DO WELL BY DOING GOOD

Dana May Casperson, a manners and etiquette expert, taught inner city kids the correct way to use their utensils at posh restaurants throughout the country. The restaurants volunteered their services and edibles for the sake of education and etiquette. The Chicago Tribune wrote about Casperson's wisdom that gave the kids much more than a lesson in bread and butter. The local TV evening news picked up the story. Some children said that they had always felt like society outsiders and now, manners in hand, felt included. Others were excited to go home and teach their parents their new skills.

To make a difference in the world you don't have to give money. Get active. Become a spokesperson and help give voice to those who can't do it for themselves. Use your know-how for doing what you do best to bring awareness to a cause. Then write a press release about it.

Heart-felt giving within your own community or in the larger world attracts immediate attention of the news media for two reasons. First, community conscious acts bring notice to underrated issues that concern society. Second, stories about social saviors counter the negative news that threatens to overwhelm us.