On Saturday, musical idol Jon Bon Jovi shocked a bride on her wedding day by showing up at a chapel in Las Vegas to walk her down the aisle.
She scheduled her wedding to occur at the same time as Bon Jovi’s tour stopped in Vegas and the same place, the Graceland Wedding Chapel, where the singer himself got married in 1989.
A retired 65-year-old businessman set his mind on trying to invent something useful. He did just that after a “Eureka” moment on the highway inspired a solution to the problem of deadly runaway truck tires.
“What he came up with was the Zafety Lug Lock,” reports Macleans in Canada. “A small piece of plastic links two bolts on a truck’s wheels, effectively freezing them in place.”
Four years later, nearly one million of Jaime Hogge’s two-dollar plastic locks are on the road.
This year, the Zafety Lug Lock won Canada’s most prestigious innovation award, the Ernest C. Manning Innovation Award.
(READ the story, w/ Jamie’s photo, at Macleans)
Cancer is an illness that takes a lot of work to overcome. Once you are diagnosed, not only do you have to worry about your health, but also paying for deductibles, co-pays and expensive medical care.
“Thankfully, there are generous people and organizations whose mission it is to make the journey a little easier,” says Bethany Kandel, founder of BreastCancerFreebies.com.
Mama Jade, a terribly abused Pit Bull with breast cancer from Tennessee, got another chance at life after a posting about her plight went viral.
These days, dog owners frequently turn to Craigslist to ask for help locating missing dogs. But when a severely abused Pit Bull showed up on Christianna Willis’ doorstep, she turned to the site to say she’d found the dog — and there was no way she was giving her back.
Willis, who works at an animal hospital, said she immediately noticed Mama Jade’s injuries, including bite marks and scars. She also had no teeth and showed signs of “relentless” breeding. She stayed up with the dog for much of the night, trying to comfort her. Then Willis took the pooch to work with her, where the other employees at PetMed fell in love with her. Sadly, though, they also discovered that Mama Jade was suffering from breast cancer, and Willis didn’t have the funding to have her treated.
She was so upset that last week she decided to write a Craiglist post to Mama Jade’s former owner titled “Your pitbull found me and I’m not giving her back.”
In the post, which is no longer available on the site, Willis detailed Mama Jade’s condition and what she’d done to help her.
“Over the last 3 days, our staff has grown to love this beautiful and broken soul,” Willis wrote. “Skin and bones, we feed her constantly but only foods that are soft enough for her.”
Willis said she was planning to be there to comfort Mama Jade as she was put down the next day — but something happened. The Craigslist ad went viral, and emails from people and charities all over the country poured in, many of them offering to help pay for cancer treatment or hospice care.
“The response has been overwhelming and has restored a lot of my faith in humanity,” Willis wrote in an update to the ad. “One thing is for certain … Mama Jade is getting yet another chance at life.”
In an update on Mama Jade’s Facebook page on Tuesday, Willis said that the dog needs a double mastectomy, which has an increased risk because she tested positive for the beginning stages of heartworm.
Willis, who says she’s “fallen completely in love with this pup,” is working with Music City Mutts, a rescue group, to raise money for Mama Jade’s testing and treatment. They’ve raised $23,700 so far.
Written and originally published by Vetstreet.com, a pet website written by top veterinarians, pet health experts and professional journalists dedicated to giving you the most accurate information possible, so you can keep your dogs and cats healthy. The key is a well-informed owner and an expert veterinary care team.
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— Hero Dog Alerts Parent Babysitter
There are new bleachers at a baseball park in Glendale, Wisconsin, and a 12-year-old boy is responsible. It’s a project that’s helping the inspiring young man make history.
James Hightower III joined The Boy Scouts when he was eight years old and it only took four years to become the youngest African-American Eagle Scout in the country — an accomplishment that only 7% of Boy Scouts achieve.
At 12, he earned the rank five years sooner than the average Eagle Scout, and he completed more than double the number of merit badges required.
