【推荐1】Ten-year-old Orion Jean has always known that kindness is important. He often practiced it by volunteering with his family. But last year, after entering the National Kindness Speech Contest, he became crazy about it. Now he works to spread kindness everywhere through projects that help others.

After a teacher told him about the speech competition, Orion had only 24 hours to write, memorize, and record his speech. In it, he talked about the importance of kindness—especially right now, when many are facing difficulties from the COVID-19 and dealing with unfair treatment.

“Kindness is like spreading hugs around the world to those who need it and those who may not know they need it,” Orion said. He encouraged listeners to join him in “the race of kindness” by doing small, kind acts for others.

Orion’s speech won the competition. He used his $500 prize to fund his first Race to Kindness project, a toy drive for a local children’s hospital. He collected 619 toys. After that, Orion wanted to make an even bigger impact.

Working with a nonprofit, he packed meal bags for people in need. He included a kind message for each receiver Orion also organized several events in his community. In all, he collected more than 100,000 meals!

Orion believes that everyone wins this race. He says, “A kind act can be something small, but it can make a big difference. You can write a thank-you note to a worker or leave flowers on a neighbor’s doorstep.” “If you’re kind to someone else, it can make their day brighter and inspire that person to be kind to somebody else. And then it just grows and grows, and it can make the world a better place.” He adds.

【推荐3】Lautaro had already spent hours viewing and reviewing the footage he had taken of his grandmother, Maida, in memory of her childhood in southern Italy. There was no shortage of material. Maida was fascinating as she talked about everything from picking grapes in her grandparents’ garden to avoiding wild dogs on her daily routine to school. The problem was finding the best form for the material.

Lautaro had already finished a rough cut that followed his grandmother’s story in time order. The video began with Maida’s earliest memories of the Italian farmyard and ended with her arrival in the United States at age 15, puzzled and excited. Lautaro used family photographs to illustrate Maida’s storytelling. He knew the first version was not bad, but he was not satisfied with the overall video. He was certain that something vital was missing.

Running out of his own ideas, Lautaro decided to get some advice. And who better to ask than Maida herself? Lautaro showed Maida the 10-minute video on his computer. As soon as it was over Maida said, “I can’t get over how much things have changed, Taro. Your life seems so different from mine.” Maida’s words inspired Lautaro. Her reaction told him exactly what was missing: his personal point of view.

A few days later, when Lautaro screened his final project for his classmates and teacher, it was only two minutes longer than his original cut, but those extra minutes made a huge difference. Between Maida’s recollections of her past, Lautaro has added in photographs of his own life today. The contrasts were both striking and touching, and the final image of Lautaro listening to Maida reinforced the warmth and closeness of their relationship. Laurato smiled with pride as his classmates acknowledged his comparative documentary with cheerful applause.

【推荐2】Some cancer survivors (幸存者) in New Jersey are fighting back by staying fit in the group they call “Team Survivor”. The ladies are amazing, training for a sprint triathlon (短距离铁人三项) in Sandy Hook. Team Survivor has members all over the country, and each one has an inspiring story.

“It has taught me not to fear life,” Team Survivor member Janice Caldwell said. “It has taught me to wake up every morning and be grateful(感激的) that I feel good.” Caldwell got breast cancer four years ago, and she’s been fighting against it with the help of Team Survivor. It is a non-profit group of women with all types of cancer who help each other by promoting (促进) exercise in just about any sport imaginable. At 52, Caldwell just completed her first marathon.

Judy Petsonk is 65, and she’s training for her eighth triathlon. She said the support she got from her teammates removed the unpleasant feelings she had about breast cancer. She loves the motto “I didn’t choose cancer; I choose to be here.” “You can choose what’s going to happen to your body,”Petsonk said. “You can’t choose everything, but you can choose to become stronger day by day, and that’s what I’m choosing.”

Team Survivor has members of every age and athletic ability. Donna Gunderson couldn’t swim when she joined, but she took classes for one year with a volunteer coach. “Now I can go to the pool. I can swim for an hour, and I have no problem with it now,” Gunderson said, “So for those people who say they can’t swim, let me tell you—Yes, you can!” Gunderson now helps her teammates with swimming. “You can’t say ‘I’m sad, and I’m a cancer survivor,’ ”she said. “Instead, you should say ‘No, I’m going to go out there and conquer the world in some form or other. You can do anything you want.’”