A young contributor who anonymously dropped off $10.03 at a Wisconsin police department after the anniversary of 9/11 has been identified as 11-year-old Max Siepert.
The sixth-grader said he learned about the Sept. 11 attacks in school and heard about all the good deeds that are done on that date. He had been collecting money since April and decided what to do with it.
Max’s grandfather, it turns out, was a Milwaukee police officer who was killed in the line of duty in 1974. Max rode his bike to the police station without his parents’ knowledge to give the money in his grandfather’s honor. He definitely didn’t expect any attention.
Taylor Swift fans flocked to her concert in St. Paul last weekend, but one first-grader from Mankato, Minn., got a personal meet-and-greet with her musical idol, thanks to the Kids Wish Network.
Madison Harbarth, who was born with a rare condition that caused her spine to stop growing in utero, was given a meaningful autograph that will inspire her for a lifetime. It read, “To Madison: You are beautiful and perfect. Love, Taylor.”
Academy Award-winning actress Charlize Theron has a starring role in her homeland of South Africa — helping prevent the spread of HIV and AIDS.
Despite recent success in combating the disease — a 63% drop in new infections among the youth — around 5.6 million South Africans have HIV. To prevent the disease from coming back again, Theron believes the key lies in empowering African youth at a grassroots level.
UNICEF and the government of Rwanda have invited a professor from the University of B.C. to expand a 12-month nutritional pilot study involving 1,100 children into a national program for nearly half a million toddlers aged six months to two years.
Judy McLean said the micro-nutrient powders provided significant nutritional value yet cost a little more than a penny per day, about $6.75 per child for the 18-month program.
Two video pranksters, Andrew Hales and Stuart Edge, teamed up to bring happiness to three deserving coffee shop servers in Orem, Utah. After asking them to name the biggest tip they ever got, they trumped it by leaving $200, and then hid outside in the bushes to record their surprised reactions through the window.
The resulting 2-minute, 25-second clip has tallied more than 5 million views on YouTube since it was posted four days ago, earning the pair media attention and also a nice “tip” due to the advertising revenue generated by so many people watching their video.
Hales describes it as something he’d been wanting to do for some time, perhaps being inspired by “Aaron’s Last Wish” a story about a Kentucky family who tipped a pizza server $500 fulfilling the wish of their dying brother, and the resulting video on YouTube that went viral.
One of the waiters wanted Hales to remind everyone that their work earns them just $2.13 per hour in Utah and leaves them depending on tips.
A nine-year-old Colorado boy hugged his favorite plush toy last Friday at Memorial Hospital for Children in Colorado Springs where he would undergo treatment for acid reflux.
Pediatric gastroenterologist Christine Waasdorp Hurtado said the wolf had an inch-long hole in the seam of one of his shoulders. She quietly sewed up the animal while Joshua was going under anesthesia, reported a news producer at CNN’s iReport.
A 19-year-old employee at a local Dairy Queen served more than ice cream at his Hopkins, Minnesota store on September 10. He stood up for a blind man after his twenty dollar bill, dropped on the ground, was scooped up by a sighted customer who refused to give it back.
A typed letter of commendation now hangs on the wall of the DQ shop after a third customer saw the whole scene unfold and couldn’t believe how Joey Prusak, the manager of the DQ, had handled the situation, going above and beyond what anyone could expect.
Joey, who is the store’s manager, asked the elderly woman to return the money but she claimed the money was hers. Then, he flatly states he won’t serve her unless she gives back the cash. When she still refused to do the right thing, he asked her to leave.
”He stayed calm and never gave her any attitude,” wrote the onlooker in an email to Dairy Queen headquarters. “What happened next I would have never expected.”
“Your employee… took out his wallet and said, ‘Sir, on behalf of Dairy Queen I would like to give you the $20 bill you dropped.'”
Joey’s display of generosity shocked the onlooker who stated in his email that his “fate” had been “forever sealed” as a “life long customer” after experiencing such “outstanding customer service”.
A co-worker was impressed by what happened and posted the message on Facebook, according to KARE-11 TV. Others shared it and now it has now gone viral.
(WATCH the video below or READmore at NY Daily News, but beware that a video starts playing once you visit the page)
Grumpy Cat, the Internet celebrity famous for its perpetual scowl, just added an endorsement deal to a list of lucrative achievements.
Purina PetCare has hired the forlorn-looking feline to be the official “spokescat” for its Friskies brand. “Tardar Sauce” is the cat’s real name, referring to its color, and misspelled by a youngster in the family.
Tabatha Bundesen, the cat’s human, has already signed business deals with a coffee company named Grumpy Beverage and with movie producers who want to use the cat’s image.
Still, he doesn’t look to happy about all the hoopla.
The fund for Glen James, set up for the homeless man who returned a backpack with $42,000 inside, has collected more than double that in donations. The Virginia man who started the campaign calls it “amazing” and a “statement to everyone in America.”
As of this morning, more than 4,000 people have given money to support a better, healthier life for Mr. James, who found the backpack Saturday but immediately turned it over to police.
