Glaub and Parker settled in to their new home on 22nd Street, and for the first two years a few letters trickled in from kids or parents asking “Santa” (圣诞老人) for gifts they could not otherwise afford: toys, coats, a doll. Then in the months leading to Christmas 2010, they were deluged. Every day, they’d open their mailbox to find it so full of letters to Santa that they had to empty the mailbox in time for another big bunch of letters. They responded to as many as they could, writing notes, even buying gifts. But they could only do so much.

Glaub, of course, is not Santa. He runs a Broadway marketing company. But one night, when he and Parker threw a 1960s-themed Christmas party, a solution appeared. Guests, dressed in mod outfits and hippie beads, noticed the hundreds of letters Glaub and Parker had yet to act upon and asked about them. That’s when Glaub and Parker realized they didn’t have to fulfill all these letters themselves. “People want to help.”

And so was born Miracle on 22nd Street, a community-based volunteer organization that responds to children’s letters to Santa with season’s greetings and gifts for kids. Working with other nonprofits that help those in need, they invited families from around the country to go online and request gifts and Christmas toys for their children.

Letters typically request popular items, but some letters are heartbreaking. One child wrote: “Dear Santa, For Christmas, I want my brothers to get better. My younger brother has a hard time walking and has to use his wheelchair. I wish he could play like me. I also wish my baby brother could eat like me and not have his feeding tube. I know these are not real presents, but this is all I want this year.” That’s a tough ask. But Miracle on 22nd Street did send the children gift cards and a kind note.

Last year, Glaub and Miracle on 22nd Street helped more than 800 families. Glaub no longer dwells on why the letters come to the apartment. Putting in the long hours to help the families is what it’s all about for him. “It wouldn’t be Christmas without it,” he says.

The Global Heritage Fund,a nonprofit organization, aims to protect places of cultural importance in developing countries for the reason that these countries often have few resources to protect such places and that other major cultural organizations often pay more attention to protecting places in the developed world. For example, the UNESCO has 45 World Heritage places in Italy, 42 in Spain, but Peru, famous for its ancient Incan buildings, has only 9 World Heritage places. Guatemala has only 3.

The fund recently released a list of cultural treasures in the developing world that are in danger of disappearing. These places are important because they are records of our human civilization. Globalization has created an international culture that is about sameness. But the endangered places it is trying to protect represent the rich differences of human culture throughout history.

One of the fund's current projects is in Guatemala's (危地马拉) Mirador Basin, which contains several important examples of ancient Mayan settlements. The buildings are surrounded by forest.

Centuries of tree growth have covered the pyramids and religious buildings, which provide some of the finest examples of the early part of the Mayan civilization (玛雅文明). But this area is in danger from robbers and people cutting trees illegally. Also, over the past ten years, over 70% of the natural environment in the area has been destroyed by fires.

The fund has 3 goals for its Mirador project. One is helping the government obtain UNESCO recognition. Another is establishing permanent protection for the area. And the third is working to make the area a sustainable protected area within 10 years.

To meet these goals, money from the fund will go toward restoring the buildings of El Mirador and mapping and exploring newly discovered buildings. The fund is also paying to train local guides on how to stop theft and illegal tree-cutting. Educational programs are helping to give people in the area the skills they need to have jobs that do not endanger this protected area.

The Global Heritage Fund says we have a duty to the people of the past, present and future to make sure we do not lose these examples of human history. Every country, organization and individual can play a role in helping to protect this rich history.

When it comes to the benefit of volunteering, a lot of people think it’s all about the warm feeling after helping someone. 【小题1】 As is known, charity work requires a wide variety of people to do a wide variety of things for everything to work. It means that there are some surprising benefits for volunteers. For example, volunteering:

From helping making websites to teaching immigrant kids your native language, or to arranging events for charity, volunteering can really be almost anything. It means that when you get involved charity work, a lot of the time you will face challenges. 【小题2】

It’s a great way to find new perspectives (角度) on life. When you’ve been at it for a while, you just might find yourself re-evaluating your advantages. 【小题3】 One of my friends went from wanting to be a lawyer to discovering a true passion for teaching.

【小题4】

Maybe it is not surprising, but what might surprise you is how genuine these friends are. Some of my long-term friends are people I’ve met through volunteering. I’m not that kind of guy that makes friends purely for connections, but sometimes it’s very convenient to have a broad network.

Summed up in one line: volunteering helps you grow. 【小题5】 You meet a wide variety of people who don’t have a lot in common with. You learn to get along with people involved in many different walks in life. You learn to know what you are to do. So if you’ve ever considered volunteering, what are you waiting for?