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Aug 24, 2022 Read in Browser

Karuna News

"You cannot expect miracles to happen overnight; be patient, be loving and little by little the change you seek will come." --Leon Brown

Hello everyone! With so many challenges facing us these days, it’s easy to feel discouraged. Yet, there are individuals and communities choosing love over fear and keeping acts of courage and kindness front and center as they go about making a difference in others' lives. Colorful and meaningful murals are painted where there has been great sorrow, devastated houses are rebuilt by communities and homemade benches are donated for seating at bus stops. Each offering reminds us of the compassion and kindness that lives brightly in our world. May your week be filled with light!

COMMUNITY

In Ukraine, Rebuilding Starts With Neighbors' Help

In Ukraine, Rebuilding Starts With Neighbors' Help

Evgeniy Maloletka | AP Photo

Russian artillery and tank fire destroyed Maria Metla's house, and the 66-year-old is now counting on her neighbors to have somewhere to live this winter. Crews of volunteers turn up most mornings to salvage anything that can be reused to help rebuild homes destroyed during Russia's failed attempt to surround and capture Ukraine's capital. Novoselivka, a village filled with orchards, sunflower patches, and back gardens with chickens, was a scene of intense fighting during the 36-day attack on Kyiv. While container homes from Poland are being set up near Novoselivka, there also are many local initiatives to rebuild. "In many other countries, if your home is destroyed, you might put up a 'For Sale' sign and move to another town. It's not like that here," says local volunteer organizer Andriy Galyuga. "People are very attached to where they are from and they don't want to leave." Read Full Story.

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RESOURCES

She Turned A Community Cafe Into A Low-Cost Food Market

She Turned A Community Cafe Into A Low-Cost Food Market

The Bridge At Leigh

Dorothy Bowker, 75, is a mother of three, grandmother of nine, and great-grandmother of three and since 2015, a trustee of the Bridge at Leigh in the UK. She helped transform the community café into a low-cost food market which collects surplus stock from supermarkets and sells it at low prices to the community. "People pay a £2 yearly membership fee," Bowker says, "and can shop at really low prices. If they spend £5, they're probably getting a bag of shopping worth £20 or even £25." The way she sees it, every penny her food market can trim from someone's food bill is money they can put towards fuel, transport or school uniforms. Almost every day, she is at the Bridge, arranging deliveries, locating stock, doing payroll or managing volunteers. "My family were always hard-working and community-minded", she says. "So I guess I thought it was normal to do charity work." Read Full Story.

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EVERYDAY HEROES

Seeing A Woman Sitting In The Dirt At A Bus Stop, He Began Making Benches

Seeing A Woman Sitting In The Dirt At A Bus Stop, He Began Making Benches

James Warren

Ever since he went car-free in 2017, James Warren has used buses to get around if he can't get to his destination on foot or bike and has noticed the lack of seating at many stops. Then in January, he saw a woman sitting in the dirt, waiting for a bus, because there was no seating at the stop -- and no sidewalk. So Warren, 28, who works as a consultant for the Colorado Workforce Development Council, built a bench, from scrap wood. Since January, he has crafted seven more and placed them at bus stops around Denver, Colorado, U.S. Each one, made from scrap wood he finds in construction dumpsters, takes about three hours. Warren inscribes "Be Kind" on each one -- using a stencil or a wood-burning tool. Seeing his work in the local news, others have decided to help. "That puts me over the moon," Warren said. "That's the idea. Let's just all help our neighbors." Read Full Story.

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NEWS

Murals In Uvalde Honor School Massacre Victims

Murals In Uvalde Honor School Massacre Victims

Tino Ortega via El Paso Times

Since July 9, 2022, artists in Texas, U.S. have been travelling to the city of Uvalde, to paint murals of the 21 victims of the tragic May 24th school shooting at Robb Elementary School. Muralist Tino Ortega, from El Paso, Texas painted the mural of 11-year-old Jailah Nicole Silguiero. Her biography reminded him of his own daughter, "Her favorite colors were pink and blue and she was not too girlie but not a tomboy, somewhere in between," he told El Paso Times. As artists worked, many parents of the victims made sure they had work benches, beverages, and shade. "A lot of things I've been doing has been turning something negative into something positive," Ortega remarked. "So, it's about being able to give back and make something uplifting out of something that was tragic." Read Full Story.

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ENVIRONMENT

Greece's Islands Are Zero-Waste Laboratories

Greece's Islands Are Zero-Waste Laboratories

Polygreen

Before the tiny Greek island of Tilos became a big name in recycling with its 'Just Go Zero' project, its local landfill had become a growing blight on the island of 500. Now it is gone and the island is recycling up to 86% of its rubbish, a record high in Greece. Tilos teamed up with Polygreen, a Piraeus-based network of companies, which sends a dozen local workers door-to-door to collect and sort household and business waste. Setting up the project cost less than 250,000 euros ($255,850). More than ten Greek municipalities have expressed interest in duplicating the project. The nonprofit DAFNI Network of Sustainable Greek Islands, which has been sending workers in electric vehicles to collect trash on Kythnos island, has joined CircularGreece, a new 16-million-euro initiative with five Greek islands and several mainland areas, all aiming to reuse and recycle more and boost renewable energy use. Read Full Story.

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