The number of Americans who say things are going well in the country has reached 50% for the first time in more than six years, according to a new national poll from CNN.
Six Amazing Ways People Helped After Boston Marathon Tragedy
Mr. Rogers famously answered the question of what to tell children when scary things happen on the news. It holds true for all of us if we want to learn about what happened in Boston yesterday: “Look for the helpers.”
We can always focus on the actions of the helpers, if we want to feel better.
1) College fraternities on Commonwealth Avenue offered food and beverages to runners and passersby walking from the scene of the explosions. (right)
2) Cell phone service was shut down in the city so locals were unlocking their WiFi service so people could easily connect and reach out via email and social media.
3) NBC Sports reported that runners in the Boston Marathon who crossed the finish line continued to run to the nearby hospital to volunteer to give blood. Later, the Boston area Red Cross tweeted, “Due to the generosity of our donors, we don’t need blood at this time.”
4) New England Patriots athlete Joe Andruzzi was photographed helping an injured woman after the blast. Deadspin reported that Joe’s Twitter feed fell silent while he continued helping.
5) An inspiring spreadsheet was created using Google Docs on Gmail for people to donate rooms, rides and couches to people who were stranded or in need. Google itself also set up a webpage as a “People finder” for helping loved ones to connect and share information.
6) A Boston area restaurant, El Pelon Taqueria opened its doors to runners and locals, tweeting, “We have cold drinks, bathrooms, place to charge a phone and a calm place to sit”. They never shut their doors, apparently giving away refreshments, with the manager tweeting, “my coworkers+staff deserve alot of credit, not one blinked when ask(ed), not one when home when they could, those not working came in”.
(With thanks to the Business Insider for some of the tips)
Top Photo: Mark Zastrow, Flickr
’42’ Immortalizes Jackie Robinson as Real-life Super Hero While Avoiding Melodrama (Watch)
“42” is an old-fashioned inspirational and ultimately uplifting drama about perseverance in the face of turbulent opposition. And the greatest credit to writer-director Brian Helgeland is that none of this is shown through grand melodramatic movie monologues, but through the simple restraint of Chadwick Boseman’s portrayal of a determined and resilient Jackie Robinson.
Stories of Kindness After the Bombing
From the smoke in Boston today heartening stories arose of kindness emerging from tragedy: people on Twitter urging others to note the people who run towards the explosions, not a way from them; stories of heroism from runners.
College Athletes Hand the Football to Boy With Cancer
To the Nebraska college football team and fans, this play was truly one of your finest moments the school has ever seen. Little Jack Hoffman, who has cancer, led a very special Husker play into the end zone with the ball.
Watch the heartwarming video below…
(UPDATED w/ Video) Harvard Students Take Time to Thank the Janitors
The Harvard Business School took some time last week to show their gratitude for all the work that goes into the MBA experience.
The Give Thanks project involved faculty and students being kind to the staff who works so hard every day.
The school’s Harbus News reported some plans to deliver more than 900 personally written thank-you notes, as well as bringing coffee and bagels to the staff break room.
“It’s our hope that these small demonstrations serve as a catalyst to remind us all to be thankful on an ongoing basis for all that the staff does for us,” wrote Barnes Hauptfuhrer, in the Harbus Online.
(WATCH the video they made below – READ the full story in the Harbus Online)
Thanks to Rebecca Dornin for submitting the link!
500 Colleges With ‘RecycleMania’ Divert 90 Million lbs From Landfills
Recycling rivalries added another level of “madness” to March this year, as 523 schools competed in the RecycleMania Tournament, harnessing the competitive spirit to increase campus recycling and waste reduction.
Colleges and universities across the United States and Canada participated in the eight-week competition in which schools are ranked according to the amount of recyclable materials and food waste they collect. Between the Feb. 3 and March 30, participating schools collectively recovered 90.3 million pounds of recyclables and organic materials — the equivalent of preventing the release of nearly 121,436 metric tons of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere.
US Teen Sends Bikes to India’s Poor Children
Thomas Hircock first visited India when he was 12 years old and joined his father on a business trip. He was shocked by the poverty and now he’s helping children of the ‘Untouchable’ caste by giving them bikes.
The youngsters wanted bikes so they could travel to school many miles away and lift themselves out of poverty.
Proof in the Profits: America’s Happiest Companies Make More Money
Every year around this time, a new edition of the “100 Best Companies To Work For” is released. These are the companies that go out of their way to keep their employees happy in their jobs.
But is there a direct connection between having happy workers and a company making more money?
One person who may have the answer is Jerome Dodson, the founder of Parnassus Investments, which created a mutual fund that invests exclusively in large American firms proven to have outstanding workplaces.
