Helaina Hovitz Regal

When The Red Cross slid into my messages to share inspirational stories of families who were helped by blood donations, my instinct was to curl up in the fetal position with an apple juice and pretend it didn’t happen. I am extremely squeamish, and a simple blood test is a prescription for a spell of […]

So much for “millennials” being selfish. If you’re attached to that idea, keep walkin’. A few years ago, Adina Lichtman was handing out sandwiches on the streets of New York City to help people experiencing homelessness. One man, grateful for the sandwich, approached her and offered some surprising insight. “Thank you for giving out sandwiches,” […]

What exactly does a life coach do? Well, this one volunteers, fundraises, cheerleads, and helps people who feel there’s something more out there find their way to it. Mary Kaba Valis has made it her life’s work to people live happier more fulfilling lives. That joy spreads like wildfire to everyone around them. She’s not […]

When we look at adorable—and sometimes heartbreaking—photos of dogs in need of adopting, what we don’t see are the dozens of people behind the scenes who dedicate most of their free time to helping those dogs find homes, doing everything from taking them to the vet, coordinating with local shelters, and getting them home from […]

Can we dance our way to mentally healthy? It’s not the most widely used method on anyone’s road to recovery, yet Dance Movement Therapy is an incredibly effective method for kids and adults alike dealing with issues from mild anxiety to severe Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, and everything in between. When people reach a plateau […]

Orly Wahba, Founder of the nonprofit Life Vest Inside, has put out the perfect little book to grab just in time for Volunteer Week (kicking off on a variety of days based on city, state, and even country, but we’re looking at April 12th!)—because volunteering, really, is just doing something for someone else when you’ve got […]

Instead of sleeping in on weekends or soaking up as much sleep as she can on school days, 14-year-old Ava Calise wakes up early—around 6 a.m.—to administer morning medication to her foster dogs. Once that’s done, she moves on to her work physically helping them get to their temporary homes, assisting with everything from their […]

 I got to breathe the same air as Deepak for the first this week, and it was delicious. Being a student of mindfulness, Buddhism and meditation, I first heard the name when he partnered with Oprah years ago, but I’d never witnessed it all in person. Along with theoretical physicist Leonard Mlodinow, I walked away […]

Since graduating in 2011, my mission has been to bring important, meaningful, helpful and inspiring positive news stories to the world. There is good in the world, and it’s people that make that good possible. For years, these stories have been a tough sell to mainstream media, but I plowed ahead as a journalist, editor, […]