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Purple Acts of Kindness

Yahoo!’s Purple Acts of Kindness is a monthly program run by Yahoo! for Good that offers unexpected generous acts to better the community. Check out these recent Purple Acts of Kindness:

Featured Story: Be a Better Green Grocer!

Jaide Paper or plastic? When it comes to helping the environment, Jaide—an 8-year-old from Topeka, Kansas—decided the answer was “Neither.” Inspired by Yahoo!’s Be a Better Planet program, Jaide launched a campaign to “kick paper and plastic to the curb” by selling reusable Yahoo! shopping bags for $5 each. The proceeds are going toward a variety of charitable organizations.

Yahoo! lent Jaide a purple hand, by:

  • Donating 900 Yahoo! reusable shopping bags to support the cause
  • Spreading the word on the Yahoo! front page and Yodel Anecdotal and giving her exposure to 500 million users worldwide
  • Donating a Yahoo! Small Business account to Jaide’s non-profit organization, Kids in Care of Kids
  • Leveraging our partnership with All Web Promotion to build the K.I.C.Ks site.

Check out some of our other not-so-random acts of generosity:

  • Two Wheels Good: Yahoo! surprised Bike to Work Day cyclists with free bike tune-ups at a Bay Area energizer st ation. (May 2008)
  • Shop Green: We gave Carrotmobbers $50 vouchers to help a local SF company make eco-friendly upgrades. Carrotmob.org organizes consumers to make purchases that give financial rewards to those companies who agree to make environmentally-friendly choices. (April 2008)
  • Girl Power: In honor of Women's History Months, Yahoo! helped eight teenage girls from Girls for a Change bring to life a social c hange video project by providing them with video equipment as well as a VIP meeting with Yahoo!'s broadcast communications team. (March 2008)
  • Real History: Yahoo! celebrated Black History Month by challenging students at Hawthorne High School in Los Angeles to "Tell Hist ory As It Is" by submitting creative writing pieces about untold stories of African American heroes. The winner received a new lap-top, and the two runners-up received Flip video cameras. (F ebruary 2008)
  • Keeping the Dream Alive: This year, to celebrate Martin Luther King Jr. Day, Yahoo! partnered with three local businesses to give away baked goods and handmade African-inspired goodies at stops along the Freedom Train. (January 2008)
  • Art with a Heart: After Oakland Leaf’s offices were broken into, Yahoo! replaced much-needed equipment to help them continue their mission of transforming community through creative education. (December 2007)
  • Talking Turkey: Yahoo! purchased turkeys, grocery gift cards and board games for 60 families at STAND! Against Domestic Violence so they could share a home-cooked Thanksgiving family meal. (November 2007)
  • Special Delivery: Yahoo! employees personally delivered much-needed supplies to heroic firefighters in Orange County and San Diego who were battling the Southern California wildfires. (October 2007)
  • Watch, Learn, Do: We gave members of SustainUS, a green Yahoo! group, 300 tickets to see the new environmental documentary “The 11th Hour” to inspire young people to take action to help fight global warming. (September 2007)
  • Rise and Shine: We surprised Bay Area commuters at the Mountain View Caltrain station with breakfast pastries and OJ served in Yahoo! Green mugs on the first Spare the Air Day of the summer. (August 2007)
  • Going Green is in the Bag: We inspired our community of 500+ million users with 8-year-old Jaide’s efforts to green her community by featuring her story on the front page of Yahoo.com. (July 2007)
  • Professional Pride: We sent 15 deserving youth leaders from the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Community Center in New York City on a shopping spree to professionalize their attire. (June 2007)
  • Once Upon a Green Time: We sponsored a series of environmental story times at a school library in Quincy, WA to celebrate Mother Earth on Mother’s Day. (May 2007)
  • Reading, Writing, and Recycling: We surprised a teacher at an elementary school near Hillsboro, OR with an eco-trip to Costa Rica in honor of Earth Day. (April 2007)
  • Girl Power: We chauffeured young women from GirlSource in eco-friendly limos to soak up hope and inspiration at the International Museum of Women’s Annual Gala in San Francisco. (March 2007)
  • Older and WISER: We gave seniors at WISE Adult Day Service Center in Santa Monica a welcome surprise by showering them with flowers and offering them on-site luxury manicures from Fred Segal. (February 2007)
  • Speak Your Mind: We provided digital voice recorders to 37 performers from San Francisco nonprofit Youth Speaks at their 10th annual Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. celebration. We also gave the organization 5 video cameras to further support their art. (January 2007)

Want more inspiration? Visit the Purple Acts of Kindness Archive.