Good Works

4:35 PM EDT, May 26, 2012

Finksburg student goes from library volunteer to author

Zach Teal is just 17, but his love for books led him to write one of his own and to volunteer more than 250 hours at the Finksburg branch of the Carroll County Public Library.

10:41 AM EDT, April 28, 2012

Volunteers teach city students business in 'nifty' program

For a decade, the Network for Teaching Entrepreneurship has been working in Baltimore schools to encourage students with the potential to become tomorrow's business leaders.

4:38 PM EDT, April 21, 2012

Plan to feed hungry is bearing fruit

A new nonprofit organization aims to turn the fruits of its labors into fresh food for the hungry.

5:41 PM EDT, April 14, 2012

Roland Park grad promotes responsible spring break fun

Savannah Bass, 21, who grew up in Ruxton and graduated from Roland Park Country School in 2008, is working to curb binge drinking on college campuses and along the beach during spring break.

2:21 PM EDT, April 7, 2012

Tireless advocate continues battle against Alzheimer's

The Alzheimer's Association's annual Memory Ball has drawn nine highly competitive dance couples, four well-known judges, including Maryland's first lady, and nearly 700 guests. But the star of the evening will likely be the ball honoree, Sylvia Mackey, a woman who has worked tirelessly for the association and its families.

5:39 PM EST, March 10, 2012

Interfaith rock group comes together in Frederick County

When Jamie Krantz was invited to join a band made up of musicians of different faiths, she was tempted to say no. She worried she wouldn't have anything in common with the other players. But she agreed to join the group as a vocalist, and she's glad she did.

11:35 PM EDT, March 23, 2012

Volunteer helps foster adult literacy

A friend encouraged Shelly Abrams to volunteer at the South Baltimore Learning Center. Now, more than 21 years later, she still donates many hours a week to the nonprofit, which offers literacy and life-skills training to more than 1,000 adults each year.

5:25 PM EDT, March 31, 2012

Korean-American grocers celebrate students' success

Traneika Fleet wants to become a nurse and help cancer patients. Josh Greenspan aims to be an aerospace engineer. And classical singer Yoon Jung Kim and actor Delante Desouza both dream of performing on the professional stage.

3:33 PM EST, March 3, 2012

Teen golfer hopes to score for Hopkins hospital

Jordan McKelvin, 14, hopes to turn her scores on golf greens into dollars to fund research and battle childhood diseases.

2:27 PM EST, February 25, 2012

Team StrongHope adds cancer ambassadors to rosters

Ten-year-old Juliana Carver loves to swim. Unfortunately, between chemotherapy treatments, medications and routine hospital visits, Juliana doesn't always have the time or energy to be in the water.

3:26 PM EST, February 11, 2012

Millionaire's mansion now shelters homeless

The Mount Vernon house spent decades as one of several 19th-century millionaires' mansions. But in the last 25 years, the Patrick Allison House has found another mission.

4:30 PM EST, February 18, 2012

Saddling up to give others a ride

McDaniel College freshman Caitlyn McSorley has never let her dyslexia get in the way of helping others. Instead, it was the catalyst for doing so.

3:10 PM EST, February 4, 2012

Woman's pet cause helps needy owners of dogs, cats

A woman who grew up rescuing lost critters has launched an effort to help pets and their owners survive financial crises together.

January 15, 2012

Silver screen turns to gold for Baltimore seniors

Social worker Chris Muldowney and film professor Christopher Llewellyn Reed have found a way to translate their love of movies into, among other things, groceries, fire insurance, hearing aids, a mattress, a new window, the vet bill for a beloved cat and flowers for a 100th birthday.

5:26 PM EST, January 21, 2012

Arundel man gives aid to hospital

Commitment seems to come naturally to Anne Arundel County resident R. Kent Schwab.

3:58 PM EST, January 7, 2012

Barber's efforts are cut above

The barber spent at least 20 minutes grooming his client's hair and beard. With his clippers, brush, razor and shaving cream, he skillfully tended to every detail, frequently asking the man in the chair his preferences. When the appointment was done, the men exchanged thanks and a handshake.

4:50 PM EST, December 17, 2011

LaQuan Williams an impact player on 'Basic Needs' drive

Even though he is Baltimore-bred, LaQuan Williams couldn't help but feel empathy for a child who has been inspired by Indianapolis Colts quarterback Peyton Manning.

2:48 PM EST, December 10, 2011

Musician's donation allows others to enjoy aquarium

Sea-inspired melodies are helping efforts to give terminally ill children, disabled veterans and other special-needs groups glimpses of aquatic life at the National Aquarium in Baltimore.

2:12 PM EST, December 31, 2011

Local hand experts treat the injured, deformed in Nepal

It wasn't long after Dr. James Higgins became chief of the Curtis National Hand Center at Union Memorial Hospital last January that he answered a call from Operation Smile, the Norfolk-based humanitarian group that provides free surgery for needy children with facial deformities.

December 4, 2011

Jammies bring joy to hospitalized children

Four years ago, Glen Burnie resident Debi Katzenberger was finding it difficult to purchase the family's new Christmas pajamas. It was a tradition she had with her own children and passed along to her grandchildren.