The fundraising campaign, at Gofundme.com, has tallied $100,353 so far.
After a week of relentless rains and historic flooding in the state of Colorado, at least 12,000 people have already been evacuated, many by helicopter, over the hundreds of square miles affected.
Among those rescued have been hundreds of animals, including dogs, cats, goats, horses, cows and more.
“There were almost as many pets as people getting off the evacuation helicopters today,” the Larimer County Sheriff’s Office posted on its Facebook page on Saturday.
Hollywood superstar Mark Wahlberg has been quietly finishing high school, after finding a course he could take online.
“For almost a year, I’ve been taking classes and studying any chance I could get — on the set, traveling for work and at home. It has been both humbling and challenging, but I’m happy to report that I am officially a high school graduate, having received my diploma this summer.”
He’s also giving back, helping other teens stay in school. His Mark Wahlberg Youth Foundation has partnered with other organizations to provide resources to young people who commit to finishing high school.
Alex Travis, a 17-year-old senior at East Syracuse-Minoa High School, was honored by the district this week for saving an elderly man’s life.
“We’re extremely proud,” said superintendent Dr. Donna DeSiato. “In our Webster’s Dictionary, you would find Alex Travis’s name next to ‘hero.'”
Travis was driving with family when he noticed a car in the Bradley Brook reservoir. The teen dove fifteen feet underwater to rescue the driver, World War II veteran Stuart Deland, who had blacked out at the wheel and drove into the water.
Going on a health kick reverses aging at the cellular level, a small study revealed.
The latest work by Prof Dean Ornish at the University of California says it has found the first evidence a strict regime of exercise, diet and meditation can have such an effect.
The study looked at just 35 men with prostate cancer. Those who changed their lifestyle had demonstrably younger cells in genetic terms.
Many organizations are already trying to find ways to help thousands of Coloradans affected by this past week’s deadly flooding — by setting up relief funds, coordinating volunteers and dispersing supplies. Here are a couple good ways to donate money.
The Foothills Flood Relief Fund launched on Sept. 13 in response to the unfolding disaster in Colorado. All of the money donated is going directly to people affected by the floods. It will work with Boulder and state officials to determine the most desperate needs.
HelpColoradoNow.org is a collaboration between the Colorado Division of Homeland Security and Emergency Management and the Colorado Voluntary Organizations Active in Disaster that pairs donations with survivor’s needs.
If you are in Colorado, All Hands Volunteers is organizing volunteers to launch an on-site project when the area is deemed safe.
Dedication. Loyalty. Friendship. “The choices we make reveal the true nature of our character.”
An inspiring new television ad from the Guinness brewery has been viewed by more than 7 million people across YouTube and features a game of… well, you have to see it to appreciate it.
A homeless Good Samaritan turned in a lost backpack stuffed with nearly $42,000 in cash and travelers cheques he found Saturday at a Dorchester mall. After returning the bag to its rightful owner, the Boston police honored Glen James yesterday with a citation for his “extraordinary show of character and honesty.”
Inspired by the actions of the honest man, Ethan Whittington set up a fund for which $18,500 has been raised so far to help with Mr. James’s living expenses and medical care.
During the ceremony, James handed out a written statement, thanking everyone who has ever put money in his cup when panhandling. “Even if I were desperate for money, I would not have kept even a … penny of the money I found. I am extremely religious — God has always very well looked after me,” the statement read.
“Homeless people are the first to help you out,” Glen’s friend who stays at the same shelter told the Boston Herald. “He knows what it’s like to be down and out.”
The Midlothian, Virginia man who set up the fundraising page on GoFundMe.com wrote today after the fund hit $18,000, “Just amazing what people can do when they come together to work towards one goal.”
Residents on the Italian island of Giglio cheered along with engineers and worker when the Costa Concordia cruise ship was finally pulled upright Tuesday morning after 20 months lying vacant on its side.
Salvage crews took 19 hours to successfully complete the painstakingly complex procedure of raising the partially submerged giant wreckage from a reef. (Watch the timelapse video below)
“This is a very important moment, a great moment. We are very moved because we had to bear this violent event and we transformed it into a great sense of responsibility,” said Giglio Mayor Sergio Ortelli.
Nurse Eileen Remedios was heartbroken when her beloved bicycle was stolen while locked outside near the street.
She left a humorous note attached to the same lamppost begging for its safe return. She wrote, “Please return my bike,” which she loved for it will be “frightened without its owner.”
The 55-year-old from Brighton got a big surprise when the thief, touched by her politeness, returned her old two-wheeler along with a humble note offering a “big fat SORRY,” and saying, “I never mistreated it.” It was signed “The Reformed Bike Thief”.
She even received a new lock with keys along with the note.
A young contributor who anonymously dropped off $10.03 at a Wisconsin police department after the anniversary of 9/11 has been identified as 11-year-old Max Siepert.
Going on a health kick reverses aging at the cellular level, a small study revealed.
