Quote of the Day: “The garden is growth and change, and that means loss as well as constant new treasures to make up for the few disasters.” – May Sarton
With a new inspirational quote every day, atop the perfect photo—collected and archived on our Quotes page—why not bookmark GNN.org for a daily uplift?
At just 18 years old, this Dutch teenager claimed he could tackle the Great Pacific Garbage Patch – and starting this summer, he is going to do just that. Hear the inspiring update from The Good News Guru (from the April 27, 2018 Ellen K. Morning Show on KOST-103.5 radio in L.A.).
READ more and see the video on GNN…
Bruce Becke was at a restaurant celebrating his birthday weekend with his family when they surprised him with the ultimate gift: a chance to meet the man who saved his life.
It had been two years since Becke received a life-saving bone marrow transplant from a 26-year-old named Mike Drisgill.
Becke, who had been battling leukemia, had never come face-to-face with Drisgill. All he knew was that the Maryland man’s donation had saved his life.
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So as a means of surprising Becke for his birthday, the compassionate donor and his family flew from Baltimore, Maryland to New Buffalo, Michigan.
In a video uploaded to Facebook earlier this week, Becke can be heard proclaiming his gratitude for the 26-year-old donor. Little does he know, the donor is sitting right next to him.
And the result is extremely heartwarming.
(WATCH the emotional video below)
Surprise Your Friends With This Sweet Story: Click To Share
Do you enjoy traveling? Do you also enjoy having fun in the sun? Well, the Days Inn has the perfect job for you.
The hotel chain has just posted a job listing for amateur photographers who are willing to travel to America’s brightest cities – “from sunrise yoga in San Diego to a sunset sail in Miami” – so they can take pictures of the sun.
In addition to the “sun-terns” receiving a glowing recommendation for their resumé and all-expenses paid travel for a month, Days Inn will also be paying them a $10,000 monthly stipend for the gig.
Applicants need to be 21 years older to apply and they must submit their best outdoor photo from their portfolio along with a 100-word description of why they are the best person for the job.
Power Up With Positivity: Click To Share The Sunny News With Your Friends – Photo by Mayur Gala
The quest to develop the ‘Holy Grail’ of affordable, viable, and environmentally-friendly fuels using sunlight has taken an exciting new twist.
A team of renewable energy experts from the University of Exeter has pioneered a new technique to produce hydrogen from sunlight to create a clean, cheap, and widely-available fuel.
The team developed an innovative method to split water into its constituent parts – hydrogen and oxygen – using sunlight. The hydrogen can then be used as a fuel, with the potential to power everyday items such as homes and vehicles.
Crucially, hydrogen fuel that can be created through this synthetic photosynthesis method would not only create zero carbon emissions, but it would also be a virtually limitless energy source.
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At present, around 85% of the global energy provisions come from the burning of fossil fuels. Therefore the need and desire to find a sustainable, cost-effective renewable fuel source is growing in urgency.
Perhaps unsurprisingly, the sun is earth’s most abundant renewable energy source, with the potential to provide 100,000 terawatts of power each year – meaning one hour’s worth of solar energy is equal to an entire year of total energy consumption worldwide.
However, one of the most significant hindrances to the development of viable solar energy has been an inability to produce a semiconducting material that can effectively convert sunlight to a storable energy source.
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But in this new research, the team utilized lanthanum iron oxide to create a semiconducting material that gave the ideal results for using sunlight to produce hydrogen from water, making it the strongest candidate yet for renewable hydrogen generation.
The ground-breaking new research centers on the use of a revolutionary photo-electrode – an electrode that absorbs light before initializing electrochemical transformations to extract the hydrogen from water – made from nanoparticles of the elements lanthanum, iron, and oxygen.
The researchers believe this new type of photo-electrode is not only cheap to produce, but can also be recreated on a larger scale for mass and worldwide use.
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The research is published in leading journal, Scientific Reports.
Govinder Pawar, lead author on the paper and based at the University of Exeter’s Environment and Sustainability in Cornwall said: “With growing economies and population, fossil fuels will not be able to sustain the global energy demand in a ‘clean’ manner as they are being exhausted at an alarming rate.
