I haven’t read Newsweek for a LONG time. I used to read it all the time when I was younger at my parents’ office. But since I wasn’t living at home any more, I stopped reading it. It’s one of those magazines that I do like to read because it’s short, simple, straight to the point and they don’t have long and complicated articles which lose my interest after the first paragraph. Plus I love their comic page.

Anyway–it was sitting on the table at my parents’ house and the title caught my eye: “The Giving Back Awards.”

I thought, “Ohh, so it’s mostly about people who can afford to give back to the world.”

But as I read about the 15 people who were recognized by Newsweek, I realized that not all of these people have money. They used their brains and shared what they could share to give back to the people who needed it the most.

I noticed that Brad Pitt was on the cover, standing in front of the other people. What bothered me is why would they choose him to be prominent instead of equal with the other people. But then it occurred to me: Newsweek would be more likely to sell more copies of their magazine if they made Brad Pitt the cover boy. Now with me, that wouldn’t have worked, but it makes perfect sense.

So then I read why they chose Brad Pitt as one of the 15 people that they wanted to recognize. Pitt had said that instead of constantly trying to outrun the paparazzi, why not use it to show the world what we don’t see? So they decided to let the paparazzi follow them to Africa where the world’s attention was really needed. And you know what, it worked. And his defense for selling rights of the photos of his daughter to People magazine? Sure, he could’ve profited from all that money, but he knew he could do good by just taking the money and donating it all to African charities. He used that to do some good. I commend him for that. It just gave him back control of his own life instead of letting paparazzi ruin his life.

Soledad O’Brien–I know of her name; she’s a reporter on CNN. But I couldn’t imagine what she could’ve done to help people. But she did something that didn’t require money. She just took her voice and used it to get people to realize what was going on in New Orleans. She saw so many heartbreaking things that happened that she just used what she had to get people to realize what was really happening. And she even called out on the FEMA director by saying “How is it possible that we have better intel than you?” Love it. She didn’t have to use money–instead, she used her position as a reporter to wake everyone else up.

How many of you love shopping at Target?! I definitely do. It’s fun to shop there. Their ads are awesome and their prices aren’t outrageous. I don’t feel like I’m shopping in the slums. But one thing I never realized ’til I read this article about Target was that there’s a reason behind Target having their own credit card. In their pretax profits, Target donates 5% of their profits, which averages out to $2 million per week. But the buck doesn’t stop there. Target does a lot more…

Want to read more about the people who give back to the people who need just a little bit of help? Check out newsweek.com for more information.