Melanie Goldsmith must have read hundreds of children’s books while working as an elementary school teacher – but this one was by far the most special.
Eric Hernandez, Melanie’s boyfriend of five years, knew that he wanted to propose to the teacher in a special way. Since he knew that Melanie was passionate about teaching and reading, he started crafting a children’ book about their relationship featuring two little bunny rabbits.
After months of planning and elaborate orchestration, Melanie’s fellow teachers pretended to have Melanie read the book out loud in a staff meeting as a “training exercise” while Eric hid in the other room.
As Melanie realizes that the story is about her, she can’t contain her emotions. When she starts to cry, another teacher finishes reading the story, ending on a page that simply says “Will you marry me?”
Right on time, Eric walks out from the other room, gets down on one knee, and pops the question to an overwhelmed Melanie – and she says yes.
The book, appropriately named “Making Memories”, is just one of many that will be treasured by this sweet couple in their many years of marriage.
Amid increasingly concern about the disappearing honeybee populations, researchers are creating an easy, downloadable app that may be used by amateur and professional enthusiasts alike to help monitor bee species worldwide.
Scientists at the University of Missouri cobbled together an inexpensive acoustic listening system that collected data from small microphones in the field to monitor bees in flight. Using the data, they developed algorithms to identify and quantify the number of bee buzzes in any location.
“For more than 100 years, scientists have used sonic vibrations to monitor birds, bats, frogs and insects. We wanted to test the potential for remote monitoring programs that use acoustics to track bee flight activities,” said researcher Candace Galen.
Basically, farmers and backyard honeybee fans will be able to use the software to check up on the numbers of honeybees and pollination activity in their area and react accordingly, based on the readings.
“Eavesdropping on the acoustic signatures of bee flights tells the story of bee activity and pollination services,” said Galen. “Farmers may be able to use the exact methods to monitor pollination of their orchards and vegetable crops and head off pollination deficits. Finally, global ‘citizen scientists’ could get involved, monitoring bees in their backyards.”
Galen’s team is currently working on creating a downloadable smartphone app that will detect and record the buzzing of bees and calculate the status of the local population based on the buzz activity, giving every user a valuable tool in their quest to care for the pollinators.
Click To Share The Buzz With Your Friends(Photo by study co-author, Jennifer Geib, Appalachian State University)
This Jewish nurse wasn’t about to let religion get in the way of a baby boy’s livelihood.
The baby’s mother was injured in a head-on car collision in Jerusalem on Friday, while the father was killed instantly. The boy, Yaman Abu Ramila, was then taken to the hospital by paramedics for his lighter injuries.
The aunts of the 9-month-old baby went to the Hadassah Ein Kerem Hospital to claim Yaman – but when he cried for several hours, refusing to eat from a bottle, the women were distraught.
Finally, a Jewish nurse named Ula Ostrowski-Zak volunteered to breast feed him herself.
Since Ula has an 18-month-old child of her own, she said that it was like “feeding her own son”, even though the aunts were taken aback by her kind gesture.
“His aunts were surprised that a Jew agreed to breastfeed him, but I told them that every mother would do it,” said Ula, according to YNet News. “His aunts embraced me and thanked me.”
When the question arose concerning who would feed the boy once he was discharged from the hospital, Ula posted on Facebook asking if anyone would agree to help. The post accumulated over 1,000 responses and offers of help. However, another of Yaman’s aunts in the vicinity ended up volunteering to breast feed him.
Until the boy’s mother is fully healed, he will be staying with his grandparents in Hebron.
Click To Share This Inspiring Story With Your Friends (Photo Hadassah Ein Kerem Hospital)
This German shepherd wasn’t cut out for the life of a police dog – but he’s found a much more fitting line of work, thanks to the Queensland government.
Gavel was sacked after undergoing a police dog training course, during which he was more keen on socializing with perpetrators than being “professional”.
But there’s no need to worry about Gavel’s future because he’s now employed as Queensland’s first ever official Vice-Regal dog for the Government House.
Since he started working for Governor Paul de Jersey in February, the pup has become the most popular political figure in town.
