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Due to Stranger’s Kindness Daughter Sees Mom’s Wedding Ring 50 Yrs After Plane Crash

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parents-in-50s-WhartonFamilyPhoto-news7logo“To me, it’s my Christmas miracle,” Joyce Wharton told ABC-7. “I look at the ring, and I think about my mother. It’s like reaching back in time.”

Fifty five years ago, when Joyce was a young girl, she lost her parents after their small plane crash in a remote area of Washington state.

Suddenly, Joyce is reliving happy memories after recently receiving a wondrous gift from a stranger.

Logger Nick Buchanan had persisted for 20 years in his search to find the family who would cherish the wedding ring he found deep in the woods.

(WATCH the video below, or READ the story from 7online.com)

“Ugly Tree” Helps Pennsylvania Town Find True Meaning of Christmas

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charliebrown tree christmas-ReadingPA-MorningCall-FrankWarner

Rain delayed the dedication yesterday of the so-called “ugly” Christmas tree in a town square in Reading, Pennsylvania, but a single red ornament placed on its drooping branches made the spirit of the season shine extra brightly.

In late November, the city’s first-choice for a community tree was unobtainable because of soggy conditions that couldn’t support a truck. Their second choice proved controversial because of its spindly, unshapely appearance.

After an uproar of disapproval, workers removed the decorations and lights that had been erected, saving them for a replacement tree. But a stay of execution was granted when the town council voted to keep the 50-foot Norwegian pine and give it the “Charlie Brown treatment,” to remind people of the deeper meaning of the season as told in the beloved “Peanuts” holiday story.

“Nobody is perfect,” one town councilman said.

CHECK OUT: 14 Years After Receiving Shoebox Gift, Filipino Girl Marries Idaho Boy Who Sent it

 

Additionally, officials thought that keeping the tree might boost tourism in one of the country’s poorest cities because so many news reports had featured the “ugly tree”.

To placate the critics, money was donated to purchase a lush, shapely tree to be fully decorated and placed elsewhere in the town.

And, best of all, the Morning Call reports that, “like the famed cartoon tree, Reading’s evergreen will not remain forlorn for long.” A local minor-league hockey team and others have donated ornaments, and a local real estate agent has donated the use of a bucket truck to drape them on its highest branches.

Photo credit: Frank Warner of the Morning Call

With Teacher Who Believed in Him, Quadriplegic Teen Publishes Book

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Dominic Bergfield in wheelchair writes novel as quadriplegic

Macon High School senior Dominic Bergfield is like any other student, except that he is paralyzed from the neck down. He has always dreamed of being a writer and, thanks to a caring teacher who got him the technology he needed, that dream has been fulfilled.

With lots of persistence, William King, a business instructor at Macon Area Career Center, acquired the technology that enabled Dominic to write his novel.

It works with a small sensor placed on Bergfield’s nose. As he moves his head an infrared camera tracks and simulates his movement inside the computer, just like a mouse.

KTVO reports that Bergfield finished writing his first book, Earth, in a matter of months, and because of all his hard work and dedication, Mr. King decided to surprise Bergfield by getting it published.

“This paralyzed young man is tugging at all our hearts here with what he is accomplishing,” Donna Epperly, King’s wife, told the Good News Network.

Dominic believes his achievement can inspire others.

“I’m living proof that there’s no limitations. I’m a quadriplegic and I’m a published author, before I even graduate high school. So if I can do it, there’s not a single thing that you cannot do,” he told KTVO.

You can buy the book, Earth, about the trials of a young homeless man, at Amazon.com.

(WATCH the video below or READ the story from KTVO)

Trucker Tracks Down Owners of Christmas Present Fallen on Highway

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trucker George Haskett finds gift and owner-WTHRvid

A 5-year-old girl in North Carolina won’t be left out when her grandparents pass out presents this holiday season, thanks to a trucker in Indiana.

WTHR-TV reported, “Trucker George Haskett spotted what appeared to be a Christmas present in the median of a busy Indiana highway last weekend.”

So he took the time to park his truck, hop the medium strip and pick it up. It was a wrapped Christmas present reading “To Lexi, From Grandpa and Grandma.”

The trucker wanted to get the package back to the girl because it was something unique.

After the information was shared on Facebook more than 2000 times, the mystery was solved. Now Lexi will have something very special under her tree, thanks to the efforts of George and his wife, who made sure it spread on social media.

(WATCH the video below or READ the story from WTHR News-13)

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Rocker Jack White Rescues Music Archives of Paramount Importance

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paramount_volume2_Third Man Records

At the root and heart of so much great American music were the blues and jazz players that came out of the Mississippi Delta a century ago.

