All News - Page 859 of 1716 - Good News Network
Home Blog Page 859

Cop Herds Lost Goats into His Police Car, Finds Owners Using Cute Pics

By
Good News Network
-

These farm critters must have looked mighty suspicious if they got picked up by the cops.

Sergeant Fitzpatrick of the Belfast Police Department in Maine was having a hayday with two rogue goats who he found wandering around town on Sunday.

“Got goats? We do, and they do not belong to us,” said a representative on the police department Facebook. “We had these two little ‘kids’ turn up on High Street near the parking lot for the rail trail. They are currently riding around with Sgt. Fitzpatrick, serenading him in goat music. Though he is thankful for the company on this cool Sunday morning, he would gladly return them to their owners. He is running out of vegetables to feed them.”

RELATED: Cop Posts Selfies with Dogs He Saved To Help Them Reunite With Owners

The kids’ rightful owner eventually saw the post and identified the passengers as Louis and Mowgli.

It may have been just another day on the town for the two pygmy goats, but it’s an afternoon that Fitzpatrick won’t soon forget.

“The goats have been returned home. Louis and Mowgli enjoyed their day trip with Sgt. Fitzpatrick but alas, all good things come to an end. Perhaps in the next budget year we can inquire as to getting some patrol goats.”

 

Did This Story Float Your Goat? Click To Share With Your Friends (Photos by the Belfast Police Department)

What Do 30,000 Sick Kids Have in Common? Piles of New Art Supplies From Michaels

By
Good News Network
-

It’s not Christmas time; but for the duration of this week, 30,000 sick children across North America are waking up in their hospital rooms to receive a mound of free arts and craft supplies courtesy of one of the biggest art supplies chains in the country.

Celebrating National Volunteer Week, Starlight Children’s Foundation and Michaels have teamed up to deliver Michaels backpacks that will bring joy and comfort to hospitalized children across the U.S. and Canada. Generously provided by Michaels and assembled by team members across North America, Michaels backpacks are filled with cool arts, crafts, and other supplies to inspire creativity and bring smiles to seriously ill children of all ages. Starting last Sunday, Michaels’ team members will deliver a total of 30,000 backpacks to kids at over 380 hospitals and other healthcare facilities.

RELATED: The “Detroit Mower Gang” Cleans Up the City All Year for the Kids

“Michaels is helping to bring moments of joy of comfort to millions of seriously ill children and their families,” said Chris Helfrich, CEO of Starlight Children’s Foundation. “Michaels backpacks will bring smiles to 30,000 children and we’re grateful for their continued generosity in communities across North America.”

Michaels team members from 1,300 participating local stores and corporate headquarters will deliver hundreds of bags room-to-room and take part in art and craft activities with hospitalized children and their families.

“Giving back is a key value at Michaels, and we are grateful to have a partner in Starlight Children’s Foundation that supports us in bringing our commitment to life. We are proud to have our team members across the country celebrating National Volunteer Week this way and hope the backpacks being delivered this week provide some comfort, amusement, and inspire creativity for both the kids and their families,” said Chuck Rubin, CEO of Michaels.

Craft A Post For Your Friends: Click To Share (Photo by Lauren Kenyon)

Wife of Late Army Ranger Finishes His Cancer Bucket List

By
[email protected]
-

A graduate of West Point; a football player for the Army; an Army Ranger – when you think of someone who represents all of those things, you immediately think of great strength, courage, and resilience. You don’t think of a 26-year-old struck down in the prime of his life by a rare and catastrophic cancer, but that is exactly what happened to Josh Powell.

Newly married to his beautiful fiancé Fabi, Josh had his whole life ahead of him, before he passed away from synovial sarcoma last October. Since then, Fabi has bravely embraced a new cancer fighting mission in her life – one that has its roots in one of Josh’s last wishes.

During his battle with cancer, Josh diligently kept a journal, and it was in one of those journal entries that Fabi discovered something that would set her on a totally different course in her life: a race course.