READ the story from WTMJ-TV
Tons of ugly manmade plastic trash wash up on Alaska’s remote beaches every year.
Marine biologists and artists partnered recently on a one-week expedition to catalog the contents, collect some of it and make that trash into beautiful art.
An exhibit of the results, which includes an incredible montage of hundreds of colored flip-flop sandals, will be curated by the Anchorage Museum.
(READ the full story from Fast Coexist.com)
Christi Smith saved a pit bull pup from certain death at the hands of Animal Control. Four days later, the dog repaid her by saving her son’s life.
The rambunctious dog was hours away from being euthanized, but Christi had her doubts about adopting this untrained 9-month-old mixed breed. She ultimately decided to foster the dog, changed his name from “Gator”, and tried to housebreak it while finding someone else to adopt it. Her misgivings completely evaporated on the fourth day.
“I put my son to bed at about 8:30 in the evening,” Smith says. “He woke up between 12 and 1:30 to ask for something to drink. He was acting weird — really out of it. I chalked it up to being deliriously tired. I wasn’t too concerned.”
TatorTot was concerned, though.
When Roberta Morgan read a story from New York state about a full-time worker who still needs food stamps to feed her family, she wanted to help.
The mom decided to send a gift card so the woman could buy extra groceries for herself and her 3-year-old daughter Essence.
Morgan told her 7-year-old daughter that this family usually didn’t have any extra money to buy ice cream.
“She actually gasped, then asked me if we could bring them some food,” Morgan said.
“Here is 10$ from me,” wrote the girl in a note to Essence, after cleaning out her piggybank savings.
(READ the story from Syracuse.com)
Toronto firefighters stepped in to help Italian newlyweds make their flight after an overhead sign on the Gardiner Expressway came crashing down on their rental car.
Two of the firefighters at the accident scene just happen to speak Italian and heard the couple talking about how they were going to miss the next flight on their honeymoon, scheduled to depart soon for Hawaii.
“Il tuo giorno fortunato,” said the hero firefighters, who whisked the couple away in their truck. “It’s your lucky day!”
(WATCH the video below from City News.ca)
Actor Sean Penn’s organization J/P Haitian Relief Organization continues rebuilding Haiti with medical, structural and community development programs. But now, he bolsters the hearts and dreams of some athletes there, sponsoring ten elite runners from to participate in the New York City Marathon November 3.
“It’s rewarding,” Penn told the Associated Press. “I just came back from Port-au-Prince, where I visited our Haitian marathon runners, and to see that great discipline that Haitians have and that great spirit and the excitement that they have visiting New York for the first time.” (Watch the video below)
In the first Thor movie, Natalie Portman portrays an astrophysicist, which is not a stretch considering her real life background at Harvard and at her high school in Long Island, where she co-authored two research papers that were published in scientific journals.
Now she has teamed up with Marvel to offer a mentorship/contest program for girls to study math and science with professional scientists in their communities.
Each pair will create a video documenting their experiences and the winners will be invited to LA where their films will be screened at the premiere of Marvel’s Thor: The Dark World on opening day.
(READ the story from SLATE)
An announcement this week confirmed China as a world leader in creating life-saving, inexpensive vaccines for the world. A Chinese manufacturer earned the World Health Organization’s stamp of approval for its production of the first practical vaccine for use in the developing world against Japanese encephalitis, a disease spread by mosquitoes that kills15,000 children every year and leaves tens of thousands more with permanent brain damage and paralysis.
For years, the only available vaccine against the disease was too impractical to use in poor countries, as well as too expensive—on the order of $250 or more per dose.
They clean up rivers, build homes for disabled veterans and bring health care to some of the darkest parts of the world. They help children who are fighting cancer, living in poverty and a lack of opportunity — the top 10 CNN Heroes of 2013.
For their extraordinary efforts to change the world, each of these everyday people will receive $50,000 on “CNN Heroes: An All-Star Tribute,” a globally broadcast event that airs December 1.
