Today, I pledge the same pledge I made eight years ago. My job was and continues to be finding inspiring people and sharing their stories with the world. I realized after this divisive election that now, more than ever, the world needs to see, hear and feel more goodness.

I’m not going to lie. My heart hurts. I couldn’t sleep on election night and I wept in the dark.

My sadness wasn’t because of the election results. I cried because so many people are hurting. Red, blue … black, white… gay, straight or <FILL IN THE BLANK>, we all feel pain and joy. We are all more connected than we think. We all have the divine allowance of having the human experience.

This post isn’t about my political leanings. No matter what party line you’re on, this historic election shows us that, bottom line, people are hurting.

I’m an immigrant from Vietnam. My family came as boat people. My parents gave up their comfortable life in search for freedom, the chance at a proper education and the American Dream. We ended up in Sacramento, Calif. My first home was in a trailer park.

I didn’t think my own story mattered, so I lost myself in the stories of others. I was obsessed with reading. I read everything — even shampoo bottles aloud in the shower in a pretend broadcaster voice.

As fate would have it, I did achieve the American Dream I imagined for myself. I became a broadcaster, motivational speaker, university instructor and so much more. Thank you, America.

The first eight years of my career were spent in TV news as an on-air reporter. I covered car accidents, the economy’s ups and downs, politics and everything in-between. Most of the stories were about death and destruction. What often didn’t make it on-air were stories of humanity at its best.

I treasure the connections I made with people from all over — red and blue states and small towns and big cities. SO many people told me about stories — good news — that never made it onto TV.

During the economic meltdown of the late 2000s, I decided to leave it all. Mentors told me to hold on. The economy was bad and there were far fewer jobs on-air than there were traditional jobs. But I followed my heart. This led me to reconsider my career choice and ultimately I left TV news.

In contrast, I’ve spent the last eight years covering positive stories about everyday people around the world through my nonprofit, Go Inspire Go. Along that journey, more than 150 volunteers have pitched in to help my mission to tell the stories of these unsung heroes.

It’s come with many hardships. There were times when I doubted myself, but I knew inside it was the right thing to do. I held on. There was a time when I only had 80 cents in my bank account. I held on. There were many times I knew better, so I did better. I remember Oprah telling Lisa Ling, “Once you know, you can’t pretend you don’t.” This inspired me to hold on when I felt like letting go.

I knew that even though I wasn’t rich or famous, I could connect to people on a deep, soul-to-soul level and inspire folks to be and do better for themselves and others. It’s like alchemy, this connection.

Here is a snapshot of a few stories of kindness and love that inspired mini movements of hope. People like Phoebe Russell, a San Francisco kindergartner who was sad to see so many hungry people in her city. She wrote letters asking people to give her aluminum cans so she could recycle them and donate the proceeds to the San Francisco Food Bank.

After sharing Phoebe’s story, a stranger on social media asked me to submit her video to nominate her as a Tyson Foods “Hunger All-Star.” They awarded her a special prize of 15 tons of chicken that was given to the S.F. Food Bank. About a year later, three kids in her former kindergarten class were inspired to replicate her “YES you CAN” drive and raised even more money. In the end, Phoebe’s efforts led to more than 200,000 meals for the needy in San Francisco.

In the Midwest, there’s Amy Pankratz, a stay-at-home mom from Sioux Falls, S.D., who made and prayed over more than 10,000 superhero capes for sick kids and their siblings around the world.

And in New York City, there’s Jorge Munoz, the “Angel in Queens.” For more than a decade, Jorge has devoted countless hours and half his school bus driver salary to purchase groceries, prepare hot, home-cooked meals and pass them out to more than 150 hungry people under a Queens subway station every day.

After sharing Jorge’s story, the worldwide community used their power to pitch in. People sent thank you letters. Random strangers gave money, baked goods and even new appliances to help. Len Harris Inc., a family-owned store in Flushing, N.Y., was inspired by all the generosity and threw in free delivery and set up of the kitchen equipment.

Friends from ServiceSpace heard about our surprise follow-up and wanted to cook for him, and a family from the Midwest moved by Jorge’s selflessness joined me in surprising him with a new refrigerator and stove. We captured this on video. Grab a tissue:

I’m not going to sugarcoat this — this journey has been effin’ hard. The challenges… the ego… letting go and not letting go.

Personally, professionally, spiritually, I have learned a lot about humanity and myself.

What can we all learn from this?

1. I believe people are genuinely good-hearted. Every video I’ve produced with my volunteers have inspired actions both small and large.

2. We are all gems. Some of us lose our sparkle and get dusty because of the characters in our stories who make up our lives. What if we all spent more time doing what we love? Surrounding ourselves with people we love, people who help dust us off and make us shine? There are so many people hurting in our country. It’s a wake-up call to the divided States of America. From jobs to homeland security insecurities, this brings to light the darkness many don’t see in our country. While we are witnessing so much pain across the board, I know there is more good than bad in the world. No matter what your party line, we as humans want to be seen, heard, felt and loved.

