BY SANJNA PARULEKAR AND RASHMI GUTTAL.

The dark Italian rye grass, a short weed brought by the Spanish more than 200 years ago, stands prominently among the light-colored native plants on Tulare Hill in South San Jose.

Scientists believe that the grass, fed by nitrogen from the city's polluted air, has choked both the Goldfield and Purple Owl's Clover, the flowering wild plants favored as a food and home of the endangered Bay Checkerspot Butterfly.

Lisa Marie Platske, CEO of international leadership development company Upside Thinking, Inc., speaker, bus

What if, on a single day, every single person picked up the litter they found in the street on their way to work? What difference would that make? What if, on a single day, every single person decided to donate blood to a local blood bank, or donate food to a food bank, or take an elderly person to their doctors appointment? What difference would all of those little acts make?

Teddy Gross is the founder and executive director of Common Cents, a national not-for-profit educational organization, which specializes in designing citizenship programs for children and young people, and supporting their work in schools throughout the country and across all demographic divides.
 

It's easy to think of hard-rocking musicians, like Tom Scholz, as the definitive "bad boys" of the world. But once you get to know a little about him, it's hard to think of him as anything but a nice guy, with a huge heart, who is passionately committed to compassion. When writing songs for legendary rock band Boston, Scholz focuses on positive messages and music that moves.

Voices For Children is the fundraising arm of Miami-Dade's Guardian Ad Litem Program. The Program recruits, trains, and supports adults to represent the best interests of abused children who have been removed from the care of their parents and are now in foster care.

Boston area resident & recording artist, Lisa Ostrow, volunteers her time and talents to raise funds for the Polycystic Kidney Disease (PKD) Foundation and the Performing Arts Division of the National Federation of the Blind (PAD/NFB) - both nonprofits are dear to her heart.

It's the Cinderella story of fundraisers. With the help of fellow Delta Air Line flight attendants, Pauline Alighieri, set out to raise $5,000 in memory of her good friend and colleague who lost her battle with breast cancer.

Cookies Made With Dirt, Helping Hungry People

Cause: Enrich Public Education
Solution: An Army of Artists and Educators

Voluntourism, A Journey Within. By Lynann Bradbury

"Move your heart forward," said the woman in front of me. I squinted, as if my eyes could amplify our yoga instructor's voice above the sounds of a town beggar pounding on the window. I was in Dharamsala, India, near the Pakistan, China and Tibetan borders.

When people think of Joe Torre, they picture a stoic manager who led the New York Yankees through 12 straight playoff seasons and to four World Series victories. As it turns out, quietly watching from the sidelines of tense situations may be a habit learned as a child.