“Alternative renewable fuels sources must be found which can sustain the global energy demand. Hydrogen is a promising alternative fuel source capable of replacing fossil fuels as it has a higher energy density than fossil fuels (more than double), zero-carbon emissions and the only by-product is water.”
Govinder Pawar added: “We have shown that our photo-electrode has ideal band alignments needed to split water into its constituents (H2 and O2) spontaneously, without the need of an external bias. Moreover, our material has excellent stability where after 21 hours of testing it does not degrade, ideal for water splitting purpose. We are currently working on further improving our material to make it more efficient to produce more hydrogen.”
(Source: Exeter University)
Power Up With Positivity: Click To Share With Your Friends – Photo by jkrebs, CC
Ever since their friend was diagnosed with brain cancer two years ago, this group of women has been doing their best to savor and enjoy each other’s company – and now, a hotel is being hailed for its hand in helping them have one of the best nights of their lives.
One of the women, Jennifer Toby, told the story to a newscaster for KTVU who then published the story on Facebook.
In the message, Toby explains how she and five other women have been best friends since they met in high school 19 years ago. This is why they were heartbroken to hear that one of them had been diagnosed with Glioblastoma brain cancer over 2 years ago.
“This hurdle has brought us even closer together and we try to make as many memories together as possible,” writes Toby.
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During one of their most recent get-togethers, the sick friend mentioned that she wanted to have a weekend getaway at the beach – so her friends did their best to make it happen.
“Traveling in her condition is not easy and the brain tumor has made it hard for her to be mobile so she feels most comfortable in a wheelchair,” says Toby. “We couldn’t find one house or hotel that was available that was wheelchair accessible WITH views facing the ocean like she wished for.
“The only place we could find was the Ritz Carlton [in] Half Moon Bay.
The rate for this hotel was far from our budget, but we went out on a whim and called them to see if there was anything they could do for us to help us out.
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“We were BLOWN away with their response.”
Toby explained their dilemma to a sales coordinator named Tanya Cruz. Within an hour of hearing the woman’s story, Cruz asked Toby to send over some photos of the friends along with information on any food allergies they may have.
Cruz then arranged a weekend getaway for the women in one of their fanciest handicap-accessible rooms with a private fire pit and a dazzling view of the ocean.
WATCH: Friends For 60 Years Find Out They’re Biological Brothers
“We knew that this trip was going to be special, but we had no idea how special until we set foot in the room,” says Toby. “When we opened the door to our room, we all had chills and were in awe with what we saw.
“They had decorated it with balloons, wrote her a special card, gave her a gift bag with goodies, spoiled us with fruit and cheese platters, a smore’s kit, and even a bottle of wine!
“They even printed out one of the pictures that we gave them and put it in a nice picture frame in the room … [and] the view that we had topped it off!”
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The women were even more impressed when they decided to eat in the hotel restaurant.
“Our friend decided that she wanted to try to go out for dinner. We did not make a reservation and we were told that we would have to wait 45 minutes for a table.
“Within 5 minutes, they came over to us and had cleared a table along the window with the most breathtaking view of the sun setting over the ocean.
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“After dinner, we spent the night at our fire pit roasting s’mores, laughing about old times. We literally stayed up the whole night having the best conversations.
“It was such an incredible time, we didn’t want to sleep because we didn’t want it to end.
“We will forever have this memory and it will go down as one of our best nights together.”
Click To Share The Sweet Story With Your Friends – Photos by Jennifer Toby
While a $5 lottery scratch-off ticket may not seem like a hefty tip for an Uber ride, it eventually paid off for the lucky driver who received it.
A Colorado driver named James P. was given a $5 Super Special Ultimate Bingo Scratch ticket as a tip from one of his regular passengers.
When he scratched off the prize, he found that he had won $30.
He then used his winnings to buy six more scratch-off tickets. Since James continued to win small prizes from the tickets, he kept using his winnings to buy more scratch-offs – until finally, his efforts paid off.
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Six weeks after receiving the first ticket, he hit the $140,000 jackpot.
James says that he plans on giving some of his winnings to his parents and using some of the funds to fix up his car.
The driver also says that he has given rides to the generous passenger several times in the past, but he has not seen the man since he gave James the scratch-off.
“I haven’t been able to find him yet and tell him about this, but I hope I do,” James said.
Click To Share The Lucky Story With Your Friends – Photo by Colorado Lottery
Quote of the Day: “Avoiding danger is no safer in the long run than outright exposure. Life is either a daring adventure or nothing.” – Helen Keller
Image: by Jack Lazar, CC
With a new inspirational quote every day, atop the perfect photo—collected and archived on our Quotes page—why not bookmark GNN.org for a daily uplift?
The Lesson: Everyone has value and there are no throwaway people – which is why Dr. Edgar Cahn invented Time Banking: a currency built off reciprocating talents, time, and experience that is bringing communities around the world together and opening up new worlds of value and connections.
Notable Excerpt: “I feel that people, if you give most people a chance, would say, ‘I’d love to think of myself as a kind, decent human being. How can I do that?’ When you ask them politically, they feel alienated from a system that has sent them a message that they don’t matter; that their voices don’t matter. I think it’s a matter … of using vehicles that say you can create alternatives. I think we need a whole mentoring squad to make that feel real. I think Peace Corps did that. I think that there were times when we had that as a dominant culture. When the hot thing to do was not to be negative, but at least being negative gives you an identity if you don’t have any other options and I just think that time banking is neither left nor right – [it is] only respect for human beings, only respect for capacity and if we begin to appeal to the capacity of people to be bigger than themselves, I think they will respond.”
The Guest: Dr. Edgar Cahn, the inventor of Time Banking, is a legal professor and former counsel and speech writer to Robert F. Kennedy. After attending the London School of Economics, he created Time Banking in 1995. There are now Time Banks in over 30 countries around the world.
The Host: Julie Pilat works in music and tech in Los Angeles while also participating in many community activities. After growing up in radio, she missed interviewing people and decided to create “The Idea Fountain: Life-Changing Conversations” monthly podcast in which she interviews someone who has changed her life.
(LISTEN to the inspiring talk below) – Photo by Chiara Cremaschi, CC
Good Advice? SHARE It – And, CHECK Out More on our Good Talks Page…
Jaron Johnson may only be 8 years old, but he is already well on his way to being an upstanding citizen after his compassionate display of integrity last week.
The youngster was out running errands with his mom when he found a $100 bill in the parking lot of a Walmart in Pineville, Louisiana.
“He was a few steps behind me and said, ‘Mom, look what I have in my pocket,’ and he said, ‘Can we turn it in to Walmart and give it to the rightful owner?’” Jaron’s mom Jodie told Inside Edition.
Jodie was aware of how an employee could simply pocket the money for themselves, so she told Jaron that they would go home and work out how to return the money the following day.
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The next day, Jaron told his mom to call Walmart and ask if anyone had reported the missing money. Jodie then called the store and left her phone number with the clerk. She did not, however, mention exactly what the missing property was.
Later that same day, she received a call from the daughter of James Grice: an 86-year-old man who had lost the $100 while he was shopping.
Because the senior lives on a fixed income, he had been unable to buy his groceries without the money; so when he discovered that someone had kept his finances safe, he was overwhelmed with joy.
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Grice and James met each other a few days later so the youngster could give him the money. As a means of expressing his gratitude, Grice gave Jaron $20 and a permanent invitation to the fresh tomatoes in his vegetable garden – which also happen to be one of Jaron’s favorite snacks.
“Jaron’s got a big heart,” Ms. Johnson said. “He has a passion for others. He has always shown his integrity and heart for others.”
Pay It Forward: Click To Share The Sweet Story With Your Friends – Photo by Jodie Johnson
42 of the UK’s biggest retailers, supermarkets, manufacturers, and brands have taken a historic pledge to completely transform the plastic packaging sector by 2025.
