QikReview™: The Good Deed Guide

James and Lisa Grace authored this handy little companion, chock full of "Simple Ways To Make The World A Better Place," as the subtitle says.

The 4 main sections -- about First Aid, Friends & Neighbors, Strangers and Your Community -- all offer detailed instructions on some practical ways to help, like "How To Jump Start A Car," or "How To Confront Prejudice." Plus, each section ends with a selection of 25 ideas for doing good related to the section topic.

Jim and Lisa live in Jamaica Plain, MA with their son and daughter. They wrote this book to encourage people to choose to be a force for good in the world, and to give us some practical help in going about doing that good. They see it as a

"road map to taking an active part in changing the world for the better. .. The choice is yours. Make a difference. Do good."

The book is 6x6 inches, 144 pages. Just the right size to keep in a jacket pocket, purse or your car's glove compartment.

If you click the picture and order the book through Amazon,
Friends of the Needy will receive a donation.

Henry Kaufman Gives $10 MillionFor Freedom of Ideas

As a boy, Henry Kaufman fled the Nazis in the 1930s.

He knows a thing or two about not being able to express your ideas.

"I escaped with my parents and was not ravaged by the Holocaust. But today there are still many, many people being persecuted in the world," he told Rebecca Johnson of USA Today.

President of his own investment firm in New York City, Kaufman, an author and economist as well, has the resources to make a difference in the realm of freedom of ideas.

In the largest donation ever received for the Scholar Rescue Fund, Kaufman is giving $10 million to the Institute of International Education.

During World War II, the institute rescued some 330 refugees. As chair of its board of trustees, Kaufman was part of the establishment, in 2002, of the fund to support those who have been threatened or persecuted for their ideas by government, religious or paramilitary groups. The fund provides sabbatical time and safe placement for scholars.

So far, the group has aided some 50 scholars from 28 countries.

To Kaufman, preventing scholars from pursuing their studies deprives the whole of human society ...

"they can't really do work that will benefit society," Kaufman laments.

His $10 million gift is meant to ensure freedom of study, freedom of ideas.

He's one person who takes the opportunities given in his own life as the occasion to make opportunities for others.

Institute of International Education online

Denis Leary Donates To FDNY

Irish America reports that actor Denis Leary, of the tv series Rescue Me has made another generous contribution to New York's Bravest.

In 2000, Leary had set up The Leary Firefighter Foundation to support the families of 6 Worcester, MA (his hometown) firefighters killed in a warehouse arson fire.

After 9/11, his foundation endowed The Leary Firefighters' Fund for New York's Bravest, which directed support to 343 families of firefighters who died in the line of duty in the Twin Towers.
The foundation has worked to support firefighters with the latest in safety equipment and technology to back them up in their dangerous work.

Now the foundation turned over to the NYFD a state of the art Mobile Command Center that will serve as the departments HQ for large scale incidents. It rolled into action for its first use during the Republican National Convention in the City in July.

Leary thanked the FDNY for

"their tireless efforts in protecting the people of the city of New York. We are honored to have contributed this vehicle to help enable them to meet the challenges they face."

Now that's harnessing star power in the service of helping others!

Leary Firefighters' Foundation