HeroicStories

January 30, 2006

Are you tired of bad news? The seamy side of humanity being rehashed every half hour on CNN Headline News? One disgusting example after another of antisocial behavior being reported in all its lurid glory?

Me too. That's why today's FamilyFirst site is one that accentuates the positive in humanity.

It's called HeroicStories. Here's its mission:

“Begun in 1999, HeroicStories brings diverse, international voices to the world - reminding us that people are good, that individuals and individual action matter. Our mission is to publish examples of people being good to each other, to inspire similar heroic actions in others.”

Yes, despite what regular watchers of the news might deduce, the fact is that there are some real heroes out there among ordinary individuals. Here's an example:

“Klansmen burn a cross in the yard of a Mississippi civil rights worker. She scares them off... then brings her children out to toast marshmallows over the burning cross.” Very nice. Those kids probably won't be scarred by hatred.

What you will not find here is extensive archives of heroic stories. But what you will find is a weekly newsletter that is delivered to your email address with these feel-good accounts included. And I have to say I'm impressed with their privacy policy: “WE *HATE* JUNK MAIL! "Spam" mail is the bane of the Internet. If you aren't bothered by it, you probably will be soon. We REFUSE to add to this illegitimate use of the Internet: we not only WILL NOT provide your e-mail address to ANY advertiser, we actually work rather hard to keep it secret. You don't have to request that your e-mail address be "concealed" -- we "conceal" ALL subscriber addresses.”

I'm careful about signing up for newsletters. This one, I went for.

There are several hero stories on the site. You can also purchase archived stories in book form for a very reasonable price. But by all means, subscribe to the newsletter, and get these positive tidbits in your email each week.

http://www.heroicstories.com