Video Playlist: Creative Ways to Make a Difference
published 1/29/17; updated 4/14/25
by Catharine Hannay, founder of MindfulTeachers.org
Continuing the popular series of Video Playlists for Teachers and Teacher Trainers, here are a variety of people with unique abilities and inclinations supporting the community in creative and unusual ways.
Teachers, please note: With such a multicultural audience teaching young children through adults, I can’t guarantee that all of the videos will be appropriate for your particular context. I’ve put brief descriptions to help you choose, but please preview anything you plan to share with your students.
Artists with a Vision
Kenyan artist Francis Mutua helps clean up the ocean by creating colorful sculptures from discarded flip-flops.
More information at oceansoleonline.com
How Painting Can Transform Communities
Dutch artists Jeroen Koolhaas and Dre Urhahn help local communities transform their neighborhoods into works of art. It all starts with a barbecue.
More information at www.favelapainting.com/about/
How Art is Changing India's Biggest City
Graphic designers in Mumbai reupholster taxis and rickshaws with messages that promote social change.
Nicholas Vreeland gave up a privileged life and promising career as a photographer to become a Buddhist monk. Later, his photography helped build a monastery.
More information at nicholasvreeland.com/about/
ArtLifting "connects socially conscious companies with talented artists impacted by homelessness or disabilities."
More information at www.artlifting.com
Bringing a Smile to Those Who Need It Most
Front Lawn Becomes Stage for Boy with Cancer
A three-year-old with brain cancer was staring out the window at passersby. So the neighbors started showing up and performing for him.
Humor can be a means of psychological support in communities that have suffered trauma.
More information at: clownswithoutborders.org
Little horses make a big difference in patients' recovery
Gentle Carousel Miniature Therapy Horses help patients recover from illness and injuries.
More information at https://gentlecarouseltherapyhorses.com/
Magic shows for children in refugee camps, orphanages and hospitals around the world.
More information at www.magicianswithoutborders.com/
Doctors Who Dance
In his free time, anesthesiologist Adnan Khera is a busker (street performer) for charity.
You can also see him performing with 'Finance Be Dancing'
Dance Your PhD: Water Protection Policies
The annual "Dance Your PhD" competition sponsored by Science magazine uses dance as an entertaining way to make research more accessible to non-specialists. In this video, Florence Metz of Switzerland shows how people with different agendas can work together to achieve effective water protection policies.
Feeding the Hungry
At this restaurant in Madrid, customers pay for breakfast and lunch in order to subsidize free dinners for those in need of a meal.
More information at NPR.org.
Using Leftovers to Feed the Hungry
Meal delivery services in Mumbai put their expertise to work redistributing leftover food.
More information at NPR.org
Hiring the "Unemployable" to Produce Delicious Food
Restaurant Offers Second Chance to Those in Recovery
DV8 Kitchen "operates as a second chance employment opportunity for people who are trying to redirect their lives" while recovering from drug or alcohol abuse.
More information at dv8kitchen.com
Bakery Gives Ex-Inmates a Second Chance
When people say they want to work, Greyston Bakery gives them a chance - no questions asked, no resumes, no interviews, no background checks.
More information at www.greyston.org
Environmentally-Friendly, Socially-Responsible Juice
Epleslang is a Norwegian nonprofit that hires people with disabilities to turn unwanted apples into award-winning apple juice.
More information at epleslang.com
Socially-Responsible Gourmet Food Truck
The Snowday food truck hires formerly incarcerated youth to make its signature maple grilled cheese sandwiches.
Musicians Promoting Harmony
Colby and Awu: Cross-Cultural Singing Duo
Colby and Awu met in Cameroon while volunteering for an organization "that educates and empowers young changemakers to help build a more peaceful and sustainable environment."
More information at colbyandawu.com
“Poetic Pilgrimage is a hip-hop duo from the U.K., and their music is influenced by their Muslim faith, Jamaican background and British upbringing. Not only is their music giving a voice to Muslim women, it's become an unexpected bridge between the global hip-hop community and Islam.”
Nimo (Nimesh Patel) was an MTV rap star who had a change of heart and gave up a lucrative music career to work at the Gandhi Ashram in India. He now produces videos with positive messages through Empty Hands Music.
More information at emptyhandsmusic.org
Playing for Change gathers musicians from around the world to promote understanding and raise money to build music and art schools.
More information at: playingforchange.com/about/
Nonagenarians Saul Dreier and Reuwen (“Ruby”) Sosnowicz enjoy playing music together in the Holocaust Survivor Band.
Unusual Environmentalists
Cleaning up beaches and advocating for oceans, by creating a surfboard made from the most common type of litter.
Volunteers knit nests to help rescued baby animals.
Mikaila Ulmer, who created Me and the Bees Lemonade at age 4, is a social entrepreneur dedicated to saving bees.
More information at meandthebees.com
Cyril the Sorcerer uses a magic show to teach children the power of recycling and saving energy.
More information at cyrilmay.wordpress.com/about/
The Friends Who Planted 10,000 Trees
Best friends Jia Haixia, who is blind, and Jia Wenqi, who lost his arms as a child, work together to reforest their village in China.
Afroz Shah (and a whole lot of other volunteers) cleaned up one of the most polluted beaches in the world.
Lanni Lantto 'upcycles' clothing by turning thrift store finds into fashionable new clothes.
More information at fashionredesign.com.
SOIL Haiti provides employment and dignified sanitation services while producing organic compost.
More information at www.oursoil.org. You may also be interested in the perspective of SOIL's Human Resource Director on reframing how we look at waste.
Related Posts
There are many more video playlists and resources on serving our communities here at MindfulTeachers.org, including the following posts: