If you want to help others and improve the world, you still can, without leaving the house. Many volunteer opportunities require only a computer or a phone. We've rounded up four websites offering a variety of choices.
Points of Light
Founded by President George Bush, this is the world's biggest organization about volunteer service.
R History and garden lovers can help make collections more available by copying historic documents or tagging (加标签) images of American gardens by plant type in its database.
R Help research cold cases of missing and unidentified people for the Doe Network.
Volunteer Match
This is a huge database of more than one million virtual (虚拟的) volunteer listings.
R Got a legal background? Lawyers can review online content for Illinois Legal Aid.
R Retired business owner? There are many opportunities to instruct small business owners in sales and marketing, business planning and product development.
Create the Good
AARP, the membership group for people 50+, operates this volunteer opportunities database for the 50+ age group.
R Offer career advice to high school students in poor families in fields from baking to handyman by email for Career Village.
R Raise awareness about scams (诈骗), especially those aimed at older people, identified by AARP's National Fraud Team.
United Nations Volunteers
This group lists organizations for peace and development all over the world. You can:
R Research money and its sources for young people who start business in Asia and the Pacific.
R Brainstorm ideas to collect plastic waste in Cameroon.
Want to get involved? Click here to become a member or send an email to membership @seniorplanet.org to learn about opportunities.
Allison Guallpa concentrates on following the video directions for an unusual painting at home — the eighth-grader must draw a face using fruits or vegetables. She chooses peaches for rosy cheeks and a banana for the mouth.
That's just one project Guallpa and other children are participating in during a 10-week, free, virtual art education series led by Marie Saint-Cyr, owner of Saint-Cyr Art Studio. Other challenges have included drawing a black-and-white still life of bottles, creating a watercolor landscape (风景) and copying works of artists like Van Gogh.
Saint-Cyr began the program during the summer of 2020 to give children an opportunity to express themselves and their feelings during dramatic changes in their lives because of COVID-19. Saint-Cyr, 25, moved to Long Island at 8. The programs she attended after her arrival were free and influenced her so much that she wanted to create something alike for the next generation.
Parents first contact Saint-Cyr through her website, Saintcyrartstudio.com. Saint-Cyr works with program supporters who pay her and provide the supplies for the children, which parents can pick up or have delivered. Saint-Cyr then provides 30-minute videos through Google Classroom that walk students through creating their artwork projects. At 4 p.m. meetups Mondays through Thursdays, whoever can make it attends a Zoom meeting where children show off their works in progress, give each other feedback (反馈) and ask questions. They also do 5-to 10-minute small exercises to improve their skills. It might be "Find an object and draw it without lifting the pencil off the paper". At the conclusion of the series, Saint-Cyr displays students' work in the "walk-through" virtual gallery online. It looks as if viewers are really walking through a museum display with all the kids' professional artwork hanging on the walls.
Instead of being bored, the students participating in the program have got something to do — create things, see all the students' works and get ideas. Saint-Cyr is considering bringing the program to nearby schools as an optional after-school activity.
Dogs are often referred to as "man's best friend". But MacKenzie, a four-pound chihuahua, who was named winner of the 2020 American Hero Dog Competition on October 19, 2020, is making the world a better place for humans and animals alike.
In its tenth year in 2020, the annual contest is the brainchild of American Humane, the country's first national charitable organization founded for the safety and well-being of animals. Often called the "Oscars for dogs", the award recognizes dogs who make extremely great contributions (贡献) to society.
The competition of 2020 attracted over 400 entries from across the country. These heroic dogs have gone above the call of duty, saving lives, comforting the ill and aged and reminding us of the powerful, age-old ties between animals and people. While all were impressive, it was tiny MacKenzie who won the judges' hearts.
MacKenzie's path to stardom was not easy. Born with a mouth disability, she had to be fed through a tube (管子) for the first year of her life. Despite her own struggles, she always seemed to think more of other animals in need. "Never have I seen such a will to live. Though sick, she carefully looked after the baby animals at the rescue (救助) center," said her caretaker.
A life-saving operation performed in 2014 gave MacKenzie the ability to eat independently. The seven-year-old chihuahua is now working for the Mia Foundation, a New York-based charitable organization that rescues and nurses animals with inborn disabilities. The chihuahua does an excellent job and has raised various animals. She plays nurse, cleans, comforts and hugs them, acting as their mother and teaching them how to socialize, play and have good manners.
In addition to her role as an animal caretaker, MacKenzie also visits schools to educate kids about the importance of accepting physical differences in both animals and people. Her heartwarming and inspiring story makes MacKenzie a worthy receiver of America's top dog honor!
A group of second-year college students have discovered hidden writing on a page from a book from the 1500s, using a special camera system they built.
Surprisingly, finding hidden writing on very old documents isn't all that unusual. In fact, there's even a special name for documents like this: a palimpsest (再生羊皮纸卷).
