Hopefully everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving, and people were lucky enough to spend it with friends and family.

In the spirit of the holiday season, Peter has teamed up with Amie Street and The Robin Hood Foundation, offering his Christmas album, Star of Wonder, for free download, with the proceeds benefiting The Food Bank of New York. With each download, Amie Street will donate $1 and The Robin Hood Foundation will donate $2, which translates to FIFTEEN (15!!) free meals for hungry New Yorkers.

We will be distributing download cards during tonight’s Tree Lighting Ceremony at Rockefeller Plaza to help get the word out, but if you can’t get there (or don’t live nearby!), here’s the website where you can get a copy:

www.amiestreet.com/fhb

There’s no downside! Free holiday music and helping people in need? It’s an awesome deal. Let us know what you think in the comments section!

Hi everyone,

With the release of Akon’s new album “Freedom,” we’ve seen a sharp spike in traffic, and would like to welcome new readers with a brief introduction of our site. Our main goal is to stimulate discussion about how and where we as individuals, and as a group, can do good in our community, or effect a life across the world. If you work with a specific cause, please share it with us! If you are looking for a way to start giving back, you might find some great suggestions in the readers’ comments, or we have links (above) that can help point you in the right direction. Otherwise, please let us know what you’re looking for, and someone here might be able to suggest new ideas specifically for you. The more we can elevate the discussion of helping those around us, the more we can accomplish!

Especially as the holiday season is drawing near, there are plenty of very simple and easy ways to help those around you. Simple acts of donation (canned goods, warm coats, an hour of your time) are always appreciated at food banks and community centers in any town or city across the country. Feeding America (formerly America’s Second Harvest) has over 200 locations nationwide and One Warm Coat is a national organization where you can find local coat drives in your area, or organize one if none are available.

We hope you find useful resources here, whether in each other’s knowledge and sharing, or by inspiring an idea of your own. Please help us build our community of motivated, caring neighbors by sharing your own experiences or looking for new ways to get involved.

Thanks!

I had the pleasure of meeting with Harry Belafonte and Malia Lazu last week. Now if anyone is thinking that they might be too old to do anything in the world - think again! Mr. B (as in Belafonte) is 81 years old and is still working every day to make a difference. While there is a wealth of information available about him, let me just remind you of two things: he had the very first million selling album AND he bailed Martin Luther King Jr. out of the Birmingham City Jail.

This is a man who will never stop searching for a way to end violence in this country and around the world. And with Malia as the organization’s Executive Director, they just might do it.

Please visit their site and get involved!

http://gatheringforjustice.org/

But there’s been so much going on in the world! This site has just not kept up. And of of course, it’s entirely our fault. We’re going to get around to connecting up with some other folks. Because we learned that we just don’t have the people power here to keep this thing going. 

We had an election (as if it could be missed) - and it is ushering in new possibilities. Now more than ever people know that there is something they can do. Indeed.

Akon’s been busy preparing for his new release and Peter’s been busy with Philanthropic work (with a few concerts thrown in). He and his wife Jennifer won the Clinton Global Initiative’s Global Citizen Award in September. 

Peter also met Sol Guy from 4REAL http://www.4real.com/ 

wow! This guy is for real. Check out the site and the show.

More updates soon. But tell us what’s on your mind.

Yesterday we received a fantastic comment from Duncan. He writes:

It all impacts the soul of the planet. We can all begin with the steps that are within our reach [...] It may begin with helping those in need to find hope. But it doesn’t end there. We need to work together to turn hope into action. [...] We can do what’s right with the resources we have available - could be time, could be money, could be as simple as consuming only what we actually need. It’s all connected.

I think the idea of “the soul of the planet” is incredibly inspiring. It speaks to the actions of every person in every corner of the world, and how each and every one of us has an impact. We effect the people immediately around us, and our decisions have larger consequences beyond the scope of our vision. Whether it’s about the environment, world hunger, a local community issue, or anything else, our presence has just as much weight as our absence. It doesn’t mean we all have to do everything, but doing nothing feels and sounds empty by comparison. The soul of the planet is in need of some karmic realignment and it would be a terrible tragedy to view it as beyond help. To view Duncan’s complete comment, you can find it under A Day Of Rest.

Hello! It’s been too long! Recently, a friend of mine has been involved with Dream for Darfur, working with celebrities, actors and artists calling attention to the current crisis in Darfur. Particularly in the days leading up to the Olympics, when we come together in good faith and sportsmanship, we must not lose sight of those less fortunate than us, which in this case is only putting it mildly. The suffering that is ongoing is heartbreaking and as a global community, we have a responsibility to respond. They will be broadcasting everyday during the Olympics from refugee camps in Darfur, hosting what they’re calling the “Darfur Olympics.” The hope is of course for the Darfur Olympics to inspire action and end the genocide. Below, famous words:

When the Nazis came for the communists, I remained silent;
I was not a communist.

When they locked up the social democrats, I remained silent;
I was not a social democrat.

When they came for the trade unionists, I did not speak out;
I was not a trade unionist.

When they came for the Jews, I remained silent;
I wasn’t a Jew.

When they came for me, there was no one left to speak out.

Hello!

We’ve recently joined forces with think.mtv.com to help further the good word about our site and reach out to more people the world over! Please look around the site, there are some great featured profiles, including celebrities, musicians and other organizations. We hope you find causes and initiatives that touch you and motivate you to take action.

Thanks for all your continued support!

Today, WXPN in Philadelphia showcased “Anything” and this website as their “Morning Download”. http://www.xpn.org/

Which reminds me - supporting public radio is another good thing to do! (no, they didn’t ask me to say that…). Media is often the reason we end up asking, “Is there something I can do?”. There are so many stories fed to us everyday that can create feelings of helplessness, fear, frustration, anger… Often public radio gives different points of view or more in depth coverage of a story. Things that can create a more hopeful feeling about the state of the world… just a somewhat rambling thought about yet another thing you can do. Thanks for visiting the site! Look around…. get involved….