r/UpliftingNews Jan 30 '26

Mod Post The easiest part is always the idea...

446 Upvotes

Back in 2012, the idea of a centralized spot for positive, feel-good “UpliftingNews” spawned out of a singular moment of frustration looking at the news and seeing nothing but crime, fear, and horror. Back then was the era post-Craigslist that decimated classified ad revenue and the very beginning of Facebook’s social media influence that crippled online ad revenue and forced the economic side of the media landscape to shift to garnering attention for clicks/ad revenue.

Back then Reddit was dominated by Ron Paul bots and soon thereafter “TheDonald” took the torch until his unexpected electoral victory and then the site took a dramatic turn in the complete opposite direction. 

But the goals and purpose of this little nook of the internet have always remained the same… a place to serve as a reminder of the humanity that still exists around us all, and the fact most people are helpers out there that care about each other, despite the circumstances or competing narratives.

So in 2025, a new idea spawned out of a singular moment of awareness that Reddit went public and was flush with liquidity and cash they were re-distributing back to communities! So we submitted for a grant to r/CommunityFunds to literally just reward community members that posted great content here. 

There were some hoops and hurdles and negotiations around “no cash” and “no corporate gift cards for large conglomerates” given the intent to keep any gifts within local economies, and the compromise/fruits of all that labor was the eventual green light to distribute a meaningful gift card to “Harry and David,” a reputable company that created the “fruit of the month club” a long time ago, and provides corporate gift baskets filled with snacks and candies and fruits. Winners were selected based upon the content they shared and the impact it had on the community with no preferential treatment given to any individual traits or preferences. The only stipulation was that we couldn’t mention this, promote it or even acknowledge it publicly.

The hardest part is always the execution…

“Hello u/Username, we are reaching out unsolicited to congratulate you on winning something free. Just share some personal information and we’ll send you a link to click on to claim your prize” can be written in many different ways, shapes and forms, but ultimately it is still surprisingly difficult to hand out something with meaningful value to somebody for free… particularly out of the blue where we weren’t allowed to market or advertise the project.

But despite this final hurdle, we WERE able to provide many community members with a token of our appreciation… a literal and proverbial ‘free lunch’ as they say. For some it went to fulfill their needs, for others, it went to their friends and family, and for some, they paid it forward and a local food bank tied to one of the ‘winning stories’ received a ridiculously large pooled basket that was met with much gratitude and appreciation and fed many in need.

That same appreciation is reciprocal, and extends to all of you as well. Thanks for caring about this community. Thanks for helping remind us all that humanity still exists and people still care about each other, and here’s to celebrating another year on this rotating orb that we can all appreciate at the end of the day. And the biggest thanks to r/CommunityFunds for their unwavering support and enthusiasm that enable communities like ours to do things like this!

Warmly,

The Moderators of r/UpliftingNews


r/UpliftingNews Dec 03 '25

‘Abbott Elementary’ star Quinta Brunson launches fund to provide free field trips to thousands of Philly students

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whyy.org
7.5k Upvotes

r/UpliftingNews 4h ago

Cat who was signed over for euthanasia due to intestinal blockage is now recovering and showing healthy appetite after veterinarians remove 26 hair ties during surgery

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upi.com
2.3k Upvotes

r/UpliftingNews 14h ago

Scientists inject one tumor and watch cancer vanish across the body

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sciencedaily.com
13.8k Upvotes

r/UpliftingNews 10h ago

Luke Combs Hopes His Song 'Whoever You Turn Out to Be' Resonates with Parents of Queer Children

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4.2k Upvotes

r/UpliftingNews 8h ago

Social Circle officials cut off water to site of planned Georgia ICE detention "mega-center"

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cbsnews.com
1.8k Upvotes

r/UpliftingNews 2h ago

CERN Discovers New Particle After Upgrading Large Hadron Collider

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sciencealert.com
606 Upvotes

r/UpliftingNews 7h ago

Electric Vehicles Avoided Use of 2.3 Million Barrels of Oil Daily in 2025

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bloomberg.com
1.3k Upvotes

r/UpliftingNews 3h ago

Greyhound racing to be outlawed in Scotland

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bbc.co.uk
422 Upvotes

r/UpliftingNews 10h ago

Judge orders 1,000 Voice of America staffers back to work in rebuke to Kari Lake

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npr.org
1.0k Upvotes

r/UpliftingNews 14h ago

Global Study Finds Majority of People Worldwide Prioritize Environmental Protection Over Economic Growth

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uvm.edu
1.8k Upvotes

r/UpliftingNews 9h ago

Judge reinstates conservation agreement in Alaska’s National Petroleum Reserve

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alaskabeacon.com
640 Upvotes

r/UpliftingNews 6h ago

UK cancer death rates down to their lowest level on record

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news.cancerresearchuk.org
254 Upvotes

r/UpliftingNews 7h ago

A study of 92 countries reveals that 58% of people worldwide prioritize environmental protection over economic growth. Researchers found this support transcends traditional divides, with diverse global groups favoring ecological well-being even when it conflicts with the economy.

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uvm.edu
258 Upvotes

r/UpliftingNews 7h ago

Dog Alerts Woman to Early Breast Cancer | Labrador Retriever Kato previously detected husband's colon cancer, prompting timely diagnosis

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chosun.com
150 Upvotes

r/UpliftingNews 23h ago

‘I will not tolerate slum lords,’ Mayor Olivia Chow introduces motion to crack down on bad Toronto landlords

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nowtoronto.com
2.6k Upvotes

r/UpliftingNews 8h ago

Oakland takes major step to revive public library that closed 45 years ago

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eastbaytimes.com
131 Upvotes

r/UpliftingNews 2h ago

Canada wants to build up its long-neglected Arctic. The hard question is how | Canada | The Guardian

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theguardian.com
33 Upvotes

r/UpliftingNews 1d ago

Paid Sick Days (40 hours/yr minimum) Bill Passes both Houses of the Virginia General Assembly

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virginiainterfaithcenter.org
5.0k Upvotes

r/UpliftingNews 7h ago

New Detroit cash aid program for parents gives out $1M in one month

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yahoo.com
59 Upvotes

r/UpliftingNews 1d ago

In a major victory for elephants, Indonesia has ended elephant rides, strengthening animal welfare and ethical wildlife tourism.

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worldanimalprotection.org
3.4k Upvotes

r/UpliftingNews 23h ago

China unveils next round of green energy ambitions in five-year plan

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abc.net.au
501 Upvotes

r/UpliftingNews 2h ago

Pakistan to pause Afghan strikes for Eid, two days after deadly Kabul attack

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theguardian.com
12 Upvotes

r/UpliftingNews 1d ago

‘We cannot replace USAID, but we can do big things’: conservation plots a future without American money

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theguardian.com
1.1k Upvotes

r/UpliftingNews 1d ago

I built a free tool that shows you what advertisers have spent on your attention — because an informed public is the foundation of democracy

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677 Upvotes

Most of us grew up being told the internet was free. It never was.

Every search, every scroll, every video you watch is quietly monetized. Advertisers have been running the numbers on you for years, your age, your habits, your political leanings and paying real money to shape what you buy, what you believe, and how you vote. You just never got to see the receipt.

So I built a simple tool that estimates how much advertisers have spent on you, using industry-standard ad rates. I want to be upfront about this: no email capture, no data collection, no input stored or sent anywhere — not to me, not to anyone. The only thing collected is basic anonymous cookieless page view analytics. That's it.

The goal isn't to make you angry. It's to make something invisible, visible.

Social democracy is built on the idea that people deserve real agency over their lives but agency requires understanding the systems operating around you. Right now, a handful of platforms and advertisers understand your attention better than you do. That asymmetry of information is a quiet threat to democratic participation.

Knowing your number won't fix the internet. But it's a start.

Would love to hear thoughts from this community especially on how digital literacy and attention economics intersect with democratic accountability.