Corporate giants such as Asda, Nestle, Lidl, Coca-Cola, Aldi, PepsiCo, Unilever, Tesco, Waitrose, Morrisons, Sainsbury, and Pret a Manger have joined the UK Plastics Pledge to eliminate single-use plastic packaging. Together, the signatories represent roughly 80% of the plastics sold in UK supermarkets.
The initiative, which is orchestrated by waste advisory charity WRAP in collaboration with the UK’s largest nonprofits, recyclers, and governments, has set a series of goals to cut wasteful packaging over the course of the next seven years.
For starters, the initiative will ensure that 100% of plastic packaging must either be recyclable, compostable, or reusable in order to make it onto supermarket shelves. Some supermarkets have gone even further and declared that plastic packaging will no longer be used on fruits and vegetables.
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Additionally, the pact seeks to increase the amount of properly recycled plastic from its current rate of 30% to at least 70%.
Environment Secretary Michael Gove, who is backing the pact, said in a statement: “Our ambition to eliminate avoidable plastic waste will only be realized if government, businesses, and the public work together.”
“Industry action can prevent excess plastic reaching our supermarket shelves in the first place. I am delighted to see so many businesses sign up to this pact and I hope others will soon follow suit,” he added.
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The Ellen MacArthur Foundation, one of the industry groups supporting the initiative, will also be helping to expand the initiative to other countries so more governments, businesses, and manufacturers can replicate the goals.
Dame Ellen MacArthur of the MacArthur Foundation said: “This bold new pact will bring together businesses, policymakers and the public to create a circular economy for plastics that tackles the causes of plastic waste and pollution, not just the symptoms. Focusing on innovation, better packaging design and end-of-use systems will not only generate long-term benefits for the environment, but is also a huge economic opportunity.”
“We encourage others around the world to help drive this momentum towards global solutions to what is a global problem.”
The pact comes as a welcome follow-up to the UK’s recent promise to eliminate wasteful plastic packaging by 2042.
(WATCH the video below)
Pass On The Historic News To Your Friends: Click To Share – Photo by WRAP
An anonymous New England man had been told by a dozen people that his gold coin was a worthless fake – until coin experts verified that the antique was real.
Not only that, but the coin is easily worth millions of dollars.
The 164-year-old coin was minted as a $5 denomination during the California Gold Rush in 1854. Records indicate that only 268 of the coins were made by the San Francisco Mint, only three of which have survived to this day. The man’s coin has now been verified as the fourth.
The coin’s validity was authenticated by the Numismatic Guaranty Corporation (NGC), an organization that has verified over 40 million rare coins since 1987.
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“It’s like finding an original Picasso at a garage sale. It’s the discovery of a lifetime,” said Mark Salzberg, NGC Chairman.
“The owner of the coin is a life-long New England resident who wants to remain anonymous. He was stunned when we informed him that it is a genuine, multi-million dollar rare coin. He had shown it to a few collectors and dealers at a recent coin show, but everybody said they thought it was a fake because until now there were only three genuine surviving 1854 San Francisco Mint $5 gold pieces known,” explained Salzberg.
“Our initial reaction on examining the coin was utter disbelief that a rarity of this magnitude could still be discovered in this era,” said NGC President Rick Montgomery. “But upon seeing the coin in person for the first time it was apparent that the coin is genuine.”
Click To Share The Cool Story With Your Friends – Photo by NGC
6 people with severe spinal injuries have regained motor function in their hands and fingers for the first time in years thanks to an inexpensive, noninvasive, nonsurgical spinal treatment.
At the beginning of the UCLA-led study, 3 of the patients were unable to move their hands at all, and none of the participants could perform simple tasks such as opening a water bottle, turning a doorknob, or operating a cell phone. Some of the patients had been paralyzed for over 10 years – others had been without motor function for as little as one year.
Over the course of eight therapy sessions in four weeks, researchers attached electrodes to the patients’ skin that applied electrical currents at varying frequencies and intensities to stimulate the spine’s circuitry. The researchers called the treatment “transcutaneous enabling motor control,” or tEmc.
