【推荐2】Marty Rogers has been feeding the homeless for 44 years. He has organized 44 Thanksgiving dinners for those in need. But a few years ago, Marty was inspired to do even more than just an annual meal.

It all started when a student at Immaculate Conception School asked her teacher what they could do to help the homeless. The school asked Marty who is experienced in feeding people in need to help organize something. Therefore, Marty came up with the Hope Walks project to get more people who also want to help the homeless involved. A few times a year, Marty and volunteers from the church and school would get together to make sandwiches and then walk around their neighborhood and ask people if they’d like some food.

“We give them space, and we say, ‘Hello, we have something to eat or drink. Would you like it?’ It’s always a choice,” Marty said. Marty and his group try to make each person feel comfortable. And they also ask each person their name.

When the pandemic (流行病) hit and many things shut down, Marty decided to ramp up his efforts. “Everyone have to stay at home. But the people who are out are those who are homeless,” he said. “At first we went out once a week with our supplies, but later with more and more volunteers from the church and school taking part in the activity, we went out three times a week.”

“We have continued the Hope Walks three times a week. There are a lot of people who are homeless around our neighborhood. Some of them are seniors and some of them might be addicted to alcohol (酒精). We don’t ask or judge them. But we know they’re all on the edge (边缘) of society,” Marty said, “And they will all benefit from a sandwich, a bottle of water or a cookie.” Marty has got to know many people in the neighborhood, and has seen firsthand how the Hope Walks can make a difference.

【推荐3】During the spring break, my daughter, Lucy, was offered the opportunity to go to Thailand with Adventures Cross-Country (ARCC) on a summer adventure that combined community service with some unique, amazing actually, travel opportunities.

Less than 24 hours after landing in, they squeezed in their first service project, teaching and volunteering in a local school, before hopping on a night train to Chiang Mai. From there they boarded open-air bus-like trucks and bumped their way along rough dirt roads for a couple of hours, leaving their comfort zones behind before reaching the Village Hill Tribe.

Surrounded by rice fields, the teenagers taught English and poured the cement floor of a library in the making. Their home away from home was a village classroom. Tables and chairs were pushed aside to clear floor space for the kids to sleep at night. There were bugs of the flying and crawling variety. There were no flush (冲水) toilets. Showers were accomplished by filling a bucket with a plastic pipe and hanging it over your head. When my home phone rang about a week after she left, there were no complaints but the shower, in her words, “was the best thing that ever happened to me.” There aren’t many folks, let alone teenagers, that can rough it in those conditions, do community service work that involves hard labor, and most impressively, still be smiling at the end of the day.

Experiences like this can’t be gained by reading books or searching the Internet. They’ve learned by traveling and doing. She learned how to lay a cement floor without the luxury of any fancy equipment. All of the teenagers learned that people, themselves included, can do great things when they put their minds to it.

【推荐1】Japan says it will start releasing radioactive(放射性的) water from the destroyed Fukushima nuclear center into the sea beginning in two years. The polluted water is to be treated before it is released into the Pacific Ocean. The government announced the plan Tuesday and said it had been approved by cabinet ministers. The decision had long been expected, but faced delays linked to safety concerns and public opposition.

Japan has said the water release is necessary to move forward with cleanup efforts at the Fukushima nuclear center. Three reactors(反应堆) there suffered meltdowns after the 2011 earthquake and huge ocean wave destroyed the plant5s cooling systems. The disaster forced 160,000 people to flee polluted areas around the plant. Tokyo Electric Power Company, or TEPCO, operates the nuclear center. It is carrying out the cleanup. TEPCO said Fukushima will run out of all its storage space for radioactive water by late 2022.

Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga said the government had decided the ocean release was the most realistic way to solve the water storage problem. Other methods considered included injecting the water into the ground or converting it to steam or hydrogen and then releasing it into the atmosphere.

The government describes the water to be released as “treated” and not “radioactive”. But experts say that 100 percent of radioactive materials cannot be removed. Government officials say tritium(氚) is the only substance that cannot be removed from the water. They say tritium is not considered harmful in small amounts.

The officials say all other radioactive materials in the water can be reduced to releasable levels. The exact amount of radioactive material that would remain in the water is not known. Some scientists say the long-term effects on ocean life from large amounts of such treated water also remains unknown. Fishermen and many people living in the area strongly oppose the plan. They have said releasing the water into the ocean could cause widespread damage to Fukushima5s fishing and agriculture industries.

【推荐3】In 2021, with the support of the Chinese government, summer vacation daycare is booming. Many students went back to school during this summer vacation — not for regular classes but for activities such as watching films, group games, and painting.

Favorable policies

Summer vacation daycare, a new option for busy parents, became a trend this year after Chinese education authorities mobilized to offer more choices for school-age students during their summer vacation.

Solid progress was made in many places, including Shanghai, for example. Similar programs have been in place for years in many areas with encouragement from local education departments. Since 2017, the Jiyang District of Sanya, Hainan province, has set up public welfare summer childcare courses which have been well received by parents, many of whom are migrant workers with no time to look after their children.

Addressing parents’ needs

“Small children aren't able to look after themselves, and we parents find it unnerving to leave them alone at home,” said Li Yan, a parent from Shandong province. From Li's perspective. daycare programs provided by schools are a great solution for parents who have such worries.

To meet the needs of more parents, the scale of the childcare program in the Jiyang district has expanded year by year. The country's education authorities have stipulated that daycare programs ought to be, in their nature,a public service that doesn't create financial burdens for parents. Organizers across the country have strictly adhered to this principle.

Pooling efforts of society

With daycare programs gaining popularity, daycare program organizers are pooling society's efforts to boost the quality of the services they provide. In Shanghai, this summer, more than12,000 college student volunteers were recruited, and each of them attends to no more than five children. Thus, all children can receive adequate attention and care.

For the future development of vacation-time daycare services, there is still room for improvement.In the meantime, having their children attending daycare programs doesn't mean parents are free of responsibilities. Parents ought to balance their children's daycare hours and leisure hours.

【推荐3】Even when natural disasters happen far away, we feel for the people who are going through them. It can be more stressful if they happen close to home or affect people you know.     1     It's also good to find a way to help. When you turn your feelings into action, you can do something that matters.

You can find out what kind of help people need on the Internet. Check the website of groups like the Red Cross.       2     You can join in to support their efforts.

    3     More people-power means more help for those who need it. You could decide to do something as a family. Or you could do something at school, or with people in a community you belong to.

Plan what you'll do, and make it happen. For example, if you plan to collect supplies, you need to post a list of what to bring and when and where to drop it off. After the event, you'll need to decide how to group the things and send them to the charity (慈善机构).     4    

No matter which way you choose, your action helps others.     5     Giving is good for you, too. Maybe you find a new interest in helping or service. Think about what it meant to you. You'll notice how good it feels to be part of something that matters and to know you can make a difference in someone's life.