When he’s not attending important meetings as an official representative of the office, he’s snuggling with the staff, greeting visitors, and spreading cheer wherever he goes— a much more fitting role for him, instead of ferociously fighting on the frontline.
“Gavel on occasions sits in on briefings with the Governor,” a spokesman for the Office of the Governor told the Brisbane Times. “Gavel has also demonstrated his capacity to uphold the ceremonial importance of his role at State of Origin time.”
“He has outgrown four ceremonial coats, undergone a career change, and brought untold joy to the lives of the governor, Mrs. de Jersey, Government House staff, and the thousands of Queenslanders who have since visited the estate.”
Click To Share This Pawesome Story With Your Friends (Photos by Government House Queensland)
Phil Coyne may soon be turning 100 years old, but that doesn’t stop him from working as an usher at the local baseball stadium every year in the sweltering heat.
Phil has been working as an usher at the Forbes Field in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania for 81 years. Though he says that he uses a cane to score front row seats on the bus, he has no problem traversing the stairs of the stadium by himself as he works.
Considered a local Pittsburgh Pirates celebrity, all the regular baseball fans are on good terms with Phil. The senior takes special care of the spectators by dolling out high-fives, chatting up the crowd, and cleaning off people’s chairs before seating them.
So why does Phil choose to keep working when he could be enjoying retirement?
He says that it’s his love of the game – and the people – that keep him going.
“I get more hugs and kisses now than I ever got in my life,” Phil told Steve Hartman with a smile in a CBS Evening News interview.
The Foreign Ministry of Germany has just granted refuge to its first gay Chechen man fleeing persecution on a humanitarian visa. While he arrived in Germany earlier this week, several more applicants are currently being reviewed by diplomats at the German embassy in Moscow.
According to the German newspaper Tagesspiegel, the distribution of residence permits based on humanitarian purposes is especially rare – but given the circumstances, the Foreign Ministry is “happy to be able to help in especially difficult cases.”
France announced the arrival of their first gay Chechen refugee near the end of May.
Since March, human rights activists have twice raised the alarm over Chechen police allegedly hunting and rounding up over 100 gay Chechens for violent purposes. Though Chechen officials have denied these allegations, evidence and testimonies continue to arise against the nation’s law enforcement claims.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Emmanuel Macron have been urging Russian President Vladimir Putin to take action and protect the gay Chechen community.
Click To Share The News With Your Friends(Photo by Mkomarova11, CC)
Homeless man James Pocock is being hailed as a hero after he saved a trucker who suffered a heart attack while driving, causing him to crash into the side of the road.
James, who was camping out at his usual spot by interstate Exit 12 in Williston, Vermont, witnessed the moment when Paul Bristol succumbed to a heart attack and lost control of his vehicle. James leapt into action, pulling Paul out of the vehicle and reviving him with CPR.
Thanks to James’s quick thinking, Paul is alive and well today.
While James was honored by the local fire department for his heroic actions, Paul’s family friend Lynnea Bergevin Nicols went one step further and created a GoFundMe to raise money for James’s livelihood.
When James was featured in the Burlington Free Press for his good deed, Lynnea recognized him as a homeless man whom she had bought new jeans for while Christmas shopping with her children. James had been standing on the side of the road with a tattered pair of jeans sign listing his measurements – and Lynnea had been more than happy to fulfill his request.
Now, after her crowdfunding page has already raised almost $15,000, the two are closer than ever.
The mom had never expected the campaign to receive such widespread support – especially since she had only set the goal for $2,000 after James made the news.
“I had no idea this was going to happen, no idea what to expect. I was thinking I would set the limit at $5K but then said oh never mind I’ll just set it at $2K. Then it just took off, the next day was insane!” Lynnea told Good News Network. “He is so flabbergasted. He has moments of just ‘whoa’.”
But what James is the most excited to use his money for, isn’t exactly steady meals or new pants: it’s a new prescription for his glasses, which he hasn’t been able to renew for the last three years.
“James turned to me and said ‘you know there’s something I really want if I could have anything’, and then he pulls out his eye prescription from 2014 and asked for new glasses. We were like, yes, of course we can do that!”
After a much-needed doctor’s appointment, James is currently in a hotel until he is moved into housing on Monday. Lynnea is currently working on finding James a job and organizing the campaign’s funding. James’s final request, however, is that 10% of the campaign funds go to charity.
“He’s a really sweet guy and always so appreciative. Just a really sweet guy,” Lynnea told Good News Network. “His message to people is not to make a snap decision about what someone looks like or their circumstance because the homeless community is full of great people.”
Ride-sharing app and transportation company Uber is offering free rides to polling stations for UK wheelchair users on Thursday.
Anyone in need of a lift for the elections between 7AM and 10PM in London, Birmingham, or Manchester can use the UberACCESS feature to request wheelchair-accessible transport for free.
Though Uber is footing the bill for the rides, they have partnered with the disability charity Whizz-Kidz in order to get the word out.
“Exercising your right to vote is such a fundamental milestone in transitioning from childhood to adulthood. For many young wheelchair users across the UK, this year will mark the first time ever they’ve been eligible to vote in a General Election,” said Whizz-Kidz chief executive Ruth Owen. “So it’s important that the barriers that can stand between them and making their voices heard are removed … We hope Uber’s generous move will inspire many young wheelchair users to get out and vote on Thursday.”
“Accessing convenient, safe and affordable transport can sometimes be a challenge for wheelchair users. That’s why we’re proud to offer a fully wheelchair accessible option in London, Birmingham and Manchester with many more cities to come,” said Uber’s UK general manager, Jo Bertram. “Everybody should be able to have their say on election day, so we’re delighted to work with Whizz-Kidz to offer young wheelchair users an easy way to get to the polls.”
Interested voters can either receive two $13 vouchers via the Uber app or download the vouchers directly from Whizz-Kids.
Click To Share The News With Your Friends (Photo by UberACCESS)
95-year-old comedy legend Carl Reiner wonders why some of his friends died years ago, while others are still thriving. “Was it luck, genes, modern medicine or are we doing something right?”
“Every morning before having breakfast, I pick up my newspaper and get the obituary section,” joked Reiner, in his new HBO documentary. “If I’m not listed, I’ll have my breakfast.”
Reiner tracks down such celebrated nonagenarians and centenarians as Mel Brooks, 90, Dick Van Dyke, 91, Norman Lear, 94, and Betty White, 95, who are proof that the later years can truly be the happiest and most rewarding. The film’s opening title song, “The Best Is Yet to Come,” is performed by Tony Bennett, 90, and an original song “Just Getting Started,” was commissioned for the show.
“At 30, I exercised to look good. In my 50s, I exercised to stay fit. And in my 90s, it’s just gonna be out of defiance,” says Van Dyke.
You’ll see comic book writer and publisher Stan Lee, the former president of Marvel, who’s still writing, producing and making cameo appearances in hit films at 94 and fashion icon Iris Apfel, at 95. Actor Kirk Douglas, 100, chats with Reiner about the stroke that left him unable to speak and the subsequent one-man show he undertook, with his wife’s encouragement, to prove he could still function.
Also interviewed are Harriette Thompson, 93, the oldest woman to run and finish a marathon, Ida Keeling, 101, a track and field athlete, who works out for an hour every day, 98-year-old yoga teacher, Tao Porchon-Lynch, who marched with Gandhi and recently took up tango, and Jim “Pee Wee” Martin, 95, who fought in D-Day and still parachutes.
Younger celebrities, too, are featured in the documentary, including comedian Jerry Seinfeld, who’s already reserved the stage at Caesars Palace for his 100th birthday show; and Van Dyke’s much-younger wife, Arlene, who’s got all she can handle keeping up with her exuberant husband on the dance floor.
(WATCH the trailer below, or full film on HBO Go or HBO Now)
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Alex Honnold has just become the first person to ever complete a death-defying free-solo climb up the 3,000 foot face of El Capitan in Yosemite National Park, California.
The California-born climber has spent two years preparing for the feat, which he finally completed in a little less than four hours on Saturday.
“So stoked to realize a dream today,” wrote 31-year-old Alex on Facebook following the accomplishment.
El Capitan is a sheer granite rock face that is even taller than the highest building in the world: the Burj Khalifa in Dubai, the United Arab Emirates. Though climbers have maneuvered the cliff with ropes and safety gear, no one has ever made the journey with just their hands. The cliff is so sheer, in fact, that many of the rock points that Alex used during his climb were no bigger than his thumb, according to the Associated Press.
Honnold scaled El Capitan with safety rope several times before Saturday, marking every handhold and crag with chalk so he could find them during his final climb. For weeks, he would train for the climb by spending hours hanging by his fingertips and doing one and two-armed pull-ups in his van, says National Geographic.
Though Honnold has been practicing for the climb over the course of the last two years, he has dreamt of the feat for eight years. He even dropped out of the University of Berkeley in order to pursue free-solo climbing. Ever year, he would approach the daunting gray face of El Capitan and be too overwhelmed by its figure to seriously consider it. Then, in November, he began the free-solo climb only to turn back an hour in because the conditions didn’t feel appropriate.
But now, as news of his accomplishment spreads on social media, the congratulatory comments have begun to pour in. Rock climbers from around the world have called Honnold’s climb the greatest and most impressive climbing feat in the world to date. Oscar award-winning actor Jared Leto even created a special congratulatory video during a 30 Seconds to Mars concert in Nashville.
“I’ve been overwhelmed by the well wishes I’ve received post El Cap,” wrote Honnold in response. “I’m moved by all the messages from friends and the greater climbing community. It’s been incredible. But this text from [Jared Leto] might take the cake…”
National Geographic photographer Jimmy Chin was there to witness the “moon landing of rock climbing” firsthand – and his team’s footage will help to create an exclusive documentary of Honnold’s journey in the coming year.
(WATCH the video below)
Click To Share The Inspiring News With Your Friends (Photo by Jimmy Chin)
This special ed teacher has been with her student Jamais Howard for every step of his education – and now she’s going to be there when he graduates.
Jamais had been in and out of Griffin High School, leaving a spotty educational record. However, thanks to the motivation and supervision of Kimberly Wimbish, he was able to keep up with his courses through online classes.
Because of his dicey track record, the Georgia teen wasn’t sure he would be graduating this year – that is, until Wimbish surprised him at his house with a cap and gown.
And his reaction is priceless.
After being presented with the accolades, Jamais’s face breaks into a huge smile, and he exclaims: “Aw man, thank you! I appreciate it, ma’am, I love you so much!”
(WATCH the videos below)
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If you’ve ever wondered how the fight against cancer is going, just ask the thousands of patients who have collectively been granted more time on this precious planet.
A new study conducted by the Southwest Oncology Group (SWOG) has found that thanks to federally funded cancer treatment studies, successful Phase III clinical trials have drastically extended the lives of cancer patients; collectively adding up to over 3.34 million more years of life.
The price tag for such valuable time? SWOG found that each year of life cost roughly $125 in federal funding.
SWOG, which is a network of cancer clinical trials network funded by the National Cancer Institute (NCI), has collectively enrolled over 200,000 volunteer patients and helped ensure the approval of 14 different cancer drugs and over 100 new practices of care.
“The NCI’s investment in SWOG and our network has resulted in a significant benefit to the American public,” said SWOG biostatistician Joseph Unger. “A lot of people with cancer have lived longer because of the therapies tested in our publicly-funded trials. At the same time, the cost of this research is relatively low. So with high impact and low cost, it’s a great value for taxpayers.”
Unger conducted his research by analyzing 23 different Phase III randomized clinical trials that were shown to extend the lifespan of patients suffering from a variety of cancers, including lung, breast, skin, and prostate, as well as blood cancers such as leukemia, lymphoma, and myeloma.
Assuming the treatments became standards of care, Unger then calculated how many new patients would benefit from the therapies in hospitals worldwide. If every patient benefitted from the average of five or more years of survival, then SWOG has helped millions of cancer patients live longer lives. Even if Unger overestimated the amount of years gained from the treatments, it can still tally up to about 2 millions years granted, rather than 3 million.
“Time is the most priceless gift we have, and the ability to give people with cancer more time with their loved ones is a major achievement,” said SWOG Group Chair Dr. Charles Blanke, the senior author of this abstract. “To put the numbers in context, the most conservative estimate of 2 million years is the equivalent of giving about three extra years of life to every one of the estimated 600,000 Americans expected to die of cancer this year. This is an exceptional benefit to come out of federally-funded cancer research.”
