beekeepers abuzz in McHenry County

"Art Freier began keeping honeybee hives at his property on Oak Ridge Road in unincorporated Crystal Lake in 1988.

He would offer up free advice to curious passersby about how to start a hive or take care of the bees, and, after a few years of watching, his son-in-law John Reinert joined in the family hobby."

More on this honey of a story is here.

How to avoid the 'Freshman 15'

"Are you headed off to college and worried about the dreaded weight gain known as the 'Freshman 15?' While we can't help you write your first term paper, we can offer up some tips on how to make healthy food choices."

Read more here.

'The Help': Seeing Sin through Cinema

"Sometimes, we can look at sin right in the mirror and not recognize it. But when we see it through a camera’s lens, it’s easier to spot."

Read more of Chuck Colson's commentary here.

Three top chefs prove that lighter food can be tasty

"Asking leading chefs to cook low-fat versions of their renowned food is asking them to take a big leap of faith. But that's what we did while working on the story 'Chef, Can You Help?' in Monday's Health section."

Read the results here.

Tents airlifted in as world’s largest refugee camp continues to swell

"Thousands of tents are enroute to the world’s largest refugee camp in Dadaab, Kenya to meet the needs of the latest exodus of refugees to have fled starvation in Somalia. World Vision and ShelterBox have partnered together to bring nearly 5,000 tents to the camp."

Click here for more about this relief effort.

Big Milestone in the Big Easy's Schools

"In 2005 when Hurricane Katrina devastated much of the Gulf Coast, it swept away much of New Orleans. Along with roads, bridges, homes and businesses, it washed away most of the city’s schools—and in a way the entire school system."


Learn more about the changes here.

Sticker shock: 'Made in China' ranks only 2.7% of U.S. spending

"Convinced that everything you buy these days has a Made-in-China label?

Then you aren't paying attention. Things made in the U.S.A. still dominate the American marketplace, according to a new study by economists at the San Francisco Federal Reserve."

Click here for more on this surprising study.

K-LOVE, AIR1 Listeners Give Nearly $2 Million for Compassion Safe Water Systems in Africa

"Amidst fears of an economic crisis, listeners of national Christian radio stations, K-Love and Air1 donated nearly $2 million in a day long campaign to provide Compassion’s Water of Life safe water systems to those living in extreme poverty in Rwanda."

Click here to read more.

'Amazing' gene therapy wipes out leukemia in study

"Scientists are reporting the first clear success with a new approach for treating leukemia: turning the patients' own blood cells into assassins that hunt and destroy their cancer cells.

They've only done it in three patients so far, but the results were striking: Two appear cancer-free up to a year after treatment, and the third patient is improved but still has some cancer. Scientists are already preparing to try the same gene therapy technique for other kinds of cancer."

Read more on this amazing finding here.

'Star Wars' group on active duty for charity

"The Midwest Garrison of the 501st Legion — known throughout the galaxy as 'Vader's Fist,' 'The Fighting 501st' or, more mundanely, the Illinois chapter of the largest 'Star Wars' costuming club in the world — has never seen combat.

Its members have never fired their guns, captured a stronghold or lost a member to the Rebel insurgency. Their guns don't actually fire."

Follow the Force by clicking here.

World Vision steps up relief efforts in drought-stricken Somalia

"World Vision announced that it is expanding its relief efforts to feed children and their families in the Horn of Africa. The international humanitarian aid agency will be establishing a response center in the growing settlements for internally displaced people (IDP) in Dolo Town, which is located within southern Somalia along the border with Ethiopia."


Read more about the efforts here.

Entertainment Industry Launches Bob Marley Campaign to Reach Nearly 600 Million Facebook and Twitter Fans to Support Save the Children's East Africa Appeal

"Today sees the launch of a ground-breaking social media campaign, ‘I’m Gonna Be Your Friend’ supported by many of the world’s most famous names in entertainment and their fans. A global audience close to 600 million* Facebook and Twitter fans will be able to view a short film of the crisis in East Africa created by award-winning director Kevin MacDonald from footage of East Africa. The film is set to the 1973 Bob Marley & The Wailers song ‘High Tide or Low Tide’ and will reach over a billion people."

Read more about the campaign here.

World Vision warns school supply donations can’t keep up with increasing demand

"As the economy continues to falter and children prepare to go back to school, World Vision teams across the country warn that the need for basic supplies will greatly outstrip donations. This year, approximately 25,000 children will receive backpacks filled with school supplies from the Christian humanitarian organization; still donations cannot keep up with the increasing demand."

Learn more about the need here. 

Incorporating omega 3 from nuts, seeds

"If you're not a fan of seafood but want to include omega 3 fatty acids in your diet, there are alternatives. In Michael van Straten's book 'The Omega 3 cookbook,' he gives suggestions for healthy nut snack items that include the essential fatty acid. According to CDC, omega-3 polyunsaturated fats provide an essential fatty acid that our bodies need but can't make."

Click here to learn more.

Barnabas Learns to Give

"When Barnabas helps his friend Missy clean out a closet, he learns about giving."

Click here to join Barnabas on his newest adventure!