MORE: Hospital Grants Dying Patient’s Last Wish For Wine, Cigarette

Reading his journal entries gave Fabi the motivation to keep his memory alive, and to ultimately keep living, even on her darkest days. Many of the entries included Josh’s dreams and goals, and it’s one of those goals that Josh set that has inspired Fabi. He wrote:

“1. Register for St.Jude Children’s Research Hospital 5K
2. Run: 1 mile/ 2 miles/ 3 miles
3. Finish 5K
4. Beat Cancer
5. Recover from surgery.”

Unfortunately, Josh was never able to complete any of the goals on this list. As his wife, Fabi says there would be no greater honor than to complete as many of his goals as possible, as she feels closest to him while she’s doing the things they both loved.

Josh also told Fabi that he would one day like to volunteer at St. Jude, helping to encourage and inspire kids with cancer, which would somehow turn his battle with the disease into a journey for good.

RELATED: Daughter Fulfills Dad’s Last Wish With Side-Splitting Obituary

St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital paves the the way for how the world understands, treats, and defeats childhood cancer, along with other life-threatening diseases. The and treatments invented at St. Jude’s have helped push the overall childhood cancer survival rate from 20% to more than 80% since it opened more than 50 years ago.

Josh wrote about running in one of the races at the St. Jude Nashville Marathon, and though he never got that chance, Fabi is ready to step in and make his goal come true. Fabi said he wanted to run for St. Jude because, “He wanted kids and families to focus on living and not the financial burdens that come with a cancer diagnosis.”

Race day is this April 29 in Nashville, and of course it will be a tough day for Fabi, but she is determined to keep Josh’s memory alive, and to somehow make good of the pain she has endured. To her, there is no greater honor than completing as many of Josh’s goals as possible. When asked how she expected the race to go, she said, “I expect race day to be amazing, yet emotional. I just want to make him proud and I know sharing our story and creating the legacy that he deserved by continuing to inspire others will do just that. This race is for you and everyone else affected by this battle!”

To become a St. Jude Hero, and walk or run in a local race, or at a large national 5K, half, or full marathon, visit the St. Jude website. You’ll be set up with an easy-to-use personal fundraising site, leaving you ready to go spread awareness and raise funds for those in need.

Run This Story Over To Your Friends

Doritos Flies Couple to Prom After Snack-Themed Promposal

By
McKinley Corbley
-

 

Shaedon Wedel made headlines last month after he asked his 15-year-old friend Carlie Wittman with Down syndrome to prom with a Doritos-themed proposal.

The couple became so famous, in fact, that the snack company got wind of the event and offered to bring Shaedon and Carlie to prom in style.

The Kansas teens were given a helicopter ride to dinner before being flown over to the dance with all of their classmates cheering upon their arrival.

CHECK OUT: Candy Theft Victim Rewarded With Car Full of Kit Kats For Everyone

18-year-old Shaedon had originally popped the question using a custom-made Doritos tee shirt featuring a pun-tastic caption.

The front of the shirt read: “I know I may be NACHO typical Dorito but…”. On the back of the shirt, the words continued to say: “… I’m going to be CHEESY and ask: Will you go to prom with me?”

Well, it may have been a cheesy proposal, but the results were absolutely delicious.

(WATCH the video below)

 

Click To Share This Sweet Story With Your Friends (Photo by Shaedon Wedel)

Chinese Man Trapped in India Finally Arrived Home After 50 Years

By
Good News Network
-

A Chinese Army surveyor who had wandered over the border 54 years ago has finally been able to return home to reunite with his family.

Wang Qi, an army surveyor who says he accidentally crossed into India was jailed and detained, and then relocated into a remote region where he eventually started a new family.

After a BBC report revealed his situation, Chinese officials traveled to his location and arranged for him to travel back to his homeland in February, along with his new family, to be reunited with old friends and relatives.

POPULAR: Penniless Artist in India Falls in Love–Rides Bike to Sweden to Be With Her

He has lived in “utter poverty” since his capture and it is unclear whether he and his wife and four children would return to India.

Friends and family enthusiastically greeted the 80-year-old at the airport with a large banner that reportedly read, ‘Welcome home, soldier, it’s been a rough journey.’

(Watch the joyful reunion video below from Star TV)

Click to SHARE the Love of Family and Friends…

States to Cut College Costs by Introducing Open Source Textbooks

By
Good News Network
-

These two states are moving to slash the astronomical costs of higher education by introducing open source textbooks.