Save Your Friends From Negativity: Click To Share (Photo by PDPics, CC)
One year ago, I took a new and unexpected turn in my life. I was completely broke with no income, and it had been like that for a long time. I had been working nonstop for years as a professional photographer, but it was no longer generating any income.
I saw a job for an ‘Aged Care Worker’ position and didn’t think I would like it, but the agency explained that there are different levels of care, and I could choose the ‘low care’ option, which I found very appealing.
I went for an interview, was sent for a thorough medical check, then was offered the job. I had to have a whole host of vaccinations, apply for a police check certification, change the insurance on my car, fill in a mountain of paperwork, and learn how to use their mobile computer system and understand a whole new range of terminology, as well as be able to work to a tight schedule that involved a lot of travel throughout suburbs that I didn’t know very well. The same month I started the job, July 2016, I went back to study 2 days a week for 6 months. I worked my butt off in class and doing assessments, plus 120 hours of practice experience – it nearly broke me. I attained my certification and was one of the top students in the class.
I work mostly with clients who have dementia, and found that I really enjoyed one certain aspect of the work, and that is the role of offering social support (yes, that’s actually a thing). I did what I do best, and took a personal interest in these lovely oldies and showed them that they are special, valued, and interesting.
I also became known as the “massage lady”, as they usually get a free shoulder massage before I leave. And most of these people request me back, which means my roster is basically full of “social support” work – so, I have earned my way into having the perfect job.
I didn’t know it one year ago, but it is actually ‘my calling’ I was born for this job. And if you have any preconceptions about what my job entails, this photo and little story gives you a glimpse into how I spend my Saturdays.
When I took this photo, I was with two elderly women – two of the nicest people I have ever met; and I am blessed to spend time in their company. We gazed in awe at the magnificence of these trees with their leaves drifting in the breeze and they said “Isn’t it beautiful? It’s magical.”
Linking arms with these two gorgeous ladies, we walked under the trees and were all smiling in awe at the beauty around us and at how grateful we were to be in each other’s company. Then, one of the ladies started reciting a poem she had learned many years ago, called “Yellow Leaves”. I almost cried. But I was too happy, so I gently caressed her cheek with the back of my hand and told her she was ‘gorgeous’ – she said I was ‘precious’ and the third lady started to dance… beneath the falling yellow leaves.
(WATCH the video below)
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In possibly one of the most endearingly Canadian gestures he has shown in office, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is trending on Twitter for casually kayaking up to a family on World Environment Day and chatting it up with a local family.
Carrie Robinson, whose parents were discussing the rising water levels of Ontario’s Niagara River and similar environmental issues with Trudeau, filmed the exchange and later posted the clip on social media.
“Justin Trudeau just kayaked up to my house and talked to my parents? Classic,” says Robinson.
Trudeau had been on his way down the river from delivering some hard-hitting comments on climate change and Canada’s position with the Paris Climate Accord.
“The future is still bright for those who have the courage to confront hard truths and the confidence to stay the course. Canada will not back down from our commitment to fight climate change,” said the life vest-clad Trudeau. “And we are not alone. Around the world, nearly every country is on our side. … We can’t walk away from the reality of climate change, and we won’t walk away from a global plan that has a realistic chance of fighting it.”
An anonymous homeless man is being hailed for donating $10,000 to a shelter in order to make sure that his friends are taken care of.
The donation, which came out of the man’s residential school settlement money, will be used to help fund the Shelter House’s Street Outreach Services (SOS) program in Thunder Bay, Ontario.
The shelter’s development officer, Alexandra Calderon, says that the anonymous donor visited her office a few weeks ago with a support worker and presented her with the check.
“I actually thought I had misread the cheque… I was floored. The support worker actually had tears in her eyes!” Calderon told CTV News.
When Calderon tried to refuse the check, he insisted, saying that he wanted to make sure his friends were safe.
“He has a personal relationship with a lot of his friends who live at the shelter or who live at our managed alcohol program so he wanted to make sure that there was someone that they could call when they needed help.”