City Officials Kick off Happiness Initiative in Santa Fe
The Happiness Santa Fe Initiative kicked off its Sustainable Happiness Week on Saturday at the Santa Fe Farmers Market with a formal city proclamation, music, hugs and, of course, a message board where people could write down the things that bring them joy.
One of the driving forces behind the project is Dr. Merle Lefkoff, who was invited last year by the Prime Minister of Bhutan to help promote that country’s “Gross National Happiness” index at the United Nations.
Life is Good Builds Brand Based on Optimism
Optimism has been good for Bert Jacobs, who along with his brother John, co-founded Life is good in 1989.
The lifestyle and clothing brand, built around Jake – a smiling, somewhat crudely drawn elongated smiley face with a huge grin and a jaunty beret – started with the pair peddling T-shirts on the streets of Boston. It has grown from the two brothers sleeping in a van while they sold T-shirts door-to-door on college campuses to a $100 million business built around the idea of spreading optimism.
Basketball Stars Gift Hundreds of Local Kids with Tickets to NBA Game
Hundreds of California youngsters got the chance to experience a live NBA basketball game for the first time after the athletes themselves reached out to community groups with stacks of free tickets.
Golden State Warriors players Andris Bierdrins, Andrew Bogut, Draymond Green, Jarrett Jack, Richard Jefferson, David Lee, and Klay Thompson bought 50-to-100 tickets each, and donated them to local groups in San Francisco.
Soldier’s Rescue of Orphan Leads to Reunion 40 years in the Making
Kimberly Mitchell’s life story has always been missing a few important pages — like how she ended up in an orphanage in 1970’s Vietnam with war raging.
“If you’re an adopted child, you always want to know — did your mother, did your father want you?” Kim says.
She finally knows the story and got to thank the soldier who rescued her — and named her — in 1972.
(READ the story from Steve Hartman at CBS)
Goodbye Fluorescent Lights: Super Energy-efficient LED Tubes Unveiled
The horrid green fluorescent lamps in offices and schools could be a thing of the past.
Lighting company Philips has developed an LED lamp that it describes as “the world’s most energy-efficient” — twice as efficient as those currently used in offices and industry around the world. The tube fixture offers the same amount of light while cutting the carbon emissions in half.
How a Museum Exhibit is Changing Lives in Los Angeles
A 10-year-old boy who lives in L.A.’s inner-city has never been on an airplane, but that hasn’t stopped him from dreaming of becoming an astronaut when he grows up.
He was moved to tears when he saw the Space Shuttle Endeavour fly over his school on its way to its new home at the California Science Center and even more excited when he could walk around the gargantuan space craft at the museum, touching tires that flew in space.
Cast-Out Boy in New School Becomes Beloved as ‘The Doorman’
Bullied every day for years because of his lisp, Josh Yandt and his family moved to London, Ontario, in 2011. Determined not to be “put in a box” by his new classmates, the remarkable young man dramatically changed the trajectory of his life with one small idea: he would hold open the door at school each day.
It was his chance to break out of a depression-filled past. He held the door open for hundreds of teenagers that first morning – and every morning since. At first they didn’t know what to make of the stranger who quietly offered them greetings day after day. But then, something happened.
Photo of Loyal Dog Waiting in Deceased Dad’s Truck Touches Hearts
A photo posted on Reddit has gone viral for its depiction of a loyal dog waiting for their deceased dad on the driver’s seat of his tow-truck. The photo caption says their father died in June, but the dog still waits for him every day in the vehicle he used to drive.
The truck is still used to move cars on their impound lot, according to the poster AmericanBulldag.
Looking for the Stranger Who Picked up Her Wedding Tab 54 Years Ago
An Armstrong BC woman named Karel Nordstrom has launched an international search for the mystery man who paid for her and her late-husband’s wedding 54 years ago in England. Karel and Tom Nordstrom were young and broke students when they threw a reception at a restaurant on a shoestring budget. When they went to pay they were told that a fellow diner in the restaurant had already paid.
Hidden Borneo Orangutans Provide Population Bump of 5-7 Percent
A team of conservationists have uncovered a hidden population of around 200 of the world’s rarest Bornean orangutans in Malaysian Borneo.
The sub-species Pongo pygmaeus pygmaeus is listed as the most severely threatened orangutan worldwide with a total of between 3,000-4,500 animals, of which 2,000 live in the Batang Ai National Park and Lanjak-Entimau Wildlife Sanctuary in Sarawak.
The orangutans were found in an area of about 14,000 hectares (140 sq km) and the Sarawak government has pledged protection.
Mexican drug homicides fall 14 percent in four months
Mexico said on April 11 that killings linked to organized crime fell 14 percent in the first four months of the presidency of Enrique Pena Nieto, who has vowed to reduce murder, kidnapping, and extortion. (Reuters)