Three Connecticut wealth managers who won a $254 million jackpot followed through on their promise to put the money toward philanthropy, today announcing donations to five charities that help veterans reintegrate into everyday life following deployment.
The first recipients will each receive $200,000. They are: The Bob Woodruff Foundation, Building Homes for Heroes, Services for the Under Served, Operation First Response and the Intrepid Fallen Heroes Fund.
It means a lot when any soldier receives a package sent from the United States loaded with treats to remind him of home.
82 year-old Don Downer has sent more than 1,400 such packages to American troops deployed overseas and was honored in Maryland recently as Howard County’s Volunteer of the Year.
Downer has been sending care packages since 2008, filling them with snacks like candy and chips as well as other items such as books and wool hats. His trademark? Inside every one is a can of Spam, the iconic low-cost canned meat product made in America since the late 1940s.
(READ the story in Patch.com)
An eastern Kentucky church under a firestorm of criticism since members voted to bar mixed-race couples from joining the congregation overturned that decision Sunday, saying it welcomes all believers.
The Gulnare Free Will Baptist Church in Pike County, told The Associated Press that the vote by nine people last week was declared null and void after it was determined that new bylaws can’t run contrary to local, state or national laws.
A stray dog brought to a Northern California animal shelter turned out to have been reported missing in Virginia eight years ago.
Now, officials are planning a reunion between the long-lost dog and her grateful owners in time for the holidays.
In Autumn 2003, Petunia, then 3 years old, walked away from her family’s farm in Virginia.
Harli Jordean found his true passion before most other entrepreneurs — at eight years old.
While his friends are playing computer games, he is busy liaising with suppliers, buying stock and handling orders for his internet marble empire.
“Harli has been obsessed with marbles ever since he was six,” said his mother.
The tiny tycoon from London has been running the thriving marbleking.co.uk website for two years, selling anything from tubs of marbles to £599 limited edition Duke of York solitaire tables.
(READ the full story in the Daily Mail)
Doctors will often prepare for surgical procedures by opening instrument and supply kits that contain up to 100 items.
Many of these items, such as scalpels, needles or sponges, go unused; they’re just not needed for that particular procedure. But because of government or hospital regulations in the United States, they are frequently thrown away, even when they are still wrapped.
Fortunately, a nonprofit organization founded by a New York cardiologist, Doc2Dock, is finding ways to salvage these items and get them to people who need them desperately around the world.
The town of York, Me., is putting up what could be a bridge to a better future, not because of it where it goes but because of what it is made of: plastic.
Some manufacturers have already melted plastic bottles into boards for beach house decks, carpets and clothing materials.
Now comes Axion International, a New Jersey-based company founded in 2007 that has developed a process to make a building material that is strong enough to supplant steel and concrete but is made out of discarded laundry detergent containers and milk cartons.
The stress of looming exams at George Mason University School of Law lifted for a couple of hours Thursday, thanks to the arrival of 15 homeless and adoptable puppies with velvety ears, soul-searching eyes and names like Doughboy, Sugar and Sue.
“Especially this time of the year, law school seems to ruin your life,” said Allison Tisdale, 24, a third-year from Texas who didn’t go home for Thanksgiving because she had to study.
Santa gets a helping hand from Operation Santa Claus hidden away in New York City’s main Post Office.
The organization lets donors help fulfill wishes expressed by needy children in their letters to Santa.
Across the US, 75 Post Offices are helping, six times many as last year. You can volunteer at www.beanelf.org.
(WATCH the video from NBC Nightly News)
Santa gets a helping hand from Operation Santa Claus hidden away in New York City’s main Post Office.
The organization lets donors help fulfill wishes expressed by needy children in their letters to Santa.
Across the US, 75 Post Offices are helping, six times many as last year. You can volunteer at www.beanelf.org.
A 6-month old boxer puppy would not stop pestering a Georgia family until they realized that something was wrong.
The homeowner had lit the gas fireplace for the first time this season and didn’t known the flames had been extinguished while the gas continued to pour into the house.
A 6-month old boxer puppy would not stop pestering a Georgia family until they realized that something was wrong.
The homeowner had lit the gas fireplace for the first time this season and didn’t known the flames had been extinguished while the gas continued to pour into the house.
Facebook has been adding features to make the reigning social network more useful and convenient.
As the number of features grows, though, so does a corresponding problem: Most of Facebook’s 750 million users don’t know these features exist.
A few minutes of exploration can uncover functions that make Facebook not just an addiction but a pleasure to use.
Employment growth picked up speed in November and the jobless rate dropped to a 2-1/2 year low of 8.6 percent, further evidence the economic recovery was gaining momentum.
The gains reflected in the report — 120,000 net new jobs — was also bolstered by revisions to the employment counts for September and October to show 72,000 more jobs created than previously reported.
Filmmaker David Lynch wants soldiers and veterans to experience the stress-reducing benefits of Transcendental Meditation.
Lynch’s namesake foundation is giving $1 million in grants to teach the meditation technique to active-duty military personnel and veterans suffering from post-traumatic stress.
Poverty rates in Latin America have dropped to their lowest levels in 20 years, according to a new United Nations report which points to higher wages as a key factor in the continent’s development despite the global economic crisis.
Between 1990 and 2010, the poverty rate decreased 17 percent, while the rate of indigence – or extreme poverty – fell from 22.6 percent to 12.3 percent.
A Deutsche Bank branch in Atlanta had requested the eviction of Vita Lee, a 103-year-old Atlanta woman, and her 83-year-old daughter. After 53 years living in the house neither had any idea where they’d go next.
But when the movers hired by the bank and police arrived at the house, they had a change of heart. They “took one look at” Lee and decided not to go through with it.
(READ the story or watch the video from NPR)
Philadelphia baseball star Ryan Howard is helping students in 57 city high schools to dress for success — in athletics.
The first baseman — who is recovering from Achilles surgery — announced Thursday that his Ryan Howard Family Foundation will donate Adidas sportswear valued at nearly $1.2 million to the cash-strapped Philadelphia school district.
A Secret Santa went to Reading, Pennsylvania, reportedly because it was the poorest city in America, with the goal of handing out $20,000 in cash to random people in thrift stores, laundromats and bus stops who look like they could use a helping hand.
He chose to remain anonymous but allowed TV cameras to trail him, providing a rare glimpse into the joy that can be spread by one generous man in red tee shirt and beret.
“I get more out of it than they do,” he enthusiastically told the press.
He asked only that the recipients pass on a little kindness to someone else.
It was clear that the Secret Santa had done this before and encouraged more people who are fortunate to take up his vocation.
(WATCH both inspiring videos from KOMO and the Reading Eagle – Read it here)
A Secret Santa went to Reading, Pennsylvania, reportedly because it was the poorest city in America, with the goal of handing out $20,000 in cash to random people in thrift stores, laundromats and bus stops who look like they could use a helping hand.
He chose to remain anonymous but allowed TV cameras to trail him, providing a rare glimpse into the joy that can be spread by one generous man in red tee shirt and beret.
“I get more out of it than they do,” he enthusiastically told the press.