Shelter House has been raising money to reboot their SOS program since it lost funding in March. The SOS team was composed of professional volunteers who visited homeless encampments and high-risk individuals in order to distribute food, water, blankets, and other essentials to those who may not have them otherwise. Individuals, businesses, and law enforcement officials could request the SOS team to provide homeless or intoxicated people with anything from transportation, to just a friendly face.
The shelter is now half-way to reaching their target fundraising goal of $200,000 – and a fair portion of that is definitely thanks to the generosity of a homeless man looking out for his friends.
(WATCH the video below)
Multiply The Good: Click To Share (Photo by Alexandra Calderon)
An 18-year-old who graduated from high school earlier this week was honored not just by his school – but also by his father sporting a hand drawn Pokémon tie that his son made him in 1st grade.
Dylan Olivo says that he didn’t even know that his father had kept the tie after eleven years, let alone that he would wear it to the ceremony.
The youth from Buda, Texas had decorated the tie specially for his father with a Pikachu and several Poké Balls when he was only 7 years old.
Though Dylan had not seen the tie since he first made it in grade school, his father Robert had reportedly kept it for over a decade so he could specifically wear it to his graduation.
Dylan was “shocked“ by the adorable gesture – and with such a supportive father, there is no doubt that the youth is going to be the very best that no one ever was when he attends the University of Texas in the fall.
Gotta Catch ‘Em All: Click To Share (Photo by Dylan Olivo)
When this 31-year-old ballet dancer saw that no one was moving to rescue a homeless man who had fallen onto the New York City subway tracks, he knew that he had to be the one to act.
Gray Davis was returning from watching his wife perform with the American Ballet Theater at the Metropolitan Opera House on Saturday night when two people on the other side of the tracks started arguing.
The two people, a 23-year-old woman and a 58-year-old homeless man, started throwing punches at each other when the homeless man fell onto the Manhattan train tracks below. The woman took off running from the subway station as the man was lying unmoving on the rails.
Despite there being a train due any minute, Gray leapt into action.
“At first I waited for somebody else to jump down there,” Gray told the New York Times. “People were screaming to get help. But nobody jumped down. So I jumped down.”
Witnesses were stunned by the dancer’s strength as he lifted the homeless man above his head, and onto the safety of the platform.
“We were all horrified about what was about to happen as the man lay unresponsive on that track… out of no where and just in time we all watched as a brave young man jumped down, and lifted the man high up on to safety like he was a feather,” said Gray’s mother Janie Krabbe B. LeTourneau. “He then lifted himself up miraculously just before the train got there. People started cheering and yelling ‘you are a hero’.”
Gray, who dances with the American Ballet Theater himself, had not been performing that night because he has been recovering from a herniated disk for the last month – but that didn’t stop him from saving the day.
“The NYPD came, arrested the lady, then got our statement, and told Gray he did a very brave thing and no doubt saved the man’s life… the man was rushed to [the] hospital and we pray he will be ok. My son has always made me proud, but I’ve never been as proud of him as I was tonight, out of 2 full platforms of people, he was the only person brave enough to jump down and save that man’s life. This certainly is a day I will never forget in more ways than one,” added LeTourneau.
Rescue Your Friends From Negativity: Click To Share (Photo by Janie Krabbe B. LeTourneau)
In preparation for their mid-June barbecue, these young men have acquired all of the food and drinks necessary for a backyard bash – but they’re still missing one crucial ingredient: a father figure.
That’s why the boys took to the Spokane, Washington Craigslist in search of a “substitute generic father figure” to be the “BBQ Dad”.
Dane Anderson says that though he and his friends all know how to manage a grill, they’re not comfortable fulfilling the role of BBQ Dad – and since none of them live close to their fathers anymore, they thought that they could find a substitute.
But the role of BBQ Dad can’t be fulfilled by any ol’ paternal figure from the street –. the boys have very specific requirements for all potential candidates:
Duties include:
Grilling hamburgers and hotdogs (whilst drinking beer) Bringing your own grill (though this is subject to change. We will provide all of the meat) Refer to all attendees as “Big Guy’, “Chief”, “Sport”, “Champ” etc. (whilst drinking beer) Talk about dad things, like lawnmowers, building your own deck, Jimmy Buffet, etc.