3. We have more power than we think. We all have the power to help others. We can’t control what happens, but we have the power to control the way we react. A smile, a kind act, a thoughtful gesture… My challenge to you: Do something nice for yourself and someone else today. The world needs it. The world needs you. Now you know, you can’t pretend you don’t. What can you do?

Onward and upward,
Toan

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The post Healing a Divided States of America — the KIND of Country I See appeared first on Go Inspire Go.

This past Sunday, more than 250 kids and their parents took the Marin area by storm, giving back to their community. Four schools, participants of the Go Inspire Go Community Heroes program, embarked on the second annual Day of Giving, with 12 unique service projects including:

-Cooking an elegant meal and preparing shelter kits for Homeward Bound of Marin
-Gardening at the Canal Community Garden in San Rafael
-Cleaning up with the Downtown Streets Team San Rafael
-Weeding and trash pick-up at Marin Civic Center
-Planting 150 plants and clearing non-native plants at Terra Linda/Sleepy Hollow Open Space Preserve
-Making superhero capes and blankets to benefit patients at UCSF Benioff Children’s Hospital and Rooms that Rock 4 Chemo
-Multiple bake sales to help pay for expenses

That’s an incredible amount of good to come from one morning! The joy and excitement was palpable before and after the event. People were glowing… and happy! Why? I truly believe there’s a hunger in this community to try and keep grounded amid our picture-perfect scenery and weather, our gadget obsessions and the super-charged environment fueling the latest tech boom. Disparities are widening and the growing masses of homeless are being shuffled around. You see them out and about more — as local parks shut their gates, and as it gets even tougher to find affordable housing with rents and home prices through the roof. All these Community Heroes CHOSE to spend their Sunday getting their hands and hearts busy to help others. Our secret sauce? We make it FUN and aim to INSPIRE with our videos and our ENTHUSIASM, which I’ve been told is rather contagious.

Top heartwarming quotes from kids who took part in the Day of Giving:
-“The people we cleaned the streets with don’t look homeless. They’re just like us.”
-“I can’t wait to see the smiles on the faces of the people we cooked for!”
-“The Day of Giving was the best day of my life.”

Whoa, how’s that for compassion in action. Magic indeed!

The ask….

As Sun Valley School’s program has been going strong, word has got out and we’ve recruited three new local schools to join us this year: Kent Middle School, Dixie Elementary and Mary Silveira Elementary. More are lining up — and at this point, we need your help. Despite what it may seem from all we’ve accomplished, this program is 100% volunteer-run. Aside from a few grants, including a coveted LinkedIn Innovation Grant, we’ve come to the point where to keep this program growing and sustainable, we need to secure funding. This requires support for a full-time coordinator and Go Inspire Go infrastructure to create videos to grow the curriculum, operate our website and help run an organization.

The Community Heroes program has been teaching kids about compassion and action for close to three years, and we’ve been proving that what we’re doing WORKS! We’ve been getting kids and adults EXCITED and ENGAGED and have gone out there and done A LOT — collection drives, fundraisers and service projects to support local charities. The most exciting aspect of our impact is how kids have felt empowered by the program; they understand how they have the power to make a difference. Who knows how these young philanthropists and social activists will exercise their powers throughout their lives?

I believe there’s no greater gift we can give our kids than to grow their sense of compassion and responsibility to help make the world a better place. Don’t you agree?

Three ways you can help:

1. If you think this program is valuable, and can support us with a contribution, please donate here. Funds would help develop a toolkit, expand to new schools, train facilitators and coordinate among partners and the non-profit network.
2. If monetary contributions are a stretch, we could always use more volunteers and connections to those who might be willing to help. Just drop us a line with your ideas!
3. Spread the word about Go Inspire Go’s mission — to inspire people to find their power to help others! Please forward and share this blog. Use #ComHeroes and tag us @goinspirego. You can also email Kala Shah.

Kala Shah is Go Inspire Go’s Chief Innovation Officer and Program Director of Community Heroes, a service-learning program that is now in four Marin County schools.

The post A Day of Giving — And the Magic of Collective Giving appeared first on Go Inspire Go.

I’ve never met a Superhero before, but now I believe they exist.

I recently flew to South Dakota and Pennsylvania and met the tiniest, bravest, most inspiring Superheroes, including my new Superhero friend, 5-year-old Brooke Mulford.

Wearing her special pink cape, running with her arms raised in the air and screaming with joy, little Brooke forgets about all of the cancer procedures, medicine and treatments she’s had to endure because when the cape is on, this little girl believes she’s “Super Brooke.”

Accessorized in her favorite color pink, Brooke is among 4,000 sick children and their siblings, who have custom homemade Superhero capes. The capes are gifts, sewn with inspiration and sent with blessings of love, from Wonder Capes.

Brooke’s personalized pink Superhero cape gives her comfort, reassurance and power to fight Stage 4, high-risk Neuroblastoma — infant and childhood cancer of the nervous system.