The University System of Maryland awarded mini-grants to 21 recipients across 12 different universities for converting all of their reading materials to open source software platforms for students. Between the seven Maryland community colleges and 5 public four-year institutions, the initiative has the potential to save over 8,000 students $1.3 million in textbook costs over the Fall 2017 semester.

New York state Governor Andrew M. Cuomo is also moving to invest $8 million of the state budget into open source educational materials. The budget also included a new proposal that will provide free college tuition to any families or students in the state making less than $125,000 per year.

CHECK OUT: Tennessee to Become Only State Offering Free Community College For Adults

“With this Budget, New York is once again showing what responsible government can achieve. The result is a Budget that advances the core progressive principles that built New York: investing in the middle class, strengthening the economy and creating opportunity for all,” Cuomo said in a statement.

“This Budget enacts the Middle Class Recovery Act to continue the Empire State’s upward trajectory and creates a path forward for those striving to get ahead. By making college at our world-class public universities tuition-free, we have established a national model for access to higher education, and achieved another New York first.”

In the U.S., the cost of textbooks in higher education has risen exponentially.  Since 1978, the cost of textbooks has risen 812%, outpacing even the cost of medical services and new housing. Nationally, students spend an average of $1,200 a year on textbooks.  Within Maryland alone, 2-year and 4-year students spend over $223 million in textbooks.

Click To Share The News With Your Friends (Photo by Lifesupercharger, CC)

Plastic-eating Caterpillar Could Munch Waste, Scientists Say

By
Good News Network
-

Generally speaking, plastic is incredibly resistant to decay, and that’s certainly true of the one trillion polyethylene plastic bags that people use and discard each year.

But researchers may now be inching toward a solution for plastic waste; and the key is a caterpillar commonly known as a wax worm.

Federica Bertocchini and her colleagues at the Institute of Biomedicine and Biotechnology of Cantabria made the discovery quite by accident, after noticing that plastic bags containing wax worms quickly became riddled with holes. Further study showed that the worms can do damage to a plastic bag in less than an hour.

After 12 hours, all that munching of plastic leads to an obvious reduction in plastic mass. The researchers showed that the wax worms were not only ingesting the plastic, they were also chemically transforming the polyethylene into ethylene glycol.

CHECK OUT: Trees Growing Out of Buildings Could Help Heal China’s Air Pollution Problem

Although wax worms wouldn’t normally eat plastic, the researchers suspect that their ability is a byproduct of their natural habits. Wax moths lay their eggs inside beehives. The worms hatch and grow on beeswax, which is composed of a highly diverse mixture of lipid compounds. The researchers say the molecular details of wax biodegradation require further investigation, but it’s likely that digesting beeswax and polyethylene involves breaking down similar types of chemical bonds.

“Wax is a polymer, a sort of ‘natural plastic,’ and has a chemical structure not dissimilar to polyethylene,” Bertocchini says. “We are planning to implement this finding into a viable way to get rid of plastic waste, working towards a solution to save our oceans, rivers, and all the environment from the unavoidable consequences of plastic accumulation.

“However,” she adds, “we should not feel justified to dump polyethylene deliberately in our environment just because we now know how to bio-degrade it.”

(Source: CSIC)

Click To Share The News With Your Friends (Photo by Federica Bertocchini, Paolo Bombelli, and Chris Howe)

Craftsman Donates Tools (and Himself) to New Tool-Lending Library

By
McKinley Corbley
-

This library of tools wouldn’t have half of the collection that it does today if it weren’t for Dave Merry.

The St. Paul Tool Library in Minnesota is a membership-based service that allows anyone to check out tools, workshop space, and materials for a monthly fee. The organization helps people save money and space, as well as alleviating carbon emissions by creating less demand for new tools.

Except that when the library first opened their doors in March, they didn’t expect many people to help kickstart their mission by responding to their call for tool donations.

Dave, who had been amassing his tool collection for years, donated it all in a single day.

The 78-year-old had to move into assisted living due to his wife’s health – and he couldn’t bear to part with all of his tools just because of the lack of space.

