I'm a firm believer in the power of the business world to do good. Yahoo's Purple Acts of Kindness program is a great example.
What exactly is that? I'll let Yahoo! explain...
Yahoo! seeks out individuals who are doing great work in their communities, and amplifies their good deeds by putting some purple power behind their efforts. Leveraging the reach of the Yahoo! network, we hope these stories will touch many of our 500 million users, and serve as an inspiration to commit similar acts of kindness.
The most recent story shines a light on an 8 year old girl in Topeka, Kansas...
This remarkable third-grader from Topeka, Kansas, was inspired by Yahoo!’s Be a Better Planet campaign to encourage Topekans to use reusable shopping bags at the grocery store. Her grandmother contacted Yahoo! to see if we could help jumpstart her campaign.
As part of our Purple Acts of Kindness program, we sent Jaide 900 (purple) canvas shoppings bags. She’ll sell them for $5 a piece at local supermarkets to raise money for organizations that preserve the environment and improve the lives of kids, including Keep America Beautiful, the Topeka School Fund, and the American Heart Association.
What I love about this is not so much the concrete effect this has (let's be honest - 900 shopping bags is only going to have so much of a positive impact on the planet). It's the ripple effect. It's the fact that Yahoo! is shining the light on people who are putting the effort into making their corner of the world a better place.
The more positive efforts people are exposed to, the greater the likelihood that they will feel moved to take some kind of positive action themselves. With its reach to hundreds of millions of people, this has the potential to inspire far beyond the scope of the individual projects Yahoo! highlights.
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