. >> reporter: george mcdonald listened and started the doe fund in 1990. its mission: get homeless men off the streets of new york by providing housing, job training and jobs. and it works. graduates of the program are far less likely to find themselves back on the street. mcdonald runs doe much like a for-profit business, measuring program success along the way. there are 1.5 million registered 501(c)3 charities in the u.s., but finding those that have the biggest impact in the communities they serve isn't easy. large charitable foundations, much like institutional investors, do their own research, but its more challenging for individual donors. the global philanthropy network started the social impact exchange, a group made up of non-profit organizations and non-profit experts. they came up with something similar to a stock index called the s&i index, for "social" and "impact." only, instead of publicly traded stocks, it's made up of the top charities in the country with a proven track record. the doe fund is one of those. >> if we couldn't measure it, i

mcdonald's, a shocking close call. for a family that has already suffered way too much. in capital heights, scott broom, wusa9. >>> of the 6 student murders in prince george's county, four are considered unsolved, but still a mystery. the case of 17-year-old amber stanley killed in her home back in august, an 18-year-old aaron kidd dying in forestville back on tuesday as well. >>> sadly there is more tragedy to talk about in prince george's county. three people including two kids died in a house fire. now this one happened around 4:00 this morning on leslie avenue and glenn arden as our surae chinn joins us live now at the tragedy house. >> reporter: a family of six lived in that house just beyond the yellow tape. in just a few moments, in a short few minutes half of their family was wiped out. >> reports of four children trapped. >> reporter: firefighters arrived within five minutes, but even that was too late. >> our family is hurting. i just hope that everybody is okay. >> reporter: but it would not be okay. the family talks with wusa9 as they arrive add one of the most awful sites they could imagine. >> i already knew it was my niece's house, so we walk

mcdonald's and then became an owner. >> that's absolutely right. i own and operate eight franchises in prince george's county. of those restaurants is actually the restaurant i raised my family in. >> it is so great to meet you. thank you for the contribution that you made and -- let the celebration continue here at pat lawson muse. back to you, wendy and jim. >> barbara, thanks so much. between want to remind you of the developments on big bear in california at this hour. the former los angeles police officer who is on a killing rampage targeting cops is involved in a gun battle at this hour that's been going on for at least about a half an hour, 45 minutes. this all began today when two women were taken hostage in their cabin. one was able to escape and call police. a man matching christopher dorner's description stole the women's pickup truck and police caught up with him. that's when dorner got out, barricaded himself inside after cabin, during the gun battle, two officers were shot and injured. they have been flown to the hospital. we will bring you much more as it comes into news4. stay with us. >>> let

george's county. the victims, a mother and daughter. the suspect, a man with a long criminal record. chris gordon talked to a family member. >> craig mcdonald is coming to court looking for justice, the bodies of -- and her mother were found in the trunk of a burning car that had been stolen and left in the driveway of an empty house on webwood court in march of 2009. defendant jason scott is now on trial in the prince george's county circuit court charged with premeditated murder, burglars and use of a handgun. >> i haven't slept since my daughter has been murdered. i can't watch certain tv shows the it's just been a torture, a living hell. >>> and asked if they could set aside any they've heard in news reports. the jurors are not being told that scott is a suspected serial killer, not charged in three other murders, includes the january 2009 killing of another mother and daughter, 45-year-old karen lofton and her 16-year-old daughter carissa lofton found shot in their largo home on south hall drive just a mile away from the scene of the dewitt double murder. the jurors have also not been informed that jason scott was recently sentenced to