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From Sparks to Light - Inspiring Stories for Challenging Times
From Sparks to Light is the podcast about ordinary people doing extraordinary things. These are the stories of people who are giving back in different ways. Learn what inspires them and what they learned along the way. We hope their stories inspire you to find your spark and encourage you to shine your own precious light in the world.
Episodes
106 episodes
Small Potato Activism - Laura Doty
“We create safety by numbers. The more of us there are, the safer we make everyone.” - Laura DotyI met Laura Doty in 2017 after catastrophic fires leveled much of the county where we both live. We’d shown up to assist the survivors of t...
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Season 4
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Episode 95
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54:41
Grassroots Grocery - Dan Zauderer
“I get a call, … I’m waiting outside on the street corner. … A pickup truck shows up, with a fridge on it. Two guys get out and drop this fridge on the street. And that’s literally the way it started. These two anonymous guys, who drop this...
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Season 4
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Episode 94
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1:03:58
Join or Die - John Crowley
“If we’re not in community with other people, it’s much easier to throw rocks at each other.” - John Crowley, Aqus Community Foundation.Perhaps you’ve had the opportunity to travel to England or Ireland and experienced it first ...
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Season 4
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Episode 93
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59:30
Reaching for Beautiful - Sally McQuillen
It is a phone call no parent wants to receive. A child is missing —or even worse, presumed dead. That was the call that Sally McQuillen and her husband, Joe, received on a cold January day, nine years ago. Their 21 year old son, Christopher, an...
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Season 4
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Episode 92
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1:02:22
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Tragic Beauty - Michael Larson and Humans for Housing
"When I sit down with someone and hear their life story —when we’re just hanging out and I’m getting to know them and getting to be with them, there’s this feeling of mutuality in getting to be together, of getting to melt down the walls be...
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Season 4
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Episode 91
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1:08:48
A Prince of a Boy (Pt.2) - Brian McNaught
This is part two of a two part episode. If you haven't listened to part 1, go back and listen to that one first.When Brian McNaught was in eighth grade, Sister Claire Marie, IHM, a nun at his school in Birmingham, Michigan, pull...
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Season 4
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Episode 90
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32:05
A Prince of a Boy (Pt. 1) - Brian McNaught
When Brian McNaught was in eighth grade, Sister Claire Marie, IHM, a nun at his school in Birmingham, Michigan, pulled his mother aside and proclaimed, “Your son is a prince of a boy.” ‘Did Sister Claire Marie say that because I...
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Season 4
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Episode 89
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50:31
Life Reimagined on the Road to Sobriety - Anthony Taylor
"Trust your heart, because in addiction, we lose faith in our own judgement and what we see as right or wrong," says “Taylor”, the name he gave himself after he embraced sobriety After years of struggling to leave addiction behind, he works to ...
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Season 4
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Episode 88
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52:40
A Passionate Steward: Brian Muegge
"We think we're so different across our communities. We may come from a different country. We might work in different jobs. We might work the land, or work in tech, but we're not all that different —we're human,” says Brian Muegge of the di...
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Season 4
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Episode 87
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57:56
the goodness game - Bryan Driscoll
“…Give without remembering,” encourages Bryan Driscoll, the creator of the goodness g...
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Season 4
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Episode 86
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50:24
The Voices of Honoring Our Experience - Liliana Talero
This is part 9 of a special series focusing on the community of Honoring Our Experience, a program of San Francisco’s Shanti Project, and their work with long-term survivors of the HIV/AIDS virus.“I think that's the p...
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Season 4
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Episode 85
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46:39
Rays of Hope: Mikayla Henning, Jennifer Rea and Lee Stumbaugh
“Just getting to hear her life story was so incredible, the difficult things she’s been through in her life —it really puts it into perspective… it makes me just want to ask any senior I talk to, ‘What is your story?’ because everyone has a...
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Season 4
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Episode 84
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57:07
The Sticky Note - Matt Eicheldinger
“Hi, My name is Matt and I’m a teacher. Today I’m going to tell you a story about a sticky note.”Perhaps, like me, you’re one of the more than 345K followers who tune in to Instagram or Tik Tok to hear one of Mr. Eich’s wildly popular st...
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Season 4
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Episode 83
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56:06
The Voices of Honoring Our Experience - Vince Crisostomo
This is part 8 of a special series focusing on the community of Honoring Our Experience, and their work with long-term survivors of the HIV/AIDS virus.“I was a reluctant activist,” says Vince Crisostomo of the humble beginnings ...
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Season 4
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Episode 82
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58:10
The Search for Connection - Rabbi Irwin Keller
“There’s a longing that runs through our species. People are so hungry for belonging and recognition.”Irwin Keller was in third grade when he knew he wanted to be a rabbi, but it would be many years before he would heed his callin...
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Season 4
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Episode 81
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1:10:53
Meant For More - Karen Olson
It was just a ham sandwich.Karen Olson walked that route hundreds of times. Heading home after a long day of work in New York City at pharmaceutical company Warner Lambert, she noticed a woman sitting in front of Grand Central Station wh...
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Season 4
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Episode 80
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51:09
Her Story Untold - Traei Tsai
Traei Tsai was 6 years old when her family emigrated from Taipei, Taiwan to make a new start in Vancouver, Canada. New to a country and community where they didn’t speak the language, Traei began school where, for the first time in her li...
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Season 4
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Episode 79
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48:14
The Power of Women - Manizha Wafeq
At the age of 19, Manizha Wafeq traveled to Oklahoma City with 13 women to participate in Peace Through Business, a program to support women from her native Afghanistan to become entrepreneurs. No sooner had they arrived in the United States wh...
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Season 4
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Episode 78
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1:11:45
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Summer Series - Ideas to Inspire with Koen van Rompay - One Small Step (ep. 57)
This summer we’re replaying some of our favorite episodes from season 3, episodes that offer inspirational ideas to help you get involved in making a difference in your community. This week we’re revisiting an episode with Koen van Romp...
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Season 3
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Episode 78
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1:00:23
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Summer Series: Ideas to Inspire with Wendy Voet - Keep Moving Forward (ep. 53)
This summer we’re replaying some of our favorite episodes from season 3, episodes that offer inspirational ideas to help you get involved in making a difference in your community. This week we’re revisiting an episode with non-prof...
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Season 3
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Episode 80
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53:04
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Summer Series: Ideas to Inspire with Dan Glass - Beautiful Trouble (ep. 52)
This summer we’re replaying some of our favorite episodes from season 3, episodes that offer inspirational ideas to help you get involved in making a difference in your community. This week we’re revisiting an episode with author a...
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Season 3
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Episode 79
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52:28
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Summer Series: Ideas to Inspire with Joey Garcia - Say Yes (ep. 56)
This summer we're replaying some of our top episodes from season 3, episodes that offer inspirational ideas to help you get involved in making a difference in your community. This week we're revisiting an episode with Joey Garcia, ...
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Season 3
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Episode 78
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54:24
The Voices of Honoring Our Experience - Martina Clark
This is part 8 of a special series focusing on the community of Honoring Our Experience, and their work with long-term survivors of the HIV/AIDS virus.Today on the podcast we're revisiting a conversation from Season 2, with Mart...
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Season 3
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Episode 77
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1:00:43
The Voices of Honoring Our Experience - Greg Casillas
This is part 7 of a special series focusing on the community of Honoring Our Experience, and their work with long-term survivors of the HIV/AIDS virus.“I am an educator, listener, advocate, supporter and challenger,” reads Greg ...
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Season 3
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Episode 76
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1:01:40
