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)
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
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.
Since 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.”
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.
See more photos from Erin LaBelle (Photo of Santa by The Smile Train)
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)
SHARE the Story with Animal Loving Friends Below…
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
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)
(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)
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.”
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
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
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.
The 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…
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.”
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.
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.”
The 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
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.
“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
Saturday night in a tiny town in Central Vermont, hundreds of children and artists of all ages will be aglow in a beautiful December ritual, The River of Light Lantern Parade.
Every year at the beginning of December when the nights begin to darken and the cold sets in, the people of Waterbury, Vermont carry illuminated hand-made lanterns in a magical procession through town.
In the weeks before the parade, artists conduct free community lantern workshops in schools and elsewhere that teach anyone how to make willow and coffee-filter paper lantern structures. There is also a special 2-day intensive Artists’ Lantern Workshop to instruct regional artists how to teach lantern-making in their own communities and make the larger structures, such as full length dragons, to spearhead a procession.
“It is really empowering for children to celebrate alongside elders, artists, college students and community members,” said visual artist and co-organizer Gowri Savoor.
Her co-organizers include another artist, Angelo Arnold, and a school art-teacher, MK Monley. Volunteers help to make the parade a success. Battery operated LED lights are sold in the school gym, if you don’t have your own illumination, and they are giving away free batteries to power older lamps. Students from Norwich University and the Harwood Union High School help the younger children with their lanterns, distribute free hot chocolate, and control the fires during the finale.
“It is an emotional, visceral and totally memorable event, open to all, and a wonderful example of community engagement through the arts,” added Savoor.
The event this year is scheduled for December 6, 2014, with the theme “Our Town: Faces, Places and Buildings from your Home-town.” The parade leaves Thatcher Brook Primary School at 5 pm.
Learn more at aRiverOfLightInWaterbury or watch their 8 minute video produced in 2012.
If you have been on social media, or seen any talk about American current events you know there have been protests against the outcome in the Ferguson case, with the jury deciding not to prosecute the policeman who killed a black teen. But did you see the iconic photograph taken by a Portland freelancer that symbolizes everything that is still good in this country? The two people who were captured in that moment (see the photo below) have been showered with well-deserved media attention and praise.
Devonte Hart, an African-American boy who survived an urban childhood that no one should have to bear, was rescued (along with his siblings), adopted and raised by a compassionate caucasian couple who helped him turn his life around. The 12-year-old and his mom on Nov. 25 attended a protest rally in Portland shortly after the verdict was announced. Devonte planned to engage the crowd with favorite pastime, carrying a sign and offering FREE HUGS.
“We hit the streets (Nov. 25) with the intention of spreading love and kindness, and to remind (ALL) people that they matter in this world. … I noticed Devonte was struggling. Tears. He wouldn’t speak. He was inconsolable. My son has a heart of a gold, compassion beyond anything I’ve ever experienced, yet struggles with living fearlessly when it comes to the police and people that don’t understand the complexity of racism that is prevalent in our society.”
“He trembled holding a Free Hugs sign as he bravely stood alone in front of the police barricade. Tears rushing from his eyes and soaking his sweater, he gazed upon them not knowing how they would react. After a while, one of the officers approached him and extended his hand.”
“There were generic questions about his favorite subject and what he liked to do in the summer, but the one that mattered hit straight to the heart. He asked Devonte why he was crying. His response about his concerns regarding the level of police brutality towards young black kids was met with an unexpected and seemingly authentic (to Devonte), ‘Yes. *sigh* I know. I’m sorry. I’m sorry.'”
The officer, later identified as Sgt. Bret Barnumthen, then pointed to the sign and asked, “Do I get one of those?”
The story behind the hug: @PortlandPolice and 12-year-old boy. http://t.co/iVUDq5qkFz #ferguson pic.twitter.com/XWk4WuZuVm
— The Oregonian (@Oregonian) November 28, 2014Freelance photographer Johnny Nguyen captured the moving moment, which was published by The Oregonian newspaper.
(READ more of Devonte’s life story, before the photograph, in a New Zealand article from Nov. 10)
The YouTube channel, Prank It Forward, visited Cleveland, Ohio to give a hardworking housekeeper a life-changing surprise.
Cara Simmons is a single mother of three working so hard cleaning houses that she never has a day off.
Her devotion to her job and family has landed her in the hospital multiple times for exhaustion.
“We think it’s time she had a Break,” said host Greg Benson. “This family’s life is about to change.”
Cara thinks she is just going to clean a new house, but after a massage and a gourmet meal, she discovers the real reason she is there.
“The media is full of military men and women surprising their families upon their return from deployment, but it is very rare to see a military member get surprised by their loved ones,” wrote Sara Taylor.
Her husband, Gunnery Sgt. Chris Taylor led one of the last groups of US Marines as they arrived home from Afghanistan after a year-long deployment. Because he is stationed in California and his wife and kids live in Maryland, he didn’t expect that anyone would be there for his homecoming.
“But I showed him!” wrote Sarah, describing the YouTube video she posted in November showing their emotional reunion. “I made sure I arrived there in time to see his arrival.”
SHARE the Love Below…
A Las Vegas man, who calls himself “not much of a gambler”, decided to play a Megabucks slot machine while his best friend was in town visiting.
He walked out of the Rampart Casino a $14 million winner and said he would give the money to his church for a new building.
The anonymous man, who posed for this photo, told the casino’s manager that his church had been holding services in a high school gymnasium.
Lucky local won $14 Million #jackpot on #MegaBucks today. #Summerlin'sHomeforJackpots #LasVegas pic.twitter.com/93HvqrtuHP
— Rampart Casino (@RampartCasino) December 1, 2014(READ the story in the Las Vegas Sun)
Two years ago a young Singapore woman started her first Zumba Gold class for seniors who never exercised.
The class was so well received that she expanded the free fitness program and has attracted volunteers to conduct them at senior centers across Singapore.
“We show them that they can have fun and joy while keeping fit. And I believe the love, care and concern shown to them has contributed to their self-confidence.”
Last week they celebrated Grandparent’s Day with about 40 elderly folks eager for fun.
The video below was entered into a story competition put on by the Singapore nonprofit, Our Better World.
SHARE the Zumba Moves Below…
When an assisted living home for the elderly in California shut down last fall, many of its residents were left behind, with nowhere to go.
Maurice Rowland, the cook, and Miguel Alvarez, the janitor, who were working there, stayed to take care of them. The pair quickly became round-the-clock caretakers.
“My parents, when they were younger, they left me abandoned,” he said. “Knowing how they are going to feel, I didn’t want them to go through that.”
(LISTEN to their tale or READ the article from NPR)
Story tip – Althea Gonzalez and Barb Chap
Inside the Judson Manor retirement community in Cleveland, Ohio, they have about 100 senior residents.
They also host several college students who live in apartments there. All are studying at the Cleveland Institute of Music, and were offered free rent in exchange for monthly performances.
It seemed like a common sense plan to bring music to the elderly, but it turned out to be much more than that.
Not only did the young people inject life into the community, but they also developed close friendships and discovered that they, themselves, are benefiting most from the innovative exchange program.
(WATCH the video below or READ the story at CBS *NOTE Auto-playing video)