MINNEAPOLIS, Minn. -- Who says wishes don't come true? Call it a fairytale ending, the ultimate Christmas gift, an answered prayer, or just good karma, but something magical happened at Twin Cities Habitat for Humanity (TCHFH) this past holiday season.

BOULDER, Colo. -- Women can sport strings of pink, red, and purple beads this Valentine's Day to show their caring for industrious African women working their way out of extreme poverty. Nonprofit BeadforLife (www.beadforlife.org) offers Valentines Day-hued bracelets, necklaces, chokers, and other jewelry - also available in many other vibrant colors - handmade by Ugandan women who are HIV-positive or refugees from a brutal civil war in Uganda, all of whom were living on less than $1 a day. Many care for numerous AIDS orphans.

WASHINGTON, D.C. -- The Save Darfur Coalition welcomes the agreement reached today (Jan. 10) by New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson and Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir that his government and rebel groups will cease hostilities for a period of 60 days while they work towards a lasting peace.

SAN RAMON, Calif. -- Streams of Life International (SOLI), founded by Ashley Noah, a 23-year old recent UCLA graduate, led a team of volunteers to Ethiopia to provide medical care, donate $30,000 USD in medical supplies, and refurbish a pediatrics room. Their efforts were concentrated at the Assosa Hospital, located in the Benishangul-Gumuz Region of Ethiopia. This gift generated excitement in the community and received Ethiopian television and newspaper coverage.

SEDONA, Ariz. -- On the 10th Anniversary of Native Voices Foundation, the board held an election and celebrated some "phenomenal" progress for Indian youth. As newly elected Co-Chairman, Gary Lake (Shasta Vice Chair) said, "A single tribe cannot get their youth to the Olympics, but together we can." "Thanks to key leaders of Indian Country uniting behind the Indian Olympic Bid, these dreams for their youth are within their grasp," according to re-elected Co-Chair, Suzy Chaffee, an Olympic skier.

KIRKLAND, Wash. -- Starting this year, long term care insurance, which enhances the security of longer-living Americans, will indirectly improve lives in AIDS-plagued Africa also. Today LTC Financial Partners LLC, the nation's most experienced long term care insurance brokerage, announced that it would contribute 2% of its profits each year to the Rabuor Village Project, a comeback model for villages throughout Africa.

LOS ANGELES, Calif. -- Recognizing the need for another effective medium, H. Lewis Smith, author of "Bury that Sucka" (ISBN: 1413792693), is the founder of a new non-profit organization, United Voices for a Common Cause, Inc. The organization pledges and holds true "to not use the n-word as they strive toward cultural integrity and mutual respect for all Americans."

STOWE, Vt. -- A blanket of snow turned Vermont's Green Mountains white as Billy Kidd, the first American male to win an Olympic (silver) Medal in Alpine Ski Racing, was inducted into the Vermont Ski Hall of Fame at the Snowflake Lodge in his hometown of Stowe on Sunday. "Though not fully proven, it took the fearlessness of his Abenaki Indian and Pirate (Captain William Kidd) blood to break the glass ceiling," said fellow Olympian Suzy Chaffee, co-chair of Native Voices Foundation (NVF).

HOUSTON, Tex. -- On Friday, September 15, 12 Nobel Peace Prize winners gathered in Denver, Colorado to voice their desire for the building of education and peace in impoverished and war-torn areas of the world. This was the largest-ever gathering of Nobel Laureates on US soil. Luminaries such as the Dalai Lama and Archbishop Desmond Tutu attended to speak out against global conflicts and increased military spending at the expense of human health and welfare

DENVER, CO -- Colorado's North American Indigenous Games (NAIG) ended with a strong magical feeling of being 'a feeder to the 2008 China Olympics. That was the hope of Joe Garcia, President of the National Congress of American Indians (NCAI and San Juan Pueblo Governor/runner), whose Team New Mexico brought home the (ultimate) John Fletcher Spirit Award, said Olympic Skier Suzy Chaffee, co-chair of Native Voices Foundation (NVF).