After just four sessions, patients started seeing positive results.
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“About midway through the sessions, I could open my bedroom door with my left hand for the first time since my injury and could open new water bottles, when previously someone else had to do this for me,” said Cecilia Villarruel, one of the participants, whose injury resulted from a car accident 13 years earlier.
“Most people with a spinal cord injury say they just want to go to the bathroom like a normal person again,” she Villarruel. “Small accomplishments like opening jars, bottles and doors enable a level of independence and self-reliance that is quite satisfying, and have a profound effect on people’s lives.”
60 days after undergoing the treatment, two of the patients returned to the laboratory and displayed their maintained grip strength, from opening doorknobs to managing cell phones. The treatment had also improved their bladder function, blood pressure, and cardiovascular function. Not only that, but they were able to dress and feed themselves without the help of a caregiver.
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The research team has conducted the treatment on two dozen other patients outside of the study participants and all of them showed improved motor function after the therapy.
“Improved hand function can mean the difference between needing around-the-clock care and living more independently,” said Peter Wilderotter, president and CEO of the Reeve Foundation. “These findings bring great hope to those who were told recovery following paralysis would be impossible. As new discoveries and breakthroughs are uncovered, it is clear the word ‘impossible’ no longer applies to spinal cord injury.”
The research team is currently seeking FDA approval for the inexpensive therapy so that the equipment can be given to rehabilitation clinics in poor communities that cannot afford advanced medical treatments.
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“I get criticized a lot for giving ‘false hope’ but we follow where the science tells us to go and just give the research results,” Edgerton said. “Everything is telling us the nervous system is much more adaptable than we’ve given it credit for, and can relearn and recover from severe injury.”
“Nearly everyone thought the only people who would benefit from treatment were those who had been injured for less than a year; that was the dogma. Now we know the dogma is dead,” said V. Reggie Edgerton, senior author of the research. “All of our subjects have been paralyzed for more than a year. We know that in a high percentage of subjects who are severely injured, we can improve their quality of life.”
(WATCH the video below)
Click To Share The Exciting News With Your Friends
Pepper the Cat, lost on 4/20/18 in Terminal 4, JFK, has been sighted. #PAPD is now attempting to rescue Pepper. Humane traps have been set up in hopes the PAPD can reunite Pepper with its owner. #PAPDPROTECTSNYNJ #Pepper pic.twitter.com/qOnTN2OxUk
— Port Authority PBA (@PAPD911) April 26, 2018
An elusive feline named Pepper was finally rescued after eight days of running from the authorities at JFK airport.
The 4-year-old tabby had been curled up inside her carrier while her owner was getting ready to check-in for her flight to China.
As they were waiting in line, however, Pepper’s carrier fell on its side, popped open, and unleashed the anxious feline into the airport. The tabby seized her chance for escape and jumped onto the check-in counter before leaping up onto the low ceiling and disappearing into the facility.
Distraught by her cat’s escape, Pepper’s 29-year-old owner missed her flight so she could help search for the cat, although she was eventually forced to follow through with her relocation and take a plane to China without her cat.
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The Port Authority police officers, determined to reunite the feline with her owner, continued to search the airport.
Over the course of eight days, there were several sightings of Pepper in various hard-to-reach spots. When the cat stubbornly remained out of arm’s reach, they set up humane animal traps with cat food for bait – but they still had no luck.
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Finally, one of the JFK International officers thought to enlist the help of Nuan Tang, a friend of the cat’s owner who has watched Pepper in the past.
With a little cat food in hand, Tang started calling out for “Dai Meng”, which is Pepper’s Mandarin name that loosely translates to “little dork”.
Pepper still remains elusive in JFK Airport's Terminal 4 but, Pepper appears healthy. #PAPD police officers are continuing their efforts to rescue Pepper and return to her owner. Officers have been leaving food for Pepper in the areas of her sightings. #PAPDPROTECTSNYNJ pic.twitter.com/owuBgCLq3b
— Port Authority PBA (@PAPD911) April 27, 2018
Within 15 minutes, Pepper recognized Tang’s voice and scampered from her hiding place all the way to the cat carrier. Once the cat was safely secured in the carrier, Port Authority officers secured the box with duct tape so she wouldn’t be able to escape again.
