Maryland farmer John Helmstetter thought his life was ruined after a fire destroyed his barn and a third of his cattle. But he regained the “American Spirit” when his neighbors and local Amish banded together to help.
Hundreds of Amish men worked for three days to raise the building that provided John with his livlihood.
(Watch video, or at CBS News)
A 12 year-old girl who had beaten cancer when she was younger, annually designs holiday cards to help raise money for pediatric cancer research.
The card she created this year was given to the two men who haul trash, along with ten dollars.
On that day, the garbage truck pulled over to a stop, while the men inside talked about the girl whose name was listed on the back of the card, along with her picture.
Then, after a few minutes, they returned to the family home. They had something for her.
(Continue reading in the Orange County Register )
A man whose boat had capsized in 10-20 foot waves off the North Carolina coast in storm conditions, set about swimming in a last ditch effort to save himself. That’s when he bumped into one of several life boats that had been dropped upwind via parachute by a Coast Guard helicopter in hopes one might reach the man before divers from a Navy ship arrived.
The Missouri man, Dennis Clements, captain of the Gloria A Dios, was finally rescued by sailors from the aircraft carrier USS Dwight D. Eisenhower, who were called in to help when conditions were too severe for the Coast Guard.
Watch the video from WVEC below…
Watch an interview with Clements via the Coast Guard YouTube channel…
A beggar has never been given respect in society, but this one from Bihar has received plaudits and has emerged as a harbinger of hope for his dedication towards social service.
So far, he has conducted marriages of 78 destitute orphans, spending money that he collected during 25 years of begging. His achievement is all the more matchless because he is blind by birth.
His beautiful singing — in buses, trains, village squares and market places — earn alms in return, but unlike others who spend the money on themselves, Yakoub spends most of his alms restoring smiles on the faces of villagers.
(Continue reading in Gulf News)
A three-part series ends tonight on PBS that explores improving social relationships, learning to cope with depression and anxiety, and becoming more positive, resilient individuals.
Harvard psychologist and best-selling author of Stumbling on Happiness, Professor Daniel Gilbert hosts ‘This Emotional Life’ and talks with experts about the latest science on what makes us “tick” and how to find emotional support for the issues we face.
Each episode weaves together the compelling personal stories of ordinary people and the latest scientific research along with revealing comments from celebrities like Chevy Chase, Larry David, Alanis Morissette, Robert Kennedy, Jr., and Richard Gere. The show’s website also features resources for those interested in learning more: www.pbs.org/thisemotionallife.
Watch the preview below, and see some of the other series clips on YouTube.
Even as a teen while Kenneth lived in a homeless shelter on the destitute streets of Skid Row, he dreamed of attending Harvard to become a neurosurgeon.
When Nnamdi Asomugha, the Oakland Raiders’ All-Pro cornerback worth $45 million, saw Kenneth’s story on CNN, he wanted to help. He runs a foundation, the Asomugha College Tour for Scholars, that takes talented inner-city kids on tours of college campuses they otherwise would never be able to see. He’s helped get 25 teens into college over the last four years.
Kenneth, an honors student and president of his class, will be among the 16 students traveling in the spring to visit schools in Washington, D.C.
(Watch video below from CNN or read the story at CNN.com )
Nearly 60,000 books prized by historians, writers and genealogists, many too old and fragile to be safely handled, have been digitally scanned as part of the first-ever mass book-digitization project of the U.S. Library of Congress (LOC), the world’s largest library. Anyone who wants to learn about the early history of the United States, or track the history of their own families, can read and download these books for free.
“The Library chose books that people wanted, but that were too old and fragile to serve to readers. They won’t stand up to handling,” said Michael Handy, who co-managed the project, which is called Digitizing American Imprints.
“Many of these books cover a period of Western settlement of the United States — 1865–1922 — and offer historians a trove of information that’s otherwise tough to locate,” he said. Books published before 1923 are in the public domain in the United States because their U.S. copyrights have expired.
Nearly 60,000 books prized by historians, writers and genealogists, many too old and fragile to be safely handled, have been digitally scanned as part of the first-ever mass book-digitization project of the U.S. Library of Congress (LOC), the world’s largest library. Anyone who wants to learn about the early history of the United States, or track the history of their own families, can read and download these books for free.
“The Library chose books that people wanted, but that were too old and fragile to serve to readers. They won’t stand up to handling,” said Michael Handy, who co-managed the project, which is called Digitizing American Imprints.
“Many of these books cover a period of Western settlement of the United States — 1865–1922 — and offer historians a trove of information that’s otherwise tough to locate,” he said. Books published before 1923 are in the public domain in the United States because their U.S. copyrights have expired.
Americans are helping to keep kids warm in spite of the recent Arctic blast through Operation Warm, a charity that provides brand new coats to children from disadvantaged families. Founded by Pennsylvania Rotary Club member Richard Sanford, Operation Warm has provided more than a half million coats to children in 26 states since 1998.
12 years ago, Sanford read a local newspaper article about children suffering in cold weather while waiting for their school bus because they lacked winter coats. Angered but also inspired, he decided to take action, launching Operation Warm, to work with manufacturers to provide high-quality unused coats to kids in need.
“I couldn’t understand how something like this could happen. It broke my heart to see kids freeze because they didn’t have warm-enough coats,” recalls Sanford, the organization’s CEO and chair.