One of the top 10 will receive an additional $250,000 for their cause if the public chooses them as the CNN Hero of the Year.
You can vote for your favorite Hero now at CNNHeroes.com. The winner will be revealed during the televised tribute hosted by Anderson Cooper.
This is the seventh year CNN has conducted its annual search for CNN top hero. In those years, the campaign has profiled more than 200 people on CNN and CNN.com.
Dale Beatty – After Dale Beatty lost his legs in the Iraq war, his community thanked him for his service by helping him build a home. To pay it forward, Beatty co-founded Purple Heart Homes, which has helped build or modify homes for dozens of disabled U.S. veterans (pictured above). “We wouldn’t leave someone behind on the battlefield,” Beatty said. “Why would we do it at home?”
WATCH or read here
Georges Bwelle – For decades, Georges Bwelle watched his father suffer, unable to get the medical attention he needed. Now a doctor, Bwelle travels into the jungles of his native Cameroon nearly every weekend, providing free medical care for those who don’t have access to good health care. “To make people laugh, to reduce the pain, that’s why I’m doing this,” he said.
WATCH or Read on CNN
Robin Emmons – More than 72,000 people in Charlotte, North Carolina, lack access to fresh produce. When Robin Emmons discovered this problem, she took action. “I decided to rip up my whole backyard and make it all a garden for people in need,” she said. Since 2008, Emmons has grown more than 26,000 pounds of fruits and vegetables for area residents.
READ more here
Danielle Gletow – Foster children don’t often get the things other children do, but Danielle Gletow is trying to help change that. She posts their wishes online so the public can help grant them. “I’m here to be the mom to all these kids who might not feel like they have one,” she said. Since 2008, her group has helped grant more than 6,500 wishes in 42 states.
WATCH or read here
Tawanda Jones is using dance to empower the youth of Camden, New Jersey, one of the poorest cities in the country. Through Jones’ drill team program, at least 4,000 children have learned discipline, respect and community service — and all of them have graduated high school. “We need to take back our city and, most importantly, take back our youth,” Jones said.
WATCH here
Richard Nares – For many children fighting cancer, it can be extremely tough to make it to their chemotherapy appointments. But Richard Nares started a group that gives them transportation and support. “No child should miss their cancer treatment due to lack of transportation,” said Nares, who lost his son to leukemia in 2000.
WATCH or read CNN
Kakenya Ntaiya is inspiring change in her native Kenyan village. After becoming the first woman in the village to attend college in the United States, she returned to open the village’s first primary school for girls. “Our work is about empowering the girls,” Ntaiya said. “They are dreaming of becoming lawyers, teachers, doctors.”
WATCH or read on CNN
Chad Pregracke – has made it his life’s work to clean up the Mississippi River and other American waterways. Since 1998, about 70,000 volunteers have helped Pregracke remove more than 7 million pounds of garbage from 22 rivers across the country. “Picking up garbage, it’s tough, miserable and hot,” Pregracke said. “We try to make it fun.”
WATCH or read here
Estella Pyfrom used her life savings to create “Estella’s Brilliant Bus,” a mobile computer lab that provides tutoring for thousands of low-income students in Palm Beach County, Florida. “It’s not just a bus, it’s a movement,” Pyfrom said. “And we’re going to keep making a difference.”
WATCH here
Laura Stachel created a special “solar suitcase” to help health-care workers deliver babies in more than 20 developing countries. “I really want a world where women can deliver babies safely and with dignity,” Stachel said.
WATCH here
As part of their award package, each top 10 Hero will also receive free organizational training from the Annenberg Foundation, a leading supporter of nonprofits worldwide. The Heroes will participate in a customized version of the Annenberg Alchemy program, which offers practical guidance to help strengthen organizations for long-term success.
The Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons, which is currently overseeing the dismantling of Syria’s chemical weapons stockpile, has been awarded this year’s Nobel Peace Prize for extensive efforts since 1997 to rid the world of this horrific weapon of mass destruction.