5:57 PM EST, November 19, 2011

Family forgoes Thanksgiving to run model trains for charity

Model trains, not turkey, top the Thanksgiving menu for the Schumm family of Harford County.

2:45 PM EDT, October 1, 2011

Congregation funds $5 million renovation in effort to lift voices higher

Members of a North Baltimore church congregation felt they could not hear their own voices while singing a hymn. Others complained they could not hear the choir.

3:30 PM EDT, November 5, 2011

Parents organize run to keep daughter's name alive

In an instant Russell and Kim Hurd went from planning their daughter's wedding to arranging her funeral.

3:52 PM EDT, October 22, 2011

Chimes hopes to laugh a little, raise a lot

Baltimore celebrities will take their best shot at comedy, all in the name of giving back.

4:40 PM EST, November 12, 2011

The Center Club's fashion show aims to help clothing nonprofit

When the Center Club held a focus group asking its members what events they wanted to hold, some suggested a fashion show.

2:37 PM EDT, October 8, 2011

Cyclist rides in honor of his brother

Every time Chris Seymour entered the garden shed at his home, he would stare at the sleek bike, a bequest from his older brother Robert, who died in May.

4:45 PM EDT, October 29, 2011

In Patterson's classrooms, Ogden still clearing paths

Jonathan Ogden parted ways with the NFL more than three years ago, but the retired Ravens offensive tackle remains an active presence in the Baltimore community.

10:16 AM EDT, June 25, 2011

BRAC brings fundraiser ball to Aberdeen

A dance under a circus-sized tent at Aberdeen Proving Ground has raised more than $300,000 for a network of houses that offer free lodging to the families of wounded warriors.

5:02 PM EDT, September 24, 2011

Howard man runs to raise funds for Down syndrome

Wayne Malone is no longer running the distances he managed in his youth, but he is still racking up miles organizing an annual fundraiser that benefits the Down Syndrome Clinic at Kennedy Krieger in East Baltimore.

1:20 PM EDT, August 20, 2011

Volunteer goes the extra mile to end domestic violence

As the application deadline loomed for vendors who want to participate in a fundraising event in Bel Air next month, Hazel U. Hopkins fretted that a favorite caterer might have forgotten to sign up.

3:53 PM EDT, August 6, 2011

Parents push through wall of silence on suicide

Nearly a decade ago, not long after losing a daughter to suicide, a Baltimore County couple made a decision. They would turn their personal tragedy into a means of helping themselves, and others, by addressing mental illness in the open, without shame.

4:58 PM EDT, September 10, 2011

Midshipmen to help clean up, honor 9/11 victims and military

In an effort to honor those who lost their lives during the attacks of Sept. 11, U.S. Naval Academy midshipmen will take part today in the second annual Project Green: 9/11 Day of Service & Remembrance.

3:00 PM EDT, July 23, 2011

Student scores high in helping others

Meredith Good-Cohn celebrates her 19th birthday today, knowing she is already a woman of tomorrow, a community activist, a scholar, a filmmaker, a volunteer in numerous capacities and the state's recycler of the year.

3:11 PM EDT, September 17, 2011

Day on the water raises money for area charities

For the past 17 years employees from the 126-year-old Baltimore-based insurance company RCM&D have taken a portion of a workday off to spend on the water sailing, while at the same time raising money.

January 24, 2010

Defending the defenseless

The director of a Baltimore children's advocacy center says that in the light of Sarah Foxwell's abduction and killing on the Eastern Shore, people are looking for solutions to one of society's most hot-button issues: child sexual abuse.

3:42 PM EDT, July 9, 2011

Blood recipient Boyle gives back

An Ironman World Championship participant might have been the American Red Cross representative calling to schedule your next blood donation.

2:21 AM EDT, April 24, 2011

Fundraiser a success from the opening tip

The first National Hillel Basketball Tournament ended two weeks ago in spectacular fashion, with a 53-51 triple-overtime victory for Washington University over Yeshiva in the men's final at Ritchie Coliseum. It began two years earlier as an afterthought.

2:06 PM EDT, July 16, 2011

Bel Air teen showers babies with gifts

It's not every day that a person makes a selfless and heartfelt donation to a hospital. It's even rarer when it comes from a teenager.

2:49 PM EDT, July 30, 2011

Hopkins team helps children with face-saving surgery

While still attending undergraduate school, Dr. Patrick J. Byrne made a promise: If he had the good fortune to go into medicine and become a doctor, he would do something for the underserved.

2:40 PM EDT, June 18, 2011

Horses take the lead in battle against breast cancer

Patricia Artimovich survived a life-threatening disease, thanks, she says, to the Johns Hopkins Avon Breast Cancer Center and to the healing power of horses.

January 10, 2010

Good Works

Teens elicit water funds, awareness

Gabrielle "Gabby" Kozera, 17, imagines the continent of Africa in the shape of the human heart, with clean water as the lifeblood of its many struggling nations.

12:30 PM EDT, July 9, 2011

Blood recipient Boyle gives back

An Ironman World Championship participant might have been the American Red Cross representative calling to schedule your next blood donation.