Feel inspired to follow Jemma’s example of showing someone you care with a simple and comforting cookie? This easy to follow recipe is a favorite and makes an amazing chocolate chip cookie!

INGREDIENTS
* 1 cup butter, softened
* 1 cup white sugar
* 1 cup packed brown sugar
* 2 eggs
* 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
* 3 cups all-purpose flour
* 1 teaspoon baking soda
* 2 teaspoons hot water
* 1/2 teaspoon salt
* 2 cups semisweet chocolate chips
* 1 cup chopped walnuts

DIRECTIONS
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
2. Cream together the butter, white sugar, and brown sugar until smooth. Beat in the eggs one at a time, then stir in the vanilla. Dissolve baking soda in hot water. Add to batter along with salt. Stir in flour, chocolate chips, and nuts. Drop by large spoonfuls onto ungreased pans.
3. Bake for about 10 minutes in the preheated oven, or until edges are nicely browned.

I’d like to introduce you to Orren Fox, a twelve year old raising a flock of 30 chickens and working to raise $500. for Heifer International, a non-profit charitable organization dedicated to the simple idea of giving families a source of food rather than short-term relief. Since 1944, Heifer has helped 8.5 million people in more than 125 countries.

Heifer helps many hungry families with a starter flock of 10 to 50 chicks.
A good hen can lay up to 200 eggs a year – plenty to eat, share or sell. With Heifer recipients’ commitment to pass on the offspring and training, the exponential impact of adding chickens to communities in poverty is truly a model that helps end hunger and poverty.

Orren traveled with his family to Africa and knows the impact this will have on kids his age. Dedicated to ethical eating, he’s designed a T-shirt that reads “Free Range Kid” and has been selling them at the local Farmers Market in Newburyport MA. Learn more about this kid hero on his blog or follow him on Twitter!

Want to know where all the amazing kids hang out? Apparently they’re online, writing for a great web magazine aptly called Amazing Kids! Kids, 17 and under, from around the globe contribute original stories, poetry, recipes, reviews and jokes. The also showcase an Amazing Kid of the Month, inspiring kids who are accomplishing amazing things. It’s a great read for you and your family.

“Amazing Kids! was founded to bring out the “Amazing-ness” in children, nurturing their unique talents by including access to a mentor, and inspiring them to pursue excellence in everything they do.”

Estabilshed in 1998, Amazing Kids! is also a not-foriprofit, charitable organization and currently they’re celebrating their 31st issue with the theme “To Space and Beyond!” Read an interview with astronaut, inventor and mom Ellen Ochoa, a feature on the history of the ‘Space Race’ and a fun ‘interview’ with the Hubble Space Telescope. See the current issue of Amazing Kids! here. And in honor of their current theme, I’m sharing some spectacular images captured by the Hubble – see more here!

Tyler Page is a kid and a real world hero! When Tyler was nine years old he saw a television story on child trafficking in Ghana, Africa. The children featured in the story were being sold into slavery by their own parents and forced into a life of hard labor. Moved by their plight and the mission of an organization working to address this injustice, Tyler decided to organize a fund raising event. Along with 30 other kids he held a car wash in the hops of raising $240., enough to sponsor one child through the International Organization for Migration. By the end of the day Tyler and his friends has raised nearly $1,200.

Encouraged by their success, Tyler and his mom Linda formed a non-profit organization called Kids Helping Kids Leadership Academy, Inc. They’re working towards a goal of $1,000,000. and in the process are helping kids across the country build leadership skills by fund raising for kids across the globe. Read about the many projects now underway and the inspiring real world heroes who are spearheading them.

“Our services are structured around our belief that
great leaps in learning can happen with one-on-one attention and that
strong writing skills are fundamental to future success.”

One of the ways the individual chapters financially sustain themselves is with a unique retail storefront and corresponding online shop. Hands down they are some of the most imaginative and creatively executed fundraising ventures I have ever seen. My current favorite and one perfect to share with Little Hero readers is the Brooklyn Superhero Supply Co. which supports 826 NYC in Brooklyn, New York.

Now it goes without saying that Little Hero Capes and gear are hands down the finest available to any junior caped crusader, but what if you need, say, a jug of Antigravity or an all-purpose compact transmogrifying Matter Transformer? This is where BSSCo steps in.

All manner of canned and bottled superhero attributes are available. And for perfect accompaniments to your Little Hero Cape, you might consider a flight tilt indicator, tights or boots (seen below). Where else can you support an amazing non-profit and buy an invisible plane? I ask you.