I give blood even though I always pass out afterwards and Im terrified of needles because I know it makes a difference.

I sometimes take in small animals and find them homes when their owners can no longer care for them, or there's a big litter to care for, because I love all animals big and small and want them to have good homes.

I donate clothes at least once a year, probably closer to twice because I am constantly buying things that I end up hardly ever wearing, why waste?

I am a member of a group called freecycle, and we post things for others to have and "recycle" rather than them going to the trash!

My favorite thing that I have done, though, is that I ran out in the rain to grab my car to pick up a pregnant woman whom I saw waiting with me at the front of the mall. I took her to her car so she wouldn't have to worry because she said she wasnt far away but she was afraid of falling.

Even being patient with retail salespeople makes a difference, YOU can be the one person who makes or breaks a person's day. I'd rather smile!

I don't do anything huge, but I do what I can. I think that is what counts, right?

I worked at coffee shops for years, paying my way through school. At the end of the day or the week, there was always tonnes of left over pastry and food. I would wrap it up and hand it out to the homeless people on my way through downtown.

Everytime I clean out my closet (which seems to be a lot) I donate everything that I don't need. It is nice stuff, but why profit when you can help.

Something I have started doing is that I am a self-confessed knitting addict and I don't need anything, so I am going to donate all my projects (mostly scarves and hats) to the Children's Hospital or the cancer wards, depending on the size. What do I need a dozen toques for? I only have one head.

Not much, but it is something, because little drops fill a bucket.

I rolled down my window and she came over to me. She could barely walk, and it was freezing cold. I had a 5 that I was going to hand to her, and I did. She thanked me, but then I thought about seeing her try to walk. She probably didn't travel around a lot. So I said, "Are you hungry?"

She said "Oh yes, ma'am, I'm really hungry."

So, I asked her what she wanted to eat, just name it. She said she didn't care. I asked her if something from the nearby McDonalds would be okay, and what did she like from there? She said hamburgers or anything at all. So, I told her to wait there for me and I would be right back. She tried to give me the 5 back, but I told her to keep it, it was hers.

I drove thru and got her two double cheeseburgers, fries, two apple pies and a large coke. When I took it back to her, she started to cry and I did too a little bit. I asked her if she smoked and she said yes so I gave her a pack of cigarettes I had bought earlier. She thanked me several times and I told her not to worry about it, just to do me a favor and be careful.

That poor old lady just broke my heart. I have never seen her again, so I hope whatever hardship she was having, is over for her now.

Again, your idea is great. If you can get even a few people to make a difference, the world can be better off!

At the age of 21, I joined a local non-profit theatrical cast which performs the Rocky Horror Picture Show. There, I met the most ecclectic and interesting people I have ever met in my life. People of every class, race, religion, and orientation. I met a very nice person named Glenn, a gay man who was a bit older than me. I didn't really take the time to get to know him, but I noticed that the rest of the cast sort of avoided him a little. He seemed pretty happy but a little isolated and lonely.

Then one day, I was talking to another fellow castmate, and I had seen a special on AIDS in Africa on TV. I told my friend, "You know what? This may sound sad, but I've never known anyone who has HIV or AIDS." She replied, "Well, you know Glenn, right?" Shamefully, I started to worry. Could I get it from a cut on my arm, being around him? From his sweat when we're acting onstage? I was so disgusted with myself for being so naiive, suddenly believing all the things that I knew were stereotypes, that I had learned in high school were not true.This really bothered my conscience. How could I think things like that? How could I think these things with all the education I have had on the subject in school, year after year?

So, I decided to do something about it. I called up Glenn and asked him if he wanted to go see a live professional theatrical production of the Rocky Horror Show, I had two tickets. We planned on dinner and a movie at his place beforehand. The dinner was delicious, and the movie turned out to be one of my favorites. We chatted about art and theater and cute boys. He threw into the conversation that he is HIV positive, and I told him I knew and had some questions for him so I could familiarize myself with the subject, and he was happy to oblige. We talked about it for quite some time, and he even motivated me to get tested for the first time. I am HIV negative, I found out, and called him up after we saw the production and told him the good news. I have made a wonderful, artsy, classy and humorous friend whos wonderful personality people overlook because of his situation and their ignorance.

After we saw the show, he told it that he had had the most fun he has had in a very long time and invited me to a theatrical production a few weeks later. Now I give him big bear hugs when I see him, to let him know I'm not afraid anymore.

2) I always keep loose change in my coat pocket (instead of my wallet) so I can give it to the homeless people who ask on the street. People say, "but they're probably just buying crack or a 40." I say, whatever gets you through the day. Either way, 50 cents is not that much to me, and it is a lot to the person I give it to.

3) In DC, there is newspaper written and published by the homeless called "Street Sense"; they sell it on the street for whatever amount the seller wants to donate; and in this way, both the homeless people work, and the issues facing them are published. It comes out weekly, and I buy it weekly. I feel this is better than just giving money to someone one the sidewalk because it helps them move forward instead of just offering a temporary fix.

4) Instead of traditional Channukah presents this year, I gave my family gift certificates to JustGive.org, so they could choose which charity received the donation.

He lost almost everything in Hurricane Katrina last week but made it out alive and that's what matters. He's staying with his older sister for now, waiting for his school to re-open and for November to come when my husband and I will go down to visit him and give him all the hugs he doesn't get at home. Joshua's prized possessions weren't PS2 games, an I-Pod or even his beloved bike. It was the box of "New England" paraphernalia he gathered while visiting us a few summers ago. A plain cardboard box filled with a NH t-shirt I made him (but he'd since out grown), a rock he found in Canada (he labeled it "Canadian Rock" w/ a permanent marker of course!) and a scrapbook I put together for him chronicling all the places we went, with ticket stubs, photo's, etc. Over the past week I've gone out and bought clothes, a new Red Sox hat and other goodies for my favorite boy, but the most rewarding is going through the old photo's of his trip here and re-making the scrapbook that he loves so much.