According to the Grand Forks Herald of ND, cellular company Alltel Wireless sent their “Good Deed Guy”, Paul Cruz, to a local supermarket this past Tuesday to buy people’s groceries.

A clear promotional stunt, the gesture did have some real impact in the lives of people that day. While some were cautious of Alltel’s motives, some, especially those on food stamps and public aid, were reportedly brought to tears over the act.

I guess it’s a little bit of give and take. I can’t decide whether I support this kind of “loaded” kindness; however, since it actually helped people in need I can at least partly get behind it.

I think Charles Kuralt is my idol. He hits it right on the head with this quote:

“The everyday kindness of the back roads more than makes up for the acts of greed in the headlines.”

-Charles Kuralt

According to the Institute for International Sport, March 7, 2006 is the 16th annual National Sportsmanship Day.

From its website:

National Sportsmanship Day serves as a forum for administrators, coaches, students, alumni, parents and fans to discuss the issues of ethics, fair play and sportsmanship. In addition, each year, the Institute for International Sport recognizes individuals who exemplify ethics and sportsmanship in both their professional and personal endeavors by naming them as Sports Ethics Fellows (SEF).

So get out there and play something, have a good time, and be a good sport.

Reporter, Doug Birch, of the Baltimore Sun wrote about two recent studies showing that altruism may be an innate primate trait.

According to the article, German researchers published in the journal Science that some chimpanzees have the capacity lend a helping hand. Although the study involved retrieving bananas — and, well, what red blooded chimp wouldn’t lend a hand for such a worthy cause — it did show a propensity for altruism. The most helpful chimp went by the name of Bwamble, a subordinate. The dominant male, Mawa, proved to be the most unhelpful of the bunch. Figures.

Another study, what I call the My Pin study, involved 18 month old human infants as well as chimps. Both were summoned for help in picking up dropped clothes pins. Both groups (thankfully) showed the willingness to help out.

So, the next time you are feeling primordial and want to snub your fellow man or woman in need, remember that sometimes the only thing separating you from a pack of animals is your unique ability to be helpful.

Author Richard Carlson (Don’t Sweat the Small Stuff…And It’s All Small Stuff) talk about thinking good thoughts and being kind in this column found in The Shouthern newspaper in IL.

He talks about how easy it is to slip into meanness and how utterly not fulfilling it is to bad mouth people. He remembers about once having been mean to an older woman when he was a teenager and how to this day he feels horrible about it.

I haven’t ever read his book, but many people swear by it. His websites seem a bit to sappy for me, but he’s just trying to make good of this world, so I have to give him a shout out.

Chicago’s Millennium Park is very cool and worth a visit to the Windy City.

Locals like to lament the project because of its sky high price tag and frequent construction delays, but ever since its opening in the summer of 2004, the park has been everybody’s favorite destination.

The Park features a Frank Gehry-designed amphitheater (Jay Pritzker Pavillion), a magical light totem pole and interactive fountain, a garden, a slinking, snakelike overpass / walkway and the now famous reflective metal bean sculpture (Cloud Gate, by Anish Kapoor).

When the weather warms up this spring, get out to downtown Chicago, listen to some great music, layout along Lake Michigan and have a great time.

Quick.

Enter your favorite teacher in the OfficeMax Super Hero Teacher of the Year Contest.

If you’re in grades 6 – 8, you have a great teacher for whom you’d like to honor and you love the pages of Marvel Comics then rush on over to your nearest OfficeMax and fill out an entry form by March 17.

The grand prize will have the winning teacher and entrant appearing (as an illustration, of course) in an upcoming issue of Spider-Man or the Fantastic Four. Along with professional development money and OfficeMax gift cards, this is a pretty cool prize package.

So, go for it. Tell your son or daughter about the contest and go honor the outstanding teacher in his or her life.

It’s been six years since the book and movie Pay It Forward hit the streets, and author, Catherine Ryan Hyde is still making speaking engagements.

According to the Battle Creek Enquirer (MI), Hyde spoke at the inaugural meeting of a community-wide reading program.

This book / movie brought to life the small yet powerful idea of paying favors forward. The story goes that if you pay forward each good deed to three people, and ask each of those three to then pay forward the niceness to another three, the whole world would eventually be inundated with kindness.

It’s a fairy tale, for sure, to think that such a thing would snowball to such a global scale. But, you know what? It’s sure worth trying to get there than to nay say. The fact that Hyde is still being asked to speak about her book means that the idea still carries steam.

So do it. Go out and pay forward a nice act to three total strangers. Report back and we’ll see if we can’t track all this good stuff.

The State of Massachusetts has a great program called Unsung Heroines. More than 240 women from every community in the state were chosen from a pool of nominees for the award. A ceremony at the State House took place on March 3, 2006.

Strange, but I can’t find a lot of information on this program or its sponsoring agency, the Massachusetts Commission on the Status of Women. Although, it’s clear from the recipients that the criteria was to honor women who are active in their communities, working to make a difference.

I have come across other such Heroine programs on college campuses in the South. Seems like a program that can easily be duplicated, one that you should consider for a future awards program.

Read more:

Daily News Transcript
Massachusetts Commission on the Status of Women
Berkshire Eagle
The Transcript

This is total rumor mill stuff, but fathomable given our subject.

According to Wedlok.com, Angelina Jolie apparently asked her stylist to find her wedding dress off the racks of a Goodwill store.

I think shopping at thrift stores, flea markets and Goodwills are not only fun, but responsible. Now, it takes some getting use to the flawed materials and nicked furniture, but second hand shopping is lighter on your pocket and on the environment too. Many of us would agree that our level of consumption is sometimes way off the charts. Why do we need piles of stuff, miles of junk in our lives? Why can’t we live the simple life with fewer bought items? Why are we so afraid of living sans materials? I actually don’t have a good answer to these questions.

If Jolie is buying a wedding dress from Goodwill, I will totally applaud her. She may seem to do things for show or to bolster her freaky outsider status, but at least she’s doing things. Adopting children is another example of responsible living. As the adage goes, Why bring another child into the world when there are already so many already without a proper home? Why horde resources for your own off-spring when a warm blooded child is out there waiting to be adopted. It’s hard for most of us to contemplate adoption, even though we are aware that in so many ways it’s the right thing to do. While we’re waffling, Jolie’s done it twice.

I do not want to belabor Angelina as eco-social champion. Just keep the Goodwill thing in mind the next time you feel the need to hit the mall or megastores. You’ll have a good time being good.