A young American rocker – Jack White, of White Stripes fame – has now stepped in to rescue a priceless blues archive from obscurity.

White’s record company has not only led a nostalgic and profitable return to making and buying vinyl LPs by new artists, it has also assembled and remastered hundreds of old recordings and collected and restored historical artwork from Paramount Records, a powerhouse in black music that closed its doors in 1932.

Oddly, Paramount, which recorded new talent such as Louis Armstrong and Jelly Roll Morton, was started by the white-owned Wisconsin Chair Company. The furniture maker sold wooden cabinets for phonographs and wanted to start a music label to help propel record sales. Their biggest selling recordings were “race records” that showcased unknown black musicians.

How did a Wisconsin chair company, producing records on the cheap and run by men with little knowledge of their audience or the music business, build one of the greatest musical rosters ever assembled under one roof? They hired Mayo Williams, an African-American Brown University graduate, to scour the South looking for talent.

Over the last three years, White’s team at Third Man Records has archived 1,800 recordings that represented 175 artists, and produced two stunning box sets to document the label’s ascent.

Paramount record Label blues 326px

The Rise & Fall of Paramount, Volume One (1917-27) chronicles Paramount’s improbable rise from also-ran to jazz-blues juggernaut, launching the recording careers of giants like Armstrong, Morton, Ethel Waters, Big Bill Broonzy, and Fats Waller. It includes six vinyl LPs, 800 digital tracks (on a USB drive shaped like a Victrola arm), and two books documenting it all with a discography and illustrated advertisements from the era.

The just released “Volume Two” (1928-32) also includes six vinyl records, an 800-song USB drive, and two beautiful books. Vol. One comes in a hand carved oak cabinet and Vol. Two is sold in a polished aluminum and stainless steel suitcase. Both sets are available on ThirdManRecords.com for $400 each.

(WATCH the video below or READ the story from CBS Sunday Morning *NOTE auto-playing video)

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November Posted Best US Jobs Numbers in Months, Wages Rising

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factory-workers-retraining-plant

“There have been anecdotal hints for months that employers are facing new pressure to raise workers’ wages as the job market has gotten tighter,” reports the NY Times. “And Friday’s report is the first piece of real evidence in the official government data that it’s happening.”

In November, employers added 321,000 new payroll jobs, and at higher hourly wages. And, September and October counts were revised upward to net 44,000 more positions.

This represents the best monthly result since January 2012. Weekly payrolls rose a whopping 0.9 percent in November, which is the kind of monthly swing that rarely happens.

(READ the story in the NY Times)

First Team to Ever Rescue a Whale Now Frees Species Worldwide 30 Years Later

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Humpback calf rescued-CSS:NOAA

On Thanksgiving Day 30 years ago, a whale in distress was freed from a heavy, dragging mass of fishing gear in the icy waters of Provincetown Harbor. Nicknamed Ibis, the humpback was rescued by Massachusetts researchers from the Center for Coastal Studies who became the first group to successfully disentangle a free-swimming whale.

That day in 1984 was the founding spark for what became the Marine Animal Entanglement Response team (MAER). Since Ibis, the team has freed more than 200 marine animals from life threatening entanglements, including seals and sea turtles, and have developed unique techniques and tools to do the job.

Because many of these animals are endangered species (especially the North Atlantic right whale, which numbers only about 500) the successful release of just one individual may have a profound effect on the recovery of the population as a whole.

After ten years MAER and CCS partnered with the National Marine Fisheries Service to form the Atlantic Large Whale Disentanglement Network, with trained and equipped responders located from the Bay of Fundy in Canada all the way down to Florida. They’ve also travelled overseas to train teams from Australia, Mexico, and South Africa, and hosted trainees from Argentina, Brazil, Canada, the Dominican Republic, Puerto Rico and Great Britain.

An ongoing study at the Center has analyzed the scars left on entangled humpback whales, and determined that an average of 12% of the population becomes entangled annually.

Humpback whale tail entangled-CCS:NOAA
Photos courtesy of CCS/NOAA

In a major new initiative the Center will collaborate with the International Whaling Commission to develop a worldwide network of professionally trained and equipped entanglement responders. According to the program’s coordinator David Mattila, “So far the program has reached more than 500 scientists, conservationist and government representatives from over 20 countries, and has been highly commended by countries and NGOs from all points of view about whales and conservation.”

The program will also ensure that disentanglement operations are conducted to the highest safety standards, minimizing risk of injury to both humans and animals.

While the rescue of individuals certainly aids species preservation and recovery, the best long-term solution to the marine animal entanglement problem is prevention. To that end, the Center continues to work with fisheries managers to explore technologies and techniques to reduce the frequency and impact of entanglement on marine animals.

