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51% Show #1275

Image by: © Bernadette Russell/ The White Rabbit

We're heading for a new year and a time of hope, so let's concentrate on the power of one. This week, some inspiration to make your own meaningful changes and maybe make the world just a little bit better.

Whether this has been a good year or a bad year for you – we're heading into a fresh start. And this week's show is devoted to inspiring stories that might remind you that you can make a difference, both in your own life, and to someone else.

First, a story about small gestures and the changes they can make.

Have you ever resolved to do anything everyday for a year and actually accomplished it? One woman in London surprised herself, and others, by doing just that. Producer Kirsty McQuire has the story.

This production is part of the Global Story Project, with support from the Open Society Foundations. Presented by PRX, the Public Radio Exchange. The producer was KirstyMcQuire. You can keep up with Bernadette's kindness revolution on Twitter by following @BetteRussell or #366DaysOfKindness.

Credit Masahiro Ihara / http://www.flickr.com/photos/forever5yearsold/
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http://www.flickr.com/photos/forever5yearsold/

  Coming up, more stories about making a difference – big and small. 

Sometimes doing something good can be a good business model. Take, for instance, a business aimed at providing good quality food and supporting local farmers.

Even in the local-food loving Bay area of San Francisco, most food is not ‘farm to table.’ It’s farm to processor to distributor to wholesaler to retailer to the consumer. But shoppers increasingly want to know where their food comes from, and a group of food lovers and techies have teamed up to shorten the supply chain by putting the food market online.

Curious about how it works? Check out goodeggs.com.

Credit Image by: Zak Rosen / Michigan Radio
Young makers play a game of life-size chess at Detroit’s Mt. Elliott Makerspace.

  Now a story about someone concentrating on what he can do for his home town. Detroit, and other rust belt cities, are in crisis. Business has left, people have left, stretches of abandoned neighborhoods go for blocks. But there are locals who are determined to keep Detroit alive, with or without the help of government. I recently saw a television show featuring people who just won't give up – restaurant owners serving gourmet meals in abandoned warehouses, and resourceful women selling making money by selling home cooked lunches on their front yards. There are survivors in Detroit, you might even say they're heroes;  and one of them is an ornamental metal worker introduced to us by producer Zak Rosen.

You can find out more about Carlos and his work online – just search for CarlosNielbock.

That’s our show for this week. Thanks to Katie Britton for production assistance.  Our theme  music is by Kevin Bartlett. This show is a national production of Northeast Public Radio.  Our executive producer is Dr. Alan Chartock. 

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