Billionaire opens mansions to homeless

By AUDREY McAVOY, Associated Press Writer Fri Mar 23, 7:32 AM ET

HONOLULU - Dorie-Ann Kahale and her five daughters moved from a homeless shelter to a mansion Thursday, courtesy of a Japanese real estate mogul who is handing over eight of his multimillion-dollar homes to low-income Native Hawaiian families. 

Tears spilled down Kahale's cheeks as she accepted from billionaire Genshiro Kawamoto the key to a white, columned house with a circular driveway, a stone staircase and a deep porcelain bathtub. Her family will live there rent-free, but must pay utility bills.

"I'm shocked. I'm overwhelmed," Kahale said. "From the little box we had to what we have today."

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Technorati tags: billionaire, hawaii, homeless, giving back, donation, shelter, donate, kindness, pay it forward, random acts of kindness, kindness campaign

Woman's act of honesty inspires more kindness

When Canesha Blackman helped a stranger, she quickly found herself being helped in turn.

By Associated Press
Published September 11, 2005

LAKELAND - Canesha Blackman didn't even think to open the zippered bag she found outside a city building one day last month.

The 24-year-old homeless woman just went back inside and turned it in, then returned to the task of scraping up enough change to take the bus to her job at a Checkers restaurant.

It turned out the bag belonged to a Polk County sheriff's detective and held $800 in cash. Deputy Sandy Scherer had driven off with the bag on the hood of her car. Subsequent events have changed the life of Blackman, a single mother with five children ranging in age from 6 years to 6 months, as a rather innocuous good deed has prompted a flood of goodwill from all over.

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At Work Nice is on the Rise

In a huge shift from the 'me first,' 'greed is good' attitudes of the 1980s, corporations seek a kinder, gentler culture

By Marilyn Gardner Staff writer of The Christian Science Monitor

Patrick Morris could call it "a tale of two companies." As a new college graduate beginning his first job in public relations at a major cosmetics firm in New York, he knew he would be the proverbial low man on the totem pole.
"You feel you're going to get put upon and crunched and tossed around," he says. But instead of the huge egos and "attitude" he expected, he found himself surrounded by good, caring people. "It made all the difference in the world and helped to shape me into the professional I am today."

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Where "Check Please" is Your Call

At a new breed of "Robin Hood" restaurants, diners pay what they can afford -- and what they think the meal is worth

By PETA OWENS-LISTON

Posted Tuesday, Dec. 26, 2006

Deciding between the spicy peanut stew and the pesto chicken, or the squash soup and the avocado, chicken, lime soup, are not the only decisions tempting patrons at the One World Café in Salt Lake City and the SAME (So All Might Eat) Café in Denver. They must also decide what the meal is worth.

These pay-as-you-can cafes have missions that are unapologetically altruistic—call it serving up fare Robin Hood style. "Our philosophy is that everyone, regardless of economic status, deserves the chance to eat healthy, organic food while being treated with dignity," explains Brad Birky, who opened SAME with his wife, Libby, in October.

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