Funny anecdotes are highly encouraged. All whilst drinking beer.
Desired experience:
A minimum of 18 years experience as a father A minimum of 10 years grilling experience An appreciation of a nice, cold beer on a hot summer day
We can’t pay you in money, BUT we can give you all the food and cold beer your heart desires. Grill for a few hours, then sit back and crack open a few cold ones with the boys. THIS IS A REAL AD. Do not hesitate to call if you are interested. Preference will be given to applicants named Bill, Randy, or Dave. Send us an email with a selfie and a little about yourself!
While the ad has since been removed from Craigslist, Dane Anderson and his crew are adamant about finding a dad for the party on June 17th. If you think that you’re man enough for the job – or dad enough for the job, in this case – leave a comment below.
(WATCH the video below)
Click To Share This Dad-tastic Story With Your Friends (Photo by the Little Honeybee)
This 21-year-old blind college student had already been through countless hardships when she went to the Radio City 91.1 station building last month – and she had no idea that winning a radio contest would end up changing her life.
Nikita Shukla is a third-year college student who has been studying to be a lawyer at Government Law College in Mumbai, India. Back in May, Nikita was one of the few lucky callers who received a prize for calling into the Mumbai Masala show.
When she went into the station’s facility to claim her prize, she asked if she could meet the show’s radio jockey, Sucharita Tyagi.
While the two were chatting, Nikita started sharing some tidbits about her life. Tyagi was so shocked by the student’s circumstances, she asked Nikita to go on the record.
Tyagi then started tweeting Nikita’s story to her 10,000 Twitter followers.
“Nikita is completely blind. Something her parents were not very excited about, and wanted to get her married right after high school,” writes Tyagi. “When Nikita refused and insisted on studying further, she was asked to leave the house.”
The host goes on to explain how Nikita was about to leave the city when her friends convinced her to stay in Mumbai and continue studying. Together, they were able to accumulate enough money for the student to stay at a hostel and go to school through small scholarships and donations from compassionate professors. Due to her tight financial situation, however, Nikita could only afford the meals that were provided for free through the hostel. This resulted in the youth only eating about 20 meals per month – all while scoring over 80% on her exams.
When Tyagi started speaking about Nikita’s story on her show, hundreds of phone calls and emails poured in from listeners who wanted to donate. The financial contributions added up to thousands of dollars in donations.
“Not ONE person asked for proof, not ONE person said ‘but what if she runs away with my money?’ No, people just opened their hearts and gave,” says Tyagi. “We raised enough to cover her tuition, hostel and canteen fee. My girl can eat three meals a day now. And become a kickass lawyer!”
When presented with the money, Nikita couldn’t help but break down in tears.
“A single, blind girl who chose education over family, she couldn’t believe people willingly GAVE her their money,” Tyagi added. “Nikita Shukla, you star!”
Click To Share The Sweet Story With Your Friends (Photo by Sucharita Tyagi)
On the eve of this most joyous of World Environment Days, hundreds of Indian volunteers have assisted in cleansing a beach of its 160 tons of collected filth.
Over 2,000 volunteers spent their Sunday picking up plastic trash on the 2-mile stretch of Versova Beach in Mumbai, India.
The movement was led by lawyer Afroz Shah, who has spent the last 87 weekends organizing community clean-ups on the beach. In honor of the holiday, however, he was also joined by several teams of volunteers from local businesses and the United Nations Environment Program (UNEP).
In addition to picking up the trash, the group planted over 500 coconut trees, 100 of which were donated by UNEP. The community hopes to plant another 2,500 trees in order to create a “coconut lagoon”, which they hope will become a tourist hotspot. The coconuts will also provide a source of income for local merchants.
“Before this movement, we were helpless when we saw garbage affecting the marine life, but nothing was done about it,” a local fisherman told the IndiaTimes. “However, after the clean-up drive, we can see the difference. We have realized that if the entire fishing community of Versova comes together, there will be no plastic in sight.”
(WATCH the Times of India video below) – Photo Credit: screenshot Times of India video
Clean Up Negativity: Click To Share With Your Friends