If you see a live or dead marine animal entanglement off southern New England, please report to the MAER Hotline (1-800-900-3622) or hail the USCG on VHF 16.

Local Business Gives Free Roof to NC Grandmother Who Only Had $300

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roof construction free WGHPvideo

It’s a Christmas miracle come early for a North Carolina grandmother.

Barbara’s roof was leaking over her bed and throughout the house, so she went to see All About Roofing, located in Elon. With only $300 to pay, owner Jeremy Lee realized she needed help. That amount would not even begin to address the roof’s problems.

So he decided to give her a roof free of charge, reports WGHP News.

(WATCH the video below or READ it from WGHP Fox 8)

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Random Acts of Kindness Group: Uplifting Canadians for 7 Years

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kindess for elderly

kindess for elderly city Ed Yourdon

An 80-year-old great-grandmother was handed a $50 gift card by an anonymous youth in November, a random act of kindness by a group in Prince Edward Island that has worked quietly for seven years.

Marie Myers is a long-time member of the group in Canada. She says her son T.J. was “a young man who really understood the power of giving back, and when he died four years ago, Marie wanted to find a way for his spirit to live on.”

(READ the story from CBC News)

Photo by Ed Yourdon (CC)

A Jogger Saved Mike’s Life, Six Years Later… Repaid

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C&O canal jogger CC Zach Stern

In late 2008, a jogger saved Mike Wise’s life after he’d fallen through the ice on the C&O Canal while trying to save his dog.

Freezing and out of breath, Wise asked him his name and where he worked.

“Jason. Jason Coates,” he said. “I’m in law school at GW.” And he took off again — like some superhero who just shows up when people are in dire need.

Six years later, the sports columnist got to repay him.

(WATCH the video below, or READ the story in the Washington Post)

Photo of Canal by Zach Stern (CC) – Story tip from Michele

Beautiful Moment When ‘Santa Train’ Arrives in Appalachia

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Erin LaBelle
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Savannah Church excited to see AmyGrant-Erin LaBelle-Submitted
Last week the 72nd annual Santa Train made its annual trip through Appalachia giving out more than 15 tons of clothing, food, candy, wrapping paper, toys and gifts.

The Santa Train websitephotoSince 1943 The Santa Train has ushered in the holidays making 14 scheduled stops along its 110-mile route through poverty-laden areas of Kentucky, Virginia and Tennessee. This year, gifts and donations from individuals and companies across the U.S., including CSX, Dignity U Wear and Food City, made it all possible.

Singer Amy Grant was this year’s on board celebrity guest, and Erin LaBelle, a photojournalist from Kent, Ohio, captured a lovely moment when Grant ventured into the crowd to greet — and sing with — a young woman who has William’s Syndrome.

Savannah Church could not contain her excitement as Amy approached her at the Fremont, Virginia stop.

“Savannah caught my eye when I first arrived because she radiated such a strong positive energy,” LaBelle told the Good News Network. “As a photographer, I look for those who will react with emotion when the train arrives and they first see Santa.”

”I kept my eye on her and overheard Savannah whisper into a Santa Train volunteer’s ear to which he replied, ‘She’s coming to see you Savannah!'”

This image captured the moment Savannah is first able to see Amy climbing down off the Santa Train and walking in her direction.

“It was a truly beautiful thing to witness and speaks to the power celebrities have to bring joy and encourage others,” said LaBelle, who submitted her photo to be featured on the Good News Network.

Amy Grant with fan-ErinLaBelle-submitted

See more photos from Erin LaBelle (Photo of Santa by The Smile Train)

Trapped Cat Survives Month-long Journey in Family’s Moving Box

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MeeMeow-cat-survives-month-in-box-familyphoto

A family’s cat from Suffolk, Virginia survived a month-long trip across the country, without food or water, stuck inside a moving box.

When movers went to pack up the Barth family’s home in September, Mee Moowe went missing.

“I was really worried and starting to think the worst,” Barth told WAVY News. “Maybe she ran away, maybe the movers scared her and she decided it was too much noise and she took off.”

The family delayed their move to Hawaii, staying three more nights in their empty house, hoping Mee Moowe would show up. Eventually, they couldn’t wait any longer.

(WATCH the video or READ it from WAVY News10)

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Family Hears Son’s Heartbeat In Vietnam Veteran’s Chest

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organ donor Matt Heisler saves tom meeks-FB-familyphoto

Matthew Heisler, 21, a student at the University of North Dakota, died from complications following a house fire. But, Matthew had signed up to be organ donor when he was 16 years old by checking the box on the form for getting his driver’s license.

