One woman's idea, fourteen years on: 4,500 neighbours spend a week doing good, on purpose

In 2012, Jan McDaniel and her Los Altos church congregation hoped 300 people might give half a day to helping neighbours. Fourteen years later, that idea has become Compassion Week across California's Santa Clara, Santa Cruz and Monterey counties: more than 4,500 volunteers, 275 service projects over ten days each October — cooking meals, cleaning beaches, making blankets and decorating grocery bags for meal deliveries — and many volunteers now keep serving with local nonprofits all year round.

SDG 11 · Sustainable cities and communities — Mechanism: community action