The Goodnewspaper The Helpers Edition

HELLO HELLO! One of the founding elements of the Goodnewspaper is our collective admiration of Fred Rogers. “When I was a boy and I would see scary things in the news, my mother would say to me, ‘Look for the helpers. You will always find people who are helping,’” Rogers is famously quoted as saying. Rogers’s quote is seminal to this annual edition of the paper — but as my first Helpers Edition as managing editor, I implore us to explore the sentiment more deeply. Where we celebrate good news, we also distinguish the endless threads of nuance weaving their way through every story. Back in Mister Rogers’ heyday, “helpers,” might have only been perceived as traditional first responders like firefighters, doctors, and police officers. This begs us to examine…

Philip Jackson left the UK when he was 22 years old and returned at 67 after working in the construction industry in Thailand and Australia. When he decided to retire and move back home, he felt “like a foreigner” in his own country and soon grew lonely. However, he quickly found out he wasn't the only one. After reading about his hometown’s suicide rates (which were higher than the national average), Jackson felt compelled to support his fellow lonely neighbors by creating woodworking “sheds,” a concept modeled after the Australian Men’s Shed Association — a collective of more than 1,000 sheds aimed at combating loneliness through communal woodworking. After securing a small National Lottery Grant and collecting donated woodworking equipment, The Barnsley Men’s Shed was born. “It’s like the shed…

For years, social scientists have studied the hallmarks of the “helper’s high,” a term coined to describe the pleasure humans feel in their brains when they volunteer or donate money. It turns out, doing good feels really good. Throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, even more researchers dove into the curiosity of what it means to build resilience. What they kept coming back to was the idea that if we help others, we help ourselves. In fact, a five-year study of 846 people in Detroit found that stressful life events appeared to take a greater toll on people who were less helpful to others, while helping others seemed to erase the physical harms of stress. So, whether it was reminding a pal to mask up and get through the pandemic with courage,…

After 28-year-old James Warren saw a woman sitting on the ground at a seatless bus stop, he realized he could put his carpentry skills to good use by building benches and placing them at Denver-areabus stops that lacked sitting areas. Warren, who years back sold his car and turn ed to other forms of transportation, began to notice that many bus stops lacked valuable resting spaces for passengers. Seeing that woman sitting on the ground was the tipping point. “The people who use mobility devices, elderly people, people who can’t afford a car, these people are left behind all the time,” Warren told Denver?. “And I think the last thing we should be saying to those people is, ‘You don’t get to sit while you wait for a bus.’ You…

GOOD Unsure where to start? Listen to the TED podcast “How to Be Better Human.” Comedian Chris Duffy chats with guests to uncover practical ways to be good to yourself and others. BETTER Turn your skills into opportunities to help make a difference. Catchafire, a skills-based vi rtual volunteer organization, is a good start in connecting with high-need organizations seeking operational support, catchafire.org BEST Find other local helpers by getting involved in Facebook community groups or service organizations — both are often the first to communicate immediate local needs and response efforts. WHAT'S THIS? THIS IS THE GOOD BAR. We believe in celebrating good and then joining in to make a difference. The Good Bar is full of advice from the Good Good Good community on how to take action.…

An Austrian farmer decided to stop cultivating a fifth of his property to help support and expand his neighbor’s bee colony. Bees are a key part of the global food system and pollinate 75% of our food crops, according to the United Nations Environment Program. But human-induced contaminations (like air pollution, climate change, and pesticides) make it harder for them to do their job. Franz Nigl, owner of a mid-sized agricultural business in Leiten, Austria, grew frustrated by the lack of government action to protect the environment and endangered species. He decided to take matters into his own hands by allowing his neighbor, local beekeeper Josef Krenn, to expand his bee colony into his property. “I’ve never experienced anything like that,” Krenn told local news outlet, Tipps. “We benefit from…