His father explained to the boy that ‘if life ever slipped away from him, he would give life to someone else’.

Meanwhile, Tom Meeks, a veteran of the Vietnam war, had been waiting nearly three years for a lifeline, after he was diagnosed with a rare and fatal heart disease, reports WFMY News.

Now, eight month’s after Matthew’s death, his parents and younger sister, Casey, got to listen to Matt’s heart beat inside of Tom’s chest.

(WATCH the video or READ it from WFMY News2 *NOTE auto-playing audio on that page)

By checking the box, Matt helped 59 other people, including a 46-year-old woman who received one of Matt’s kidneys and a 61-year-old man who was saved when he received the liver.

Make sure you are registered as an organ donor in the US, by signing up with your state here (below the map).

Story tip from Kelly Harrington – Photo via family and Facebook

Toilet-Trained Therapy Horse Entertains Seniors in Retirement Homes

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therapy horse entertains seniors-BBCvideo

A nine-year-old horse has become a surprise hit at care homes across England.

Rupert is a regular visitor to residential homes, where he entertains and interacts with aging residents.

Equine therapy has been shown to reduce stress and improve hand-eye coordination.

(WATCH this sweet BBC video via YouTube)

Drug Can Repair Spinal Cord Injuries, Study Shows

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nerve cells Case Western Medical School
(BBC) – A drug that can encourage nerves in the spinal cord to grow and repair injuries has been developed by scientists at Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine, in Ohio.

The study on rats, published in the journal Nature, showed some degree of movement and bladder control could be restored.

“It was amazing – the axons (part of the nerve) kept growing and growing,” said lead researcher Prof Jerry Silver.

(READ the full story from BBC)

Portland Couple Uses Their Super Car Collection For Good

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Dream Drives for Kids

Cobra. Lamborgini. Maclaren. Ferrari. Porsche.

Kids in Oregon who are battling life-threatening illnesses get to choose which supercar they get to spend the day in, thanks to a compassionate car collector in Portland.

Tech consultant Eric Peterson and his wife decided to use their multimillion dollar car collection to “do something nice.” They started Dream Drives for Kids in 2014 and are gearing up to make dreams come true for one sick child every week.

The kids not only get to pick their favorite from among ten sports cars and learn all about the fantastic features, their parents ride along in a follow-car during the 30 minute ride and take home a video and photographs to remember the day.

“Get ‘em out in a Lamborghini or a Ferrari,” Peterson told KPTV News. “Forget about hospitals, forget about doctors and just have a good time.”

CHECK OUT: 14 Years After Receiving Shoebox Gift, Filipino Girl Marries Idaho Boy Who Sent it

Other exotic car owners have already offered their own cars to help Dream Drives for Kids grow faster — and, the Petersons have grand plans to expand. Their vision includes guiding like-minded collectors around the country to set up their own local Dream Drives for Kids chapters.

As a bonus, each child takes home a collection of miniature Matchbox cars that have been donated by a young cancer patient who loves cars so much that he has been handing them out to other children each time he visits the hospital.

(WATCH the videos from KGW News and KPTV News, or READ the story in MotorAuthority.com)

 

Story tip – Joel Arellano; Photo via Dream Cars for Kids on Facebook

Hells Angels Buy Every Bike in Wal-Mart to Give Needy Kids a Happy Holiday

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Hells-Angels-buys-bikes-FresnoBeeYouTubevideo

The motorcycle group Hells Angels stood in line at the Fresno Walmart for a reported five days so they could buy up the entire stock of children’s bicycles that were on sale for Black Friday to give to a local charity.

200 bikes were purchased for delivery to the Povarello House for homeless and needy families.

A video posted online by the Fresno Bee shows the biker group loading up the bikes, which they bought to use in their 16th annual holiday toy drive.

SHARE with the Buttons Below – Image from Fresno Bee YouTube

What These Two Cops Did After 2-yo Calls 911 Has Everyone Smiling

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girl-is-thrilled-when-BoytonBeach-police-deliver christmas

 

Boynton Beach, Florida Police Officers Barry Ward & Terrence Paramore responded to a local apartment Saturday following a 911 hangup by a two-year-old who was playing with the phone.

The little girl and her sister were sad because they weren’t going to have a Christmas tree this year.

Seeing the sparse amount of furniture and talking to their mother outside made the officers realize that the family was struggling.

cops-deliver-ornaments-BoyntonBeach-Police-DeptThe officers left and made a plan to go to the store the next day.

“They did what makes them some of our finest,” reported the Boynton Beach Police Department on Facebook. “They surprised (the family) on Sunday by delivering a Christmas tree, stand, lights and ornaments!”

