It's a holiday here in the United States today--Presidents' Day, when we commemorate a few of our visionary leaders from the past. In that same spirit, I've compiled a heaping handful of crowdsourced projects I've come across this month that represent the same kind of progressive, forward thinking. Just like George Washington and Abraham Lincoln, and at the risk of some hyperbole, these efforts all have one thing in common--a belief in a different and better way to do things.

Sickweather

Now in beta, this site is the kind of public health application Crowdsourcing has obviously been destined for for a few years now. This social network for health keeps track of where all kinds of coughs, colds and other crud are spreading, as well as providing mapping and forecasting for illness. If we ever saw major adoption of a model like this, the implications for how we prevent illness could be huge.

Flightfox

Australian FlightFox has taken a brilliant approach to sourcing the time-sucking task of finding the best price for flights. The site uses a contest model to incentivize the crowds to help seek out the best deal for your next international or multi-city flight. Offer a reward of around 30 bucks for the best fare and you can save upwards of 300 in many cases, the company claims.

BuyDarlo

We've seen myriad Crowdfunding campaigns for just about everything, but one of the most spirited of late has can be found at BuyDarlo.org, which launched recently with the sole goal of raising cash from fans and supporters of the Darlington football club to keep the financially-troubled team from being liquidated. With more than two months left on its Crowdcube campaign, Darlo is already more than a quarter of the way to salvation!

Fighting Parkinson's Disease

When it comes to curing diseases like Parkinson's the more DNA samples scientists can get their hands on, the better. 23andme.com is a project of the National Parkinson Foundation, The Parkinson's Institute and the Michael J. Fox Foundation looking for DNA samples (in the form of spit) and survey answers from thousands of sufferers of the disease in an effort to greatly expand research.

Kensington Renewal Project

Recently covered in Fast Company, the KRP is an urban renewal project currently using HelpersUnite to raise $10,000, which will then be used to purchase an abandoned piece of property in a Philadelphia neighborhood, rehabilitate it and sell it to a long-term renter in the area. Check it out in the pitch video below.

Kensington Renewal Promo from Jamie Moffett on Vimeo.