Long ago, writing was done on parchment — thin, dried animal skins specially prepared for writing. But parchment wasn't easy to make and wasn't cheap. So it became common to erase the old writing off a parchment and then reuse it for another piece of writing. That's what creates a palimpsest.
The writing erased off the parchment can't be seen directly, but scientists have learned ways to use special lighting to reveal the original writing. But it's unusual for young college students to discover palimpsests.
Last year, first-year students at the Rochester Institute of Technology took part in a class that brought together many students to take on a project as a group. The project was to build a special camera system that could take pictures using different kinds of light.
Over the summer, the students working on the imaging camera managed to finish it. When they were done, they borrowed several old parchments from the collection at the school's Cary Graphic Arts Collection. When they put one of the pages under their camera system with UV light, the hidden writing suddenly appeared. Under the UV light, handwriting in French could easily be seen behind the fancy writing and decorations normally visible on the page.
Zoe, a student involved in the project, said, “This was amazing because this document has been in the Cary Collection for almost 10 years and no one noticed it.” The students are even more excited because even though the parchment is no longer part of a book, they know where 29 other pages from the same book are. The students, who are now working with others to locate the other parchments, hope these, too, will have hidden writing and that they can figure out what it means.
Up to 40% of the food produced never makes it to our mouths. Food waste is a huge problem. Here are ways to reduce food waste.
● Many of us blindly throw things that look novel into the shopping baskets and then let them sit in the fridge until they go bad. So before shopping, think about exactly what you need for the week, make a detailed shopping list to prevent overbuying and stick to it.
● Get creative with repurposing food. Before walking straight to the bin with your old carrots, ask yourself: Can I make this into something new? You needn't follow any complicated recipes to turn older produce into a fresh new dish. Just use your head to make the best of it. For example, roast the carrots as a side dish or cut them for a salad.
● Your freezer is your friend. If you're unable to use food before it's too late, turn to the trusty freezer. Freezing food helps lock in its flavor and nutrients. So next time you find perfect strawberries for your summer picnic, don't throw the leftovers.
● Don't be fooled by that "sell by" date. Typically, these labels are a best guess by businesses as to when their products will be finest. They're not hard-and-fast rules about when that cheese has to go straight to the bin. They're about quality, not about food safety. Next time you do a sweep of your storeroom, remember that. If it doesn't pass, turn to the bin.
A. Make an advance plan.
B. The answer is probably yes.
C. When in doubt, do a smell test.
D. Add up what you let go to waste.
E. The good news: Each of us can help solve it.
F. They may end up in landfills and produce greenhouse gases.
G. Instead, bag and put them in the freezer in case you want them.
Last December, I was in Canada on business with my coworkers. One of them, Frank, was much older. He was physically 1, having just recovered from an illness. He didn't want Asian 2, so he stayed in the hotel while the rest of us dined out. However, I thought this might have impacted his sense of 3.
One night, I told Frank I'd like to take him out wherever he wanted to eat. 4 I had vegetarian food preferences and he did not, he did not want to 5 me by going to places where I would have very few 6. I assured him that it was no big issue and he 7 eventually. I then drove him to a restaurant he would prefer. With other coworkers going out separately, I was able to 8 Frank alone and practice deep 9 with him pouring out his heart till late at night. My willingness to lend an ear brought us two closer.
After we ended our meal, I decided to 10 him right to the door of the hotel and not the parking lot, because it was 11 outside, which would make him easily catch a cold. This felt good, and over the next few outings, it felt more 12 to tell my coworkers to wait inside the restaurant while I 13 the car for them to avoid the low temperature in it.
Though 14, such acts have magic power, spreading joy to each of us and filling us with a strong sense of community. I'm happy to find my coworkers are getting more and more thoughtful and 15 more about each other.
The Mid-Autumn Festival or the Moon Festival, the second most important festival in China after the Spring Festival, traditionally (fall) on the 15th day of the eighth month in the Chinese lunar calendar.
In the past, the Moon Festival (observe) at harvest time. Ancient Chinese emperors worshiped (敬奉) the moon in autumn to give thanks the harvest. The ordinary people took the Mid-Autumn Festival to be a (celebrate) of their hard work and harvest. Nowadays, people mainly celebrate the Moon Festival as a time for family reunions. They have long believed that worshiping the moon and eating together around round table will bring them good luck and happiness.
The common customs of the Mid-Autumn Festival include family members eating dinner together, (share) mooncakes, worshiping the moon with gifts and displaying lanterns.
Mooncakes are the must-eat Mid-Autumn food in China. Chinese people see the roundness of mooncakes as a symbol of reunion and happiness. Other foods (eat) during the festival are harvest foods, such as crabs, pumpkins and grapes. People enjoy them when they are in the (fresh) and most nutritious (有营养的) state, and nice meanings are particularly connected with round foods.
Festival food traditions are changing. The younger generation have their own choices about they eat. Many of them don't like mooncakes very much and choose (enjoy) their favorite foods.