Pepper is currently recovering at Tang’s house until she is ready to be reunited with her owner.
Port Authority Police rescue Pepper the Cat in Terminal 4, JFK. P.O. Kameel Juman (front, left) led the effort which included enlisting Pepper's owner's friend Nuan Lang (front, right). Rear, L-R #PAPD POs Ann Armstrong, Alfred Morgado & Sean McCafferty. #PAPDPROTECTSNYNJ #Pepper pic.twitter.com/kfEj6O8S38
— Port Authority PBA (@PAPD911) April 28, 2018
Click To Share The Pawesome Rescue Story With Your Friends
Quote of the Day: “Anyone who has lost track of time when using a computer knows the propensity to dream, the urge to make dreams come true and the tendency to miss lunch.” – Tim Berners-Lee (launched the World Wide Web)
Image: by Geralt, CC
With a new inspirational quote every day, atop the perfect photo—collected and archived on our Quotes page—why not bookmark GNN.org for a daily uplift?
LISTEN to this Good News Guru story, as broadcast on the radio with Ellen K and Geri on KOST-103.5. (Subscribe to our new podcast on iTunes – or for Androids, on Podbean) — or Read the story below…
Do you remember the teenager who six years ago invented a machine that he said could get rid of the plastic that was gathering in the ocean?
Well, just in time for Earth Day, the young Dutch genius announced that he is almost ready to launch his ground-breaking initiative designed to purge the seas of the “Great Pacific Garbage Patch.”
This patch is a massive island of trash drifting halfway between California and Hawaii. Over a trillion pieces of debris have collected there because of the swirling vortex of current—a floating mass roughly twice the size of Texas.
After discovering the patch in the 90s, scientists said it would take thousands of years to clean it up—but Boyan Slat said in his TEDx talk that he could do it in less than ten, if he could get his special machinery built.
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Though his claim caused many skeptics to raise their eyebrows, Slat dropped out of college so he could bring his plans to life. In addition to crowdfunding $2.2 million for his idea, he garnered millions more dollars through interested investors.
His nonprofit Ocean Cleanup Project now employs 70 engineers, researchers, and scientists — all dedicated to cleansing the sea of plastic.
After patiently conducting years of research, they are launching 60 custom-built trash-picker-uppers out of the San Francisco Bay to start collecting the rubbish in July.
Each floating machine is essentially a mile-long screen that harnesses the ocean’s currents to passively collect floating trash of all sizes without using large amounts of energy or resources. Since the screen stays on the surface, fish can pass underneath without being harmed.
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With boats arriving to clean up the trash every six to eight weeks, Slat estimates that half of the patch will be collected in five years.
This Dutch boy wasn’t satisfied to just hold his finger in the dam of disaster. He rebuilt the dam to his own specifications.
“The cleanup of the world’s oceans is just around the corner,” he declared— and he is “confident” they will succeed.
(WATCH the video below)
Clean Up Negativity: Click To Share The Story With Your Friends – Photos by The Ocean Cleanup Project
At 42 years old and with only 2% of her vision remaining, San Diego resident Amy Dixon, also known as “Super Woman,” will represent the United States in the Triathlon event in the 2020 Paralympics in Tokyo.
Amy will be competing with women half her age and more than double her sight, but that does not discourage her – it only motivates her to push harder for herself, her country and for those with visual impairments.
Prior and during her journey to Tokyo, Dixon has continued to break through tough barriers on and off the track so she can prove that anyone is capable of achieving their dreams and overcoming their disabilities.
When Dixon is not working to improve her best personal race time, she is working on improving the lives of those in our community. For the past two years, she has held camps that teaches the visually and audibly impaired how to race in triathlons. Additionally, Dixon has been able to raise enough money each year to provide this camp at no cost to its participants.