The Longwood, Pa, man’s first project in 1998 was to purchase 58 coats with his own money from a department store. He and members of his Rotary club distributed the coats to children in a low-income Philadelphia neighborhood.
Since then, Rotary has continued to play a crucial role in expanding fundraising and distribution for more coats, says Sanford. About 60 clubs in the United States have worked directly with Operation Warm, providing more than 25,000 new coats to children.
Kim Fremont Fortunato, president of the organization and a member of the Rotary Club of Wilmington, Delaware, says the quality of the coats is a key difference between Operation Warm and many other coat drives. “Most of the children we help have never owned a new coat,” says Fortunato. “We believe it improves their self-esteem. But most important, the coats we distribute will keep kids warm.”
Sanford says the organization has found many willing partners because people can relate to the children’s plight. “All around us there are poor children in this country who need assistance,” he says. “It’s our responsibility to help those who can’t help themselves. Seeing the kids’ smiles and excitement when they put on their new coats is an incredible experience. This is an enormously powerful project.”
Panasonic and LG Electronics, two of the top television makers, are integrating the free online calling service Skype into their new high-definition televisions.
People who buy the TVs, along with Web camera and microphone accessory designed for the living room, can sit on their couch and talk to their family and friends — and watch them as they chat — from around the world for free.
(Read more in the NY Times)
Chicago’s first lady, Maggie Daley, created an after school program two decades ago that serves 25,000 kids, enrolling them in programs of art, dance, sports, science and video to keep them out of trouble and learning.
The non-profit program, After School Matters, even gives them training and jobs to teach other kids in the after school programs.
Watch the Making a Difference report below, or at MSNBC…
To mark International Human Rights Day last Thursday, a nationally touring photography exhibit was unveiled at the World Bank in Washington DC that depicts a nonprofit organization working to end exploitative child labor in South Asia’s handmade carpet industry.
Faces of Freedom tells the success stories of children who have been helped by organization that launched a certification campaign assuring buyers and importers that no child labor was used in the manufacture of a carpet or rug.
The GoodWeave certification program is a market-based solution for factories that want the advantage of being certified child-labor-free in a marketplace where importers increasingly demand corporate responsibility. RugMark USA, the nonprofit that launched the GoodWeave program also provides rehabilitation and education for former child weavers.
A man sees a 75-year-old man stuck on railroad tracks and pulls him to safety. An off-duty emergency worker pulls a woman from a van after it crashes into an icy pond. An NBA star saves a woman from drowning.
These are examples of everyday people who, when confronted with a life-or-death situation, jumped in to do what they could — and became rescuers and heroes.
Read the CNN collection of heroic acts from 2009.
The daughter of a 65-year-old Newark man used Twitter to directly ask Mayor Cory Booker to help shovel her dad’s driveway on New Years Eve.
Within five minutes Booker messaged her back, writing, “I will do it myself where does he live?”
With over 1 million followers, Booker is one of the most active and followed politicians on Twitter, the popular social networking micro blog.
“Please don’t worry bout ur dad,” Booker tweeted later. “Just talked 2 him & I’ll get 2 his Driveway by noon. I’ve got salt, shovels & great volunteers.”
(Read more at CNN Politics page)
A retriever protected 11-year-old Austin from a charging cougar during a bloody, against-all-odds confrontation Saturday in Canada.
“The cougar came (from) about five feet away and made a big jump (at Austin),” Forman said Sunday in an interview.
“Angel jumped in between and took on the cougar.” The dog was injured, but is expected to recover.
(Read more in the Toronto Star)
Also, watch this morning’s Today Show report below, or at MSNBC …
Since 2005, there has not been a single day that good news was not been hunted and published here — until last week.
Far away in the cold, on a holiday with family, during which I normally would be working and adding stories to the website daily, a server issue arose which prevented me from any access to the Good News Network.
I am traveling home today, and with the successful posting of this notice, believe the situation has been resolved… (Or, it will remain a mystery why, every time I tried to access my websites, they were unloadable in a browser.)
Since I’ll be driving a car, I can’t post today. I’ll be back online tomorrow, and please forgive the lapse in good news! (Appreciate it in its absence, all the more.
In Toronto, a young man had dinner and came out for a smoke at about 6:45 p.m. on Friday. He was about to light up his cigarette when he saw flames in an open garage across the street. As he raced over, he called 9-1-1 and then started banging on his neighbor’s door. He had spotted at least three propane tanks in the garage and was terrified they would explode — which they did…
Read the rest of the story at The Toronto Star.com
Those eating lunch at a soup kitchen in Manhattan got a taste of the luxury life, thanks to a gift of caviar from an anonymous donor.
Though the $1,100 value of the caviar could have covered more meals for the needy, it was the experience that was priceless.
An eight-year-old living with her mom in a domestic violence shelter said, “I felt like a princess.”
(Continue reading AP story at CBS)
In the last 20 years, the number of people aged 18 to 24 in college has increased fairly dramatically, especially the number attending two-year colleges.
Click to see an infographic on the rise of higher education in America.
If the sky is clear where you are tonight may we suggest stepping outside and looking up? There will be a fairly rare “blue moon” above.
And, though the moon won’t be blue, the last time we saw an “extra” full moon appearing on New Year’s Eve was in 1990, and it won’t happen again until 2028.
(Continue reading in NPR and National Geographic)
Photo by Luc Viatour, www.lucnix.be