A body camera routinely worn by Officer Ward captured the entire scene, including the elation on the face of the 7-year-old girl who greeted them with a huge “Thank you!”

The two officers, who bought the items with their own money are “reflective of the selfless spirit of service in the hearts of the overwhelming majority of police personnel in this country,” said Boynton Beach Police Chief Katz commenting on the Facebook post. “It’s just rarely reported.”

WATCH the video, and continue reading below…

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Over three million people have viewed the video on Facebook, and many of them wanted to buy gifts for the girls. But it was lyricist and composer Daniel Herbert who first offered specific support, “Please send me a private message so that we can work together to put some presents from Santa under that tree.” The police department gratefully accepted his help and will coordinate his gift giving.

Amber Adkins of Cortez, Colorado was not surprised by the kindness of these men in blue: “My husband keeps a box of toys and children’s clothes and diapers and formula in the trunk of his patrol car and gives the stuff away when he comes across a family who needs it.”

Online Charitable Donations Surged on #GivingTuesday in US

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GivingTuesday2014 graphic Case Foundation

In just its third year, yesterday’s national day of giving — known as #GivingTuesday — inspired gifts to more than 15,000 nonprofits with nearly $40 million raised online in the US.

According to initial estimates tallied by the Indiana University Lilly Family School of Philanthropy, donations via five major donation processing platforms surged. Including offline donations, the tally reached $45.7 million as of noon Wednesday, December 3.

Giving results for #GivingTuesday 2014 are expected to grow substantially as offline donations continue to be processed. Online giving represents an estimated 6–10 percent of total annual giving.

Estimates from the 24-hour period that began at 12:00 a.m. on Tuesday December 2nd were tracked by the major donation processing platforms for nonprofits: Blackbaud, DonorPerfect, GlobalGiving, Network for Good and Razoo.

“Just as Cyber Monday and Black Friday are key indicators of consumer sentiment and economic health, this data can serve as an indicator of the health of our giving economy,” said Jean Case, co-founder and CEO of the Case Foundation, which supports the Indiana School. “We’re excited about what we saw yesterday, as millions of people came together to demonstrate the true spirit of the holidays and proving that, collectively, small gifts can have big results.”

Giving_Heart_logoThe 2014 initial results indicate that the amount raised during this year’s #GivingTuesday increased by at least 63 percent over the same period in 2013, with the average donation increasing by 6 percent.

“In just three short years, the number of people making contributions and the number and types of nonprofits of all sizes receiving those gifts has increased dramatically.” said Una Osili, director of research for the Lilly Family School of Philanthropy. “As tremendous as that amount is, though, #GivingTuesday is not just about the money that is raised, it is also about people and nonprofits engaging with each other to improve the world.”

#GivingTuesday is largely driven by social media and online giving campaigns, as demonstratied by the more than 698,000 tweets mentioning the hashtag, an increase of 159% percent over 2013.

It is estimated that 63 countries participated globally in the charitable giving this week.

Graphic courtesy of the Case Foundation

Hospitals Make 17% Fewer Mistakes, Saving Lives and Money

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hospital-smiling-patients-Flickr-sancho_panza-cc

A report released by the US Department of Health and Human Services this week shows an estimated 50,000 fewer patients died in hospitals and approximately $12 billion in health care costs were saved as a result of a reduction in hospital-acquired conditions over three years.

Some of the progress is due to provisions in the Affordable Care Act that offered Medicare payment incentives to improve the quality of care in hospitals. Also, HHS set a goal to improve patient safety in 2011 by launching the Partnership for Patients, which targeted specific conditions that are acquired through stays in hospitals.

Preliminary estimates show that in total, hospital patients experienced 1.3 million fewer hospital-acquired conditions from 2010 to 2013. This translates to a 17 percent decline over the three-year period, with the most significant gains occurring in 2012 and 2013.

“These data represent significant progress in improving the quality of care that patients receive while spending our health care dollars more wisely,” said HHS Secretary Sylvia M. Burwell. “HHS will work with partners across the country to continue to build on this progress.”

According to preliminary estimates, in 2013 alone, almost 35,000 fewer patients died in hospitals, and approximately 800,000 fewer incidents of harm occurred, saving approximately $8 billion.

Avoidable hospital-acquired conditions include adverse drug events, catheter-associated urinary tract infections, central line associated bloodstream infections, pressure ulcers, and surgical site infections, among others. HHS’ Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality has produced a variety of tools and resources to help hospitals and other providers prevent these conditions. To learn more, visit their website.

Photo by sancho panza on Flickr (CC) – Story Tip from Joel Arellano

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