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While working to better the lives of those impaired, she is actively working on saving the sight of others through her work as the Vice President of the Glaucoma Eyes International foundation.
Since she is such an inspiration to San Diego, Senator Joel Anderson recently honored Dixon’s efforts by presenting her with a certificate of recognition for her tremendous athletic achievements and her dedication to better the lives of those in our community.
Click To Share The Athlete’s Inspiring Story With Your Friends…
This Font is Designed Specifically For Dyslexia – and it Really Works
For the last 20 years, Renee Bercury’s yellow raincoat has been her constant companion throughout every adventure – but when she saw a runner who was desperately in need of warmth, she didn’t hesitate to give it up.
Bercury and her family were in the midst of watching the Boston Marathon last week when one of the runners became overwhelmed by the rain and freezing temperatures.
“He had just such a look of despair and desperation on his face,” Bercury told Boston.com. “I remember him asking, ‘Can I have a jacket? Can I have a jacket?’ And I felt like he was looking at several people.”
Bercury immediately took off her raincoat and passed it to the runner. He zipped it up, quickly thanked her, and continued to run.
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“He struck me as a person who was drowning and reaching his hand out for somebody to save him. It was that dramatic. It hit me that hard… So I had no qualms. It was just instinct to take the jacket off and hand it to him.”
Judging by his exhaustion, Bercury’s family doubted whether the runner would be able to finish the marathon. When her son ran past them a little later, she says that he looked just as bad. (His condition eventually forced him to drop out.)
The guy with her jacket, however, made it across the finish line—and immediately after completing the race, he took to social media in search of the jacket’s rightful owner.
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His mission was shared thousands of times until it was picked up by news outlets. A few days later, Bercury received a text from her son containing a link to a news story about the man.
“I looked at the message from my son … and I just burst into tears,” said the 62-year-old woman. “I was just kind of overcome that he managed to finish, and what he said — that (the jacket) made the race for him… I was just really happy.”
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The runner, 27-year-old Steven Stallis, managed to get Bercury’s phone number so they could swap stories about the marathon. Though she told him he could keep the jacket, he insisted on sending it back to her home in Slippery Rock, Pennsylvania.
“She said she’s had the jacket for over 20 years, and it’s been all over the country on really cool trips,” he told Boston. “Now it’s crossed the Boston finish line, so it’s a new story for her to have that jacket back.”
Click To Share The Sweet Story With Your Friends
San Francisco is the land of trolleys, tech companies, niche coffee shops, and increasingly, the land of social mobility for the homeless.
Because the city has been at the heart of the tech boom, many of San Francisco’s at-risk citizens have been burdened by the corresponding sky-rocketing housing costs.
That’s why a formerly-homeless poet and writer, Del Seymour, founded Code Tenderloin: a nonprofit that seeks to rehabilitate, train, and find employment for the disenfranchised residents of Tenderloin, the Bay city’s poorest and most ethnically diverse neighborhood.
So far, 300 students have graduated from the program and a third of them have already found employment in the tech sector. Some of the grads have even been hired into six-figure jobs.
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In an interview with Business Insider, Victoria Westbrook, who is the director of programs and operations at Code Tenderloin, gave some background about her journey and the organization. Westbrook says that for 20 years, she was a drug user who was living in a halfway house. Then her friend told her about Code Tenderloin. There, she learned networking skills, built a business relationship with Seymour, and condensed her resume from four pages down to one.
“My past shapes me, but it doesn’t define me unless I let it,” Westbrook said.
She explained that Code Tenderloin accepts everybody into its program unless they are an active addict – but even then, the organization doesn’t just give them the cold shoulder. Instead, Code Tenderloin will help the applicant find the help they need to get back on their feet. Once applicants are within the program, the varied skills they learn can help them in any field: networking, resume building, elevator pitches, and more.
Since 2015, Code Tenderloin has used its connections in the industry to place 100 of their applicants into job positions. Thus far, 35% of them have stayed with their employer for over 12 months.
Westbrook expressed hope for the future, saying that they are planning on offering mentorship to their students after graduation so they can continue to flourish in the business world.
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