Tag Archives: poor

No Star In All the Heavens

Posted on December 18, 2013 by russtowne

A Most Unusual Christmas Tree Visitors who come to our home near the holidays are often struck by the sight of a most unusual Christmas tree. Instead of a fir or some other traditional kind, we have a palm tree … Continue reading →

Posted in Abundance, Adversity, Beauty, Challenges, Children, Creativity, Dreams, Family, Family "Fun", Gifts, Goodness, Gratitude, Illness, Ingenuity, Kindness, Loss, My Written Works Misc., Non-fiction Stories I've Written, Non-Fiction Writing I've Done, Pain & Grief, Parenting, Photos I Took, Strength, True Stories I've Written, Writing, Youth | Tagged adversity, beach, challenges, chemotherapy, children, Christmas tree, compassion, daughter, despair, Dog, dreams, Family, friends, Friendship, gift, gifts, heavens, illness, intenive care, joy, kindnes, Love, pain, palm tree, poor, sadness, star | 18 Comments

“Poor, Hungry, and Determined” Were His PHD

Posted on October 17, 2013 by russtowne

Have you ever had Flamin’ Hot Cheetos? This is the guy who invented them and his story is fascinating. His name is Richard Montanez and he was the janitor at a Frito-Lay plant in Southern California when he came up … Continue reading →

Posted in Action, Adventure | Tagged choice, choices, commitment, courage, determination, hungry, poor, Success | 21 Comments

“Chain Reaction”

Posted on June 3, 2013 by russtowne

This post is an update for the “Greater Than Gold” song project. “Greater Than Gold: My co-writer and I felt the chorus in the earlier version wasn’t quite strong enough or hook-worthy, so I re-wrote it, and changed the title/hook … Continue reading →

Posted in Action, Children, Compassion, Generosity, Goodness, Inspiring, Kindness, Making the World a Better Place, Parenting, Song Updates | Tagged Chain Reaction, child, dad, daughter, Diana, father, french fries, generosity, girl, hamburger, hungry, Kevin Harris, kind, kindness, Love, love in action, man, old, parent, poor, reaction, ripple, ripples, song, story, woman | 11 Comments

A Great Idea! 55 Watts of Light from a Soda Bottle & the Sun!

Posted on March 31, 2012 by russtowne

Let there be light! I love to hear of simple solutions to long-term problems. In many parts of the world the sun shines intensely but inside the homes of millions of poor people it remains dark even during the light … Continue reading →

Posted in Creativity, Vids & Stories That Touched Me | Tagged 55 watts of light, basic, basic hand tools, cheaply, darkness, heat, light, lightenup, millions, people, poor, quickly, simply, soda bottle, solar, solar bottle lights, sun, Wimp.com | Leave a comment

The Barefoot College

Posted on March 19, 2012 by russtowne

I just heard a “45 year love story” about the Barefoot College. It is a fascinating, enlightening, and inspiring TED talk presented by Bunker Roy. The school is only for the poor and reflects only what the poor think is … Continue reading →

Posted in Courage, Grandparenting & Grandkids, LIfe Lessons, Quotes I Love, Random Thoughts, Vids & Stories That Touched Me | Tagged Barefoot College, belief, Bunker Roy, collected rain water, competence, confidence, cook, cooking, cooks, crazy, crazy ideas, drought, encouraged, enlightening, fascinating, First they ignore you. Then they laugh at you. Then they fight you. Then you win.", Gandhi, grandmother, grandmothers, ideas, illiterate, India, inspiring, look for solutions within, Mahatma Gandhi, parabolic, parabolic oven, phenomenal, phenomenal success, poor, rain, rain water, School, solar, solar power. solar-powered, Success, TED Talk, village, village elder, water | Leave a comment

Envy

Posted on March 4, 2012 by russtowne

I recently had a conversation with someone who was feeling bad about his financial situation. I’ll call him Trevor but that isn’t his real name. Like most of us he’d made financial mistakes and felt bad about them, especially when … Continue reading →