RELATED: Retired Senior Gets Job After Posting Ad About ‘Dying from Boredom’

So in turn, the senior donated his tools – and his expertise – to the library.

His vast knowledge of craftsmanship has proved invaluable to the members – not to mention his tools make up most of the library’s inventory.

The donation also comes as an homage to his brother George, who passed away at the age of 21 when Dave was just 15. Dave feels that – by helping other people – he is inspiring the community the same way that his brother did for him.

“It just meant a lot to me do something with wood and know that George would have done it too,” Dave told KARE11.

(WATCH the video at Kare11 news)

 

Fix Up Some Positivity: Click To Share With Your Friends – Photo by Boyd Huppert

Previously-Suicidal Man Runs Marathon With Guy Who Talked Him Down From Bridge

By
McKinley Corbley
-

Nine years ago, Jonny Benjamin was perched on the edge of a bridge ready to take his own life – and he is still alive today thanks to Neil Laybourn talking him down.

Then as of yesterday, the two crossed the finish line of the London Marathon together.

The duo completed the 26.2 mile challenge in 5 hours and 28 minutes as a means of raising money for Heads Together, an organization created by the three Royals (Prince Harry and the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge) to educate people and communities on how to properly deal with mental illness.

Jonny himself was diagnosed with schizoaffective disorder, a combination of schizophrenia and bipolar, at the age of 20. When Jonny finally stepped up to the edge of Waterloo Bridge nine years ago in preparation to take his own life, Neil stopped to speak to talk him down. The two conversed for 25 minutes until medical officials arrived.

RELATED: Grieving Man Can Sleep Again After Girl Reaches Out in the Grocery Store

Neil and Jonny didn’t reunite after the suicide attempt until 2014, when Jonny launched a social media initiative to track down the stranger who showed him kindness.

Since he was saved from jumping off of the bridge, Jonny and Neil have become the best of friends and spokesmen for suicide prevention. The buddies even personally met with the Royals, who asked them to run the London Marathon.

Jonny himself has become a mental health advocate, YouTuber, and public speaker on the struggles of living with mental illness.

(WATCH the video below)

 

Run This Story Over To Your Friends: Click To Share (Photo by Jonny Benjamin)

Meet the First Girl Scout Troop For Homeless Kids in New York City

By
McKinley Corbley
-

The confident female youngsters who make up Girl Scout Troop 6000 may not seem especially out of the ordinary, but there’s more to the members than meets the eye.

All 22 young members of the troop are residents of the Sleep Inn, a 10-story homeless shelter in Queens, New York City, making Troop 6000 the first girl scout clan designed specifically for girls living in the New York City Shelter System.

The project was created as a way of giving the young homeless residents access to all the valuable educational and recreational opportunities presented by Girl Scout engagement. Spearheaded by Giselle Burgess, a homeless mother who works as a community engagement specialist for Girl Scouts of Greater New York, and Councilman Jimmy Van Bramer, the troop has become an invaluable part of raising the shelter girls.

Since it was created in February, the troop has served girls from kindergarten to high school.

WATCH: Girl Scout’s Hilariously Honest Cookie Reviews Lead to Record-breaking Sales

“Every girl in the five boroughs of New York City deserves a chance to reach her full potential: to have her eyes opened to possibilities for college and careers, to make loving and supportive friends, to learn from caring female mentors, and to chart her own course to achieve her goals,” says a Girl Scout representative. “That’s what Troop 6000 is all about.”

According to the Girl Scout troop page, studies have shown that Girl Scouts are more likely to pursue college educations and achieve higher socio-economic status – judging by the success of Girl Scout Troop 6000, these girls will be no exception.

“It’s just about the most right thing I’ve ever been a part of,” Mr. Van Bramer told the New York Times.

Click To Share The Sweet News With Your Friends (Photo by NYC Council Member Jimmy Van Bramers)

World’s First Malaria Vaccine to Help Prevent Deaths in 3 African Countries

By
Good News Network
-

The world’s first notably effective malaria vaccine is set to save thousands of lives throughout Ghana, Kenya, and Malawi starting in 2018.

The World Health Organization Regional Office for Africa is introducing the RTS,S; the first malaria vaccine to have successfully completed a Phase III clinical trial – which was