The Organization (OPCW), based in The Hague in the Netherlands, is the independent implementing body for the Chemical Weapons Convention, an international arms control treaty first implemented in 1997. Since then the OPCW has, through inspections, destruction and by other means, sought to destroy all stored weapons and means of their production. 189 states have complied with the convention to date.
Recent events in Syria, where chemical weapons have again been put to use, have underlined the need to enhance the OPCW’s efforts to urge every nation to enforce the deadline, which was April 2012, for destroying their chemical weapons.
Working in an active war zone, the team in Syria, currently made up of 35 members tasked with eliminating all chemical weapons in the country by mid-2014, risks their lives every day. To ease their burden, the Nobel committee and the money that accompanies the award — $1.25 million dollars — helps them to add a second team and spur their resolve.
But CNN reports, “The OPCW did not receive the prize primarily because of its work in Syria, committee chairman Thorbjorn Jagland said. “It is because of its long-standing efforts to eliminate chemical weapons and that we are now about to reach the goal and do away with a whole category of weapons of mass destruction. That would be a great event in history, if we can achieve that.””
(READ more from Reuters)
A billionaire hedge fund manager has given $10 million of his own money through his foundation to pay for pre-school programs that would have shut down October 1 because of the U.S. Government shutdown.
Laura and John Arnold have tapped their personal fortune to reopen seven Head Start programs for one month to benefit 7000 children from poor families throughout six states.
“We believe that it is especially unfair that young children from underprivileged communities and working families pay the price for the legislature’s collective failures,” the Arnolds said in a statement Monday.
(READ the story from NBC News)
Malala Yousafzai, the Pakistani girl who was shot in the head when she was 14 by the Taliban for advocating for education rights for girls, has won the top EU prize for human rights, along with $67,000.
Now 16 and fully recovered after hospitalization in the UK, Malala appeared on The Daily Show this week. Watch the interview that inspired speechlessness in the show’s host, Jon Stewart.
Her book, I Am Malala: The Girl Who Stood Up for Education and Was Shot by the Taliban
With the threat of so many tourist dollars being lost in the wake of National Park closures during the government shut down, governors have been given permission to reopen attractions like Mount Rushmore in South Dakota and Zion or Arches in Utah using their own money.
Utah Gov. Gary Herbert has said his state has resources that could be used to operate the parks, and the Obama administration has agreed to the plan. Governors of South Dakota, Arizona and Colorado have made similar requests, according to the AP.
(READ the AP story from the Indiana Republic)
A guy from South Carolina who wanted to keep the Washington monuments clean during the DC government shutdown was seen mowing the lawn around the Lincoln Memorial yesterday.
Reporters later interviewed the South Carolina man named Chris Cox, who bought an old lawn mower at a thrift store and hit the National Mall carrying a large flag and trash bags to empty the overflowing bins.
He told the Washington Post, “The building behind me serves as a moral compass, not only for our country but for the world. And over my dead body are we going to find trash pouring out of these trash cans,” he said. “At the end of the day, we are the stewards of these buildings that are memorials.”
Watch his statement on video below.
(READ the story with more photos in the Washington Post and NPR News)
Every once and a while someone does something that restores your faith in humanity.
That is how Dayton-area mom, Andy Robinson of Bellbrook, said she felt when two Fairborn students found the wallet her son lost at a high school football game and didn’t rest until they returned it.
After they handed the wallet, which contained $18, a gift card and ID, to Conner’s mom, one of the teens said, “The feeling of giving that wallet back, the joy of his parents just made it that much better.”
(READ the story in the Dayton. Ohio Daily News)
Flying instructors in Britain told a passenger over the radio how to land a plane after the pilot of a small aircraft collapsed and died at the controls.
Rory Murray, one of two instructors who guided the four-seater Cessna 172 onto the ground on Tuesday, told the BBC that the passenger had done a “remarkable job.”
(WATCH the video or READ the story from NBC News)
