【推荐2】Several years ago, my father decided to volunteer at the local children hospital. My dad loved kids. It was the perfect job for him. He would talk to them and play with them and do arts and crafts with them.

There was a girl, Karen, who had been admitted with a rare disease that paralyzed (使麻痹) her from the neck down. She was very depressed. My dad decided to try to help her. He started visiting her in her room, bringing paints, brushes and paper. He stood the paper up against a backing, put the paintbrush in his mouth and began to paint. He didn’t use his hands at all. Only his head would move. He would visit her whenever he could and paint for her, telling her, “See, you can do anything you set your mind to.”

At the end of the day, she began to paint using her mouth, and she and my dad became friends. Soon after, the little girl was discharged (允许出院) because the doctors felt there was nothing else they could do for her. Some time later, my dad was at the volunteer counter in the lobby (门厅) of the hospital when Karen came in. She ran straight over to my dad and hugged him really tight. She gave my dad a picture she had done using her hands. At the bottom it read “Thank you for helping me walk”.

My dad would cry every time he told us this story. He would say sometimes love is more powerful than doctors, and my dad who died just a few months after the little girl gave him the picture—loved every single child in that hospital.

【推荐3】A Couch Potato

Forty-three-year-old Bob Black from Birmingham is sitting on his sofa and telling me about his perfect day.

When I wake up I don't get up immediately.

I turn on the television and watch the children's programmes and old movies until about half-past ten. Then I get up, go downstairs and switch on the TV in the living room. For lunch, I have biscuits and a glass of milk, and I watch the news. In the afternoon, I often watch another old film – they're showing some good ones at the moment. In the evenings, I often watch TV series or sport and the news again. I like the main news at six o'clock. At half past nine, if there is a good play on BBC 2, I switch over and watch it. Then at night, I watch more films and I usually switch off the TV at about two o'clock. I never watch TV all night.

I watch TV for sixteen or seventeen hours a day. I also do some exercise every day. I take Tina, the dog, for a walk every afternoon. I don't go far, of course. I walk to the wall outside my house. I always take my portable TV and I sit on the stone wall while the dog walks round in a circle.

Of course, I couldn't live this lifestyle without a good wife. She's not here now because she's working, but she always makes my meals. We haven't got much money, you know, but we're happy. Sit down and watch TV. Here's the remote control. You've got the world at your feet. And in your hand. Great!

【推荐2】Mother Teresa was born in Yugoslavia, on August 27th. 1910. She attended the government school near her home until she was eighteen. At that time, some doctors and nurses from Yugoslavia were working in India, and they often wrote to the school about their work. She decided to join them one day.

When she finished school, she went first to Britain. Then a year later she went to India, where she began to train to be a teacher. After training, she was sent to Calcutta, where she taught geography at a school and soon after became headmistress (女校长).

However, although she loved teaching. in 1946 Mother Teresa left the school and went to work in the poor parts of Calcutta. Later she trained to be a nurse in Panta, and then began her work helping the poor and comforting the dying in the streets of the city. Slowly, others came to help her, and her work spread to other parts of India.

Mother Teresa is now a well-known person. Many photos have been taken of her, as she travels the world to open new schools and hospitals in poor countries. In 1979, she was given the Nobel Peace Prize for the lifetime of love and service she has given to the poor.

【推荐3】When Veronika Scott was a student at the College in Detroit, Michigan, she received an assignment to “design to fill a need.” She dreamed up an idea for insulated (绝缘的) overcoats that would double as sleeping bags, and handed them out to people living in the temporary shelters. While her efforts were greeted mostly with enthusiasm from those who suffered from Detroit’s winters, one woman expressed a disagreement. “We don’t need coats; we need jobs.” she told Veronika. Then Veronika had her second inspiration.

Veronika, now 26, found an expert to teach two homeless women to sew and hired them to assemble the coats. She paid them with donations she received through her blog. At first, the coats were constructed in a small homeless shelter’s utility closet. After graduating from college in 2012, she founded the Empowerment Plan, a nonprofit organization. Clothing producer Carhartt donated several old industrial sewing machines and so on. GM and other companies chipped in operating funds and insulating materials.

The group employs about 20 people — mostly single mothers, some of whom have served time — and pays them more than Michigan’s minimum wage. “We don’t require a GED (General Educational Development) or even previous employment.” Veronika says. “Instead, we’re looking for people who are motivated.” The Empowerment Plan provides free education and offers micro-loans to those who qualify. Nearly all the employees eventually move into permanent housing, and some go on to well-paid jobs.

To date, the Empowerment Plan has produced more than 10, 000 coats and distributed them home and abroad. “Still, we less focus on coats than on the workers who make them.” Veronika says, “At the end of the day, the coat is a vehicle for us to employ people.”