(Ken)neth

Fans have been urged to support the official UEFA EURO 2008™ humanitarian project launched by UEFA together with the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) and the Red Cross societies of the nations playing in Austria and Switzerland.

Goals worth €4,000

For the first time, UEFA is directly linking its support to what happens on the pitch – every goal scored during the finals, except in penalty shoot-outs, will be worth a €4,000 donation. The ICRC will use the funds raised to help landmine victims in Afghanistan walk again. The provision of artificial limbs and gradual rehabilitation helps to restore lost dignity. The ICRC also facilitates reintegration into family and community life by offering vocational training and the possibility to start a small business. Half of the registered donations coming from residents of one of the 16 finalist countries will go to a project of their national Red Cross society.

Ten-year partnership

"This is the culmination of a ten-year partnership with UEFA," said the ICRC's Antoine Bièler, who is organising the campaign. "The month of the EURO is a joyful moment throughout Europe and this initiative is a new way of collecting funds in a positive manner." The other major innovation is that fans have the possibility to participate in an online fundraising campaign. They are invited to buy virtual goals at scorefortheredcross.org for their favourite team. A league table shows which competing sides have had the most charity goals scored for them. "At the end of the EURO, one of the teams will be named the most humanitarian team," said Bièler. "So in a way, there is a parallel EURO running alongside the actual tournament."

Log on and score goals

With the most humanitarian team trophy to be awarded on 6 July, the ICRC spokesman added: "It's quite a first for us that a humanitarian organisation is so closely associated to a major sports event. We have a number of players supporting us, such as Patrick Müller [Switzerland], Frank Ribéry and William Gallas [France], Alessandro Del Pierro [Italy] as well as Cristiano Ronaldo [Portugal] who is ambassador [for Score for the Red Cross]." The Manchester United FC and Portugal forward said of his participation: "Landmine victims need determination and a lot of encouragement on the road to recovery. I have a lot of respect for them and I want to support them. The great thing about this campaign is that everyone is a winner when it comes to giving and receiving. The website offers football fans a chance to have fun while making a difference. What could be better than that?" Click here to Score for the Red Cross.

Haiti is one of many developing nations being affected by the global food crisis. The food crisis has caused both donors and recipients of anti-poverty aid to rethink doctrines about the role of agriculture and whether poor nations should grow their own food or rely on the world's trading system. For decades, poor nations were discouraged from investing too much in agriculture, which was seen as a problem rather than a solution to fighting poverty. Many free market economists have been led to believe that the reason billions of people are poor is because they are shackled to subsistence farming. The solution to this, given by economists, was to find something else for them in manufacturing, tourism or services so that they can make money to buy food instead of growing it.

With rice and wheat being grown cheaply in rich countries, the poor countries were discouraged from growing much of their own staples, but rather focus on export crops that might fetch a higher price. The result of this food crisis is that many poor countries are turning their back on the old ideas and installing government programs designed to support local farmers. These programs include, cash subsidies to poor consumers, increased efforts to improve local seed varieties, and government-sponsored handouts of fertilizer and seeds.

Institutions such as the World Bank and International Monetary Fund are treating investment in poor farmers as a promising development strategy.

Lastly, World Bank President Robert Zoellick told an emergency United Nations summit on the food crisis that boosting developing country agriculture productivity and reducing hunger were top priorities for the bank.

Source: Wall Street Journal

NuRide, Inc. (www.nuride.com), the nation's largest incentive-based ridesharing community, today announced that Plow & Hearth (www.plowhearth.com), a leading national catalog, retail, and internet company specializing in unique, enduring home and lifestyle products, has expand its NuRide sponsorship by providing a variety of valuable discounts to NuRide members who are sharing rides and doing their part to relieve traffic congestion and reduce global warming. Plow & Hearth’s expanded sponsorship will reward commuters who share 11,000 rides resulting in 400,000 fewer miles driven and the prevention of over 160 tons of greenhouse gas emissions.

"Given our nation's ongoing need to combat global warming and reduce energy consumption, we are thrilled to grow our NuRide partnership," said David Hay, Vice President of Marketing for Plow & Hearth. "Sponsoring NuRide members who share rides with a variety of rewards from Plow & Hearth and our sister companies is a meaningful way to encourage commuters in their mission to preserve our environment and save energy."

"Plow & Hearth has long been one of our most valued partnerships and we are thrilled to be expanding the relationship to include such quality brands as HearthSong, Magic Cabin and Wind & Weather" said Rick Steele, CEO of NuRide. "It is also an immense pleasure to continue working with our friends at Plow & Hearth who share our vision for reducing global warming and creating a cleaner and greener environment."

According to the Case Foundation, the concept of corporate citizenship - the belief that companies have an obligation to help maintain the health and well being of the communities in which they do business - has existed in the US for more than 50 years. However, over the past two decades, a growing number of business leaders have come to view corporate citizenship, including volunteerism, as not just 'the right thing to do,' but a key business imperative that can generate "value for the company, its employees, and the community."

"In the 1960's we boomers changed the world and I find many of us still unafraid to bring in change that lets us continue to grow in the process," says Shelton. "I believe we can effect new directions for high school education in America by reaching a 'hand down' to give a positive 'hand up.' A stronger America is a more connected America. It's time for boomers to get involved, to participate. Our kids are crying out for help (gangs, teen pregnancies, suicides, unfocused futures, virtual overwhelm, unconnected relationships, isolation) and it is time we participate to answer that cry."

A recent survey concludes that half of the boomers surveyed plan to volunteer after retirement because they have passion for a cause and want to help the community. Roughly 78 million Americans were born between 1946 and 1964, the bookends of the boomer generation.

Scientists have found major new fractures during an assessment of the state of giant ice shelves in Canada's far north. The team found a network of cracks that stretched for more than 10 miles (16km) on Ward Hunt, the area's largest shelf. The fate of the vast ice blocks is seen as a key indicator of climate change. One of the expedition's scientists, Derek Mueller of Trent University, Ontario, told me: "I was astonished to see these new cracks.