NBC Nightly News' Making a Difference segment on Monday night covered the inspiring story of Annette Dove & TOPPS.  In her Rock Center debut, Chelsea Clinton traveled to her home state of Arkansas to tell the story of how former educator Annette Dove decided to quit her well-paying job and devote her life to serving the kids of Pine Bluff. Dove formed the non-profit organization TOPPS to benefit children in her crime-ridden and impoverished community. TOPPS (Targeting Our People's Priorities with Service) serves over 500 children daily through after school tutoring, mentoring, and food programs.

NBC Nightly News/ Rock Center, 12/12/2011

Robin Lim, who has helped thousands of poor Indonesians have healthy pregnancies and births, was named the 2011 CNN Hero of the Year. On Sunday, "CNN Heroes: An All-Star Tribute" recognized Lim and the other top 10 CNN Heroes of 2011.

CNN.com, 12/12/2011

Every week on his CNN show, Anderson Cooper features profiles of people who help others. Sunday he hosted “CNN Heroes: An All-Star Tribute." This special saluted people, like 2010 honoree Anuradha Koirala (pictured), who have truly made a positive difference in the lives of others.

When the parents of Lucas Gonzalez, a three-year-old with a rare condition called hyper IgM syndrome, found out that a bone marrow transplant could give their son a chance to be a normal kid, they were less than confident that the fundraising website they started would raise the money they needed for the expensive procedure... until the following post appeared on popular link-sharing website Reddit: "Hi Reddit, I'm Lucas! I'm 3 years old, have a 1 in 1 million disease, and need a bone marrow transplant!" Within 12 hours, the donations from Internet strangers amounted to $44,405! The family actually had to post a message begging Reddit users to stop donating! This sort of altruism isn't uncommon among Reddit users: the site has hosted communities dedicated to reuniting a mother and son who'd been apart 21 years, raising money for Direct Relief International for Haiti, preventing suicide, and more.

Digital Life blog at TODAY.com, 12/5/2011

In Third World hospitals, lives are being saved through the use of discarded medical materials (like scalpels, needles, and sponges) salvaged from the U.S. by nonprofit organizations like Doc2Dock. These supplies are clean, safe and unused but are thrown out for various reasons, sometimes simply because they're unneeded items in large supply kits. By salvaging surplus supplies, the nonprofits are also reducing waste in America.

 CNN Heroes, 12/1/2011

Hard times seem to have inspired people to help those who are less fortunate, as all kinds of non-profits are stepping up and filling in the holes left by the extensive government cuts to social services. Marcia Meyer, co-founder of The Be Kind Project, says of this kind of phenomenon, "We think kindness is more than a feeling. Kindness is people actively extending good to others." Even celebrities are stepping up to the plate with their own charities, including Gary Sinese's foundation and Bon Jovi's Soul Kitchen (which we featured last month in our Celebrity Health Styles/ Celebrity Causes news section).

USA Today, 11/29/2011

After the airing of a '60 Minutes' feature about Central Florida's homeless families (see our Entertainment section for that story), a telethon Monday raised money to help the thousands of homeless students attending Seminole and Orange County schools. This article also talks about the Families in Transition program, which assists homeless children in the Seminole County schools, sometimes even providing temporary housing for families.

Orlando Sentinel, 11/28/2011

These dogs were there for our soldiers in Afghanistan and now they are being rewarded with a one-way ticket to adopted homes in America. As Spc. Sheila Schaffer from the Iowa National Guard is quoted as saying, "They're saving our souls. They're saving us inside. There are a lot of soldiers that get depressed being away from their own pets and families." 

NBC Nightly News, 11/21/2011

This is the inspiring story of a noted author, Ann Patchett, who didn't want her community to be "nearly barren of bookstores." So she decided to take matters into her own hands and do something about it. Patchett explained: "I have no interest in opening a bookstore. But I also have no interest in living in a city without a bookstore." Basically, she saw that her community was in need, and she decided to do something positive about it. The article also tells what independent bookstore owners are doing across the country to remain relevant and stay in business.

The New York Times, 11/16/2011

Marketwatch, 11/14/2011

To raise money to help veterans on Veterans Day, Dave Cummings, the New Hampshire man who devoted two years of his life to raising money for this cause by shooting free throws, reached his goal of shooting 1 million free throws.  He did so at the Basketball Hall of Fame, although over the past two years he has shot in all sorts of locations and conditions: during storms, before dawn and after dark, on his birthday, on Christmas, on the deck of the USS Intrepid, and on the floor of Boston Garden, to name just a few.

USA Today, 11/11/2011