All Superheroes need someone extraordinary, to outfit them… Meet Amy Pankratz. By day, Amy is a stay at home mother of three, juggling the normal multiple schedules, obligations and responsibilities: including elementary and preschool school carpools, room mother activities, etc. By night, when her so-called “Love Bugs” are asleep, she sews through most of the night — many times, pulling all-nighters.

Amy and her husband Michael call their “hobby” and mission, “Wonder Capes.” These capes are homemade, beautifully crafted “Superhero” comfort capes delivered to sick children around the world. As a mother of small children, Amy knows how important it is to love, encourage and support all of them. She understands that often parents focus on their sick child, taking away time and attention from their other children — that’s why she also accessorizes their siblings.

The capes are heartfelt inspirations. “I read their story. I think about them. I pray for them while I make it,” said Amy.

I’ve been dreaming about traveling to meet Amy and her family for about a year. There were many challenges to my plans: first funding, then scheduling and more behind-the-scenes logistics etc. Recently, everything fell into place and then BAM! I was on my way to cover one of the most personal stories ever in my 10-years of being a journalist.

How perfect that after nearly a year of trying to connect with Amy and Wonder Capes, that the stars aligned just in time — September, which is National Childhood Cancer Awareness Month — a way to focus attention on the important need to fund the fight against these cancers.

According to the National Cancer Institute, cancer is the leading cause of death by disease in children one to 14 years old. On average, one to two children develop the disease each year for every 10,000 children in the United States. In the 2007, approximately 10,400 children, living in the US, under age 15 were diagnosed with cancer and about 1,545 children will die from the disease.

Scientist and Pediatric Oncologist, Dr. Peter Adamson, with The Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP) explains the disparity between adult and childhood cancer, “Cancer is a big problem in the adult population, it is a very small, but very important problem in the pediatric population, so the funding tends to mirror that large difference.”

Dr. Adamson, who is also Chair-elect of the Children’s Oncology Group, underscores the tremendous value and importance in pediatric cancer funding, “when you save a child with cancer, you give them a lifetime — 70, or 80 years.”

Everyone has the power to make a difference to find a cure for this horrific disease. Established well-known pediatric cancer research funders include: Cure Search for Children’s Cancer, CHOP Foundation, Alex’s Lemonade Stand and St. Baldrick’s.

Also this month, the entertainment industry unites for Stand Up 2 Cancer, a celebrity-studded, simultaneous multi-network broadcast show — just one of the many of the platforms for cancer awareness and funding.

As you will see in our GIG story, we too highlight the brightest STARS and Superheroes on the forefront of research, care and this determined fight.

In my lifetime, it my hope is that you discover your Superhero powers to make a difference and that you’re moved to use them to give back.

GIG “Call to Action”

Since I created Go Inspire Go, my video-based, inspirational website that “Helps viewers discover their power and use it to help others,” I’ve been jonesing to do a story about the fight against cancer.

Covering and sharing this story with you has been a dream of mine, and something I’ve been moved to do, since my father and aunt both passed away, months from each other, in 2001. Back then, I felt powerless.

After meeting Amy, other parents and Superheroes, I finally regained my power. Like Brooke and the other little Superheroes I recently befriended at CHOP, I too believe in miracles and the positive “power” of the cape!

For many of the sick kids who receive their cape, the Metropolis (and second home) where they fly is the hospital. Hopefully one day, they can fly freely outside and away from the villain they call cancer.

You may not be a sewing superstar like Amy, (I’m no Martha Stewart either); however, I do know that you have it in you to give back, no matter big or small. You can make a charitable donation — a gift to honor or remember someone- to cancer research organizations, or if you’re on a tight budget, you can volunteer at your local hospital, sponsor, or organize a fundraising event.

Do you have commitment phobia, or hesitate supporting a non-profit, or cause? No worries, be creative. Maybe there’s a family member, friend, neighbor fighting cancer, who you can help with errands, household responsibilities, or better yet, lend your talents (painting, music, etc.) and spend time making your important Superhero smile.

Here’s an example of paying it forward; In the video, you saw that Nick’s mother, Angi Kappenman was inspired by Amy to give back. The Kappenmans donate backpacks to parents of a sick child at a local hospital — in them are activities, such as coloring books, crayons, etc. along with a picture of Nick and a message to “Stay Strong Carry On,” a mantra the family repeats as Nick continues his checkups… The intent is two-fold: to keep kids entertained and to help parents organize hospital paperwork.

It’s obvious that I love talking and revere in storytelling. One of my contributions is using my skills to create videos and blogs that raise visibility and support for amazing superheroes — many I want you to meet through GIG.

Please view and share our heartwarming video by copying and sending this video & blog link, sharing on facebook, or tweeting.

To all the Superhero families and children who continue to fight, the “C” villain: Stay strong. Carry on. Bless you.

Onward!
Toan Lam

Special thanks to: Denise Poon with Creative Streamline, Steve Kotton, Dianne Fukami, Phat & Lynn Lam, Yasmine Farazian, Luis Pena, Vera Poon, Keely & Tanya Stevenson, Le Tran, Michael Hang, Allison Tom.

The post Superhero Capes Provide Hope & Inspiration for Sick Children appeared first on Go Inspire Go.