Remember Aaron’s Last Wish, the video showing his family giving a waitress five hundred dollars, as a last remembrance of their brother?
Well, that cash was raised online from friends and family to fulfill Aaron’s request to leave an “awesome tip… like $500” for pizza.
Yesterday NPR reported that three weeks later, the family has collected $50,000 and three more lucky servers have been surprised with $500 gratuities. “The Collins family members are posting videos as they spread the good cheer.”
First the drug tester told American beach volleyball player Jake Gibb that he was suspended.
Then he said to call a doctor, because the abnormal levels of hormones in his blood might be caused by testicular cancer.
Gibb was expected to miss the Olympics while recovering, but the surgery got all of the cancer and he wouldn’t need chemotherapy. He got back on tour with his partner and qualified for the London Games at the last minute.
With the sluggish British economy, it’s never been more difficult for young people to get a job. In fact for many graduates and teens, finding their way into employment can often feel like an impossible challenge rather than a right of passage. Factors such as the government cuts, economic recession, the closure of many High Street chains and up to 100 candidates applying for each entry level vacancy have left as many as 1.1 million 16-24 year-olds currently out of work in the UK.
Despite research that suggests a 21% unemployment rate for this age group, there are still many ambitious young people who are creatively making their way in the world. Their persistence, initiative and success in times of such economic difficultly are doubly inspiring. Here are some of the top young entrepreneurs to look out for this year and the dynamic, forward thinking companies that have seen them make their fortune:
Production of pure cocaine in Colombia decreased by 25 percent in 2011 capping off a decade of decline during which the potential for production had dropped by 72 percent, according a U.S. government survey of drug production released yesterday. –AP
In a nation wrenched by decades of war, perhaps it is of no surprise that one of Afghanistan’s most successful brands manufactures what is sorely lacking from the conflict-scarred landscape: joy.
The Herat ice cream factory in western Afghanistan dips rectangular vanilla bars in chocolate, builds orange sorbets on sticks, and tops the frozen cones that are sold in all of the country’s 34 provinces — a rare success for a business benefitting from no foreign investment.
Michael and Margaret Snell of Salsbury, England came to British Columbia for a fishing adventure and, boy, did they find one. On their first day out, their first catch of the day, Michael hooked a Great White Sturgeon weighing 1,100 pounds (500 kilos).
Their Canadian guide, Dean Werk from Great River Fishing Adventures, says the 12 feet 4 inch long catch, is likely the largest freshwater fish ever landed in North America.
The amazing story of Hilde Back proves how many ripples can change countless lives directly from a single act of generosity.
When she was a schoolteacher in Sweden, Hilde decided to sponsor one child’s education in Kenya. High school is tuition-based in many countries, and without that secondary education, poverty is often guaranteed for the child and his family for the rest of his life. The payment for Hilde’s sponsorship of Chris Mburu cost about $15 per month.
After Chris graduated from high school, he attended the University of Nairobi and then pursued a law degree from Harvard. He got a job as a U.N. Human Rights Advocate, and started a charity in order to repay the kindness originally shown him as a boy.
It’s not all hard work and no play for the U.S. swimming team.
A light-hearted, spoof video filmed by the team during the run-up to the London Olympic games has gone viral on the internet with more than three million viewers clicking to watch top names such as Michael Phelps, Ryan Lochte and Missy Franklin dancing and lip-syncing to hit “Call me Maybe” by Carly Rae Jepsen.
Four years ago, Dana Vollmer, devastated and dispirited by injuries, considered walking away from the sport she loved, but instead, with the help of her Berkeley coach, made a dramatic turnaround that led yesterday to a gold medal victory in London and breaking the world record in the 100-meter butterfly.
She became the first woman to break the 56-second barrier, winning her signature event at the Olympics Sunday in 55.98 seconds.
Vollmer, 24, from Granbury, Texas, has been a huge inspiration throughout her career. She overcame two heart defects as a teenager to qualify for the 2004 Olympic team and win her first gold medal in a relay.
Four years ago, Dana Vollmer, devastated and dispirited by injuries, considered walking away from the sport she loved, but instead, with the help of her Berkeley coach, made a dramatic turnaround that led yesterday to a gold medal victory in London and breaking the world record in the 100-meter butterfly.
She became the first woman to break the 56-second barrier, winning her signature event at the Olympics Sunday in 55.98 seconds.
Vollmer, 24, from Granbury, Texas, has been a huge inspiration throughout her career. She overcame two heart defects as a teenager to qualify for the 2004 Olympic team and win her first gold medal in a relay.
A bear howled beside a dumpster throughout a long New Mexico night.
The next morning some creative humans came to help.
WATCH the wonderful video below…
(From Ruidoso, New Mexico)
A new breed of cowboy is changing how ranching is being done in the American West and might – just might – alter the dynamic in the “range wars” that have engulfed the region for more than a half century.
Make no mistake: These are not new arrivals carrying out green techniques for the feel-good sake of being green. They are ranchers managing the land in benevolent and environmentally sensitive ways because they think it will help them survive – and make money.
A seeing-eye dog in Alabama has been hailed as a hero for saving her owner’s life during a gas leak.
“The house could have blew up. She saved my life,” Nancy Jones, the dog’s owner said.
The poodle would not stop bothering Jones until she finally left the house.
The previously untold story of how an unprecedented network of high-achieving women from the world’s largest companies, innovative startups, philanthropic organizations, government, and the arts combined forces to change the lives of girls and women everywhere.
Eight years ago Maria Eitel, CEO of the Nike Foundation, began connecting a group of executives, philanthropists, entrepreneurs, artists, government officials, and academics to formulate groundbreaking initiatives investing in girls and women and creating economic benefits for all.
(READ the story from Fast Company)
A guerrilla kindness event held simultaneously in five cities provided a scavenger hunt of sweetness for volunteers on a mission to put a smile on a stranger’s face.
Some picked flowers and gave them to strangers, some passed out popsicles to sweltering pedestrians, some wrote happy notes and slid them under unknown doors.
Entitled, “Kindness Captured: A Day of Bravery and Kindness,” the events on June 30 were held in Syracuse, New York City, Denver, Seattle and Richmond, Virginia.
“We want to share the idea you can really brighten someone’s day,” said a co-founder of American Bear Films who partnered with Guerrilla Goodness to coordinate the event.
(WATCH the video below and see the kindness effect)
A guerrilla kindness event held simultaneously in six cities provided a scavenger hunt of sweetness for volunteers on a mission to put a smile on a stranger’s face.
Some picked flowers and gave them to strangers, some passed out popsicles to sweltering pedestrians, some wrote happy notes and slid them under unknown doors.
The Opening Ceremony of the 2012 London Olympics included a visual narrative, highlighting the many accomplishments of the British people over many centuries. The story included a segment celebrating the National Health Service (NHS).
The British, along with almost every other industrialized country in the world, have a universal health care system, in which care is provided for all, regardless of income.
South Korean archer Im Dong-hyun sees only blurred colors and lines when he peers toward the target about 76 yards away. It doesn’t stop the legally blind Olympian from hitting the grapefruit-sized yellow center – again and again and again.
He has 20/200 vision in his left eye and 20/100 vision in his right eye, meaning he is legally blind in his left eye and needs to be 10 times closer to see objects clearly compared to someone with perfect vision.
Haiti is planning the rollout of more than 7,000 new solar street lamps for the country, according to Prime Minister Laurent Lamothe.
It’s part of an infrastructure push Lamothe’s office said included an emphasis on the construction of new schools.
The Solar Electric Light Fund has been installing solar electric systems at healthcare facilities across Haiti, a project that could bring power to 170,000 Haitians.
The US Olympic uniforms may have been made in China, but the stadium lighting was made in America. A company called Musco, in Muscatine, Iowa has lit every Olympic game since 1984 — as well as center court at Wimbledon, the World Trade Center site and probably your kid’s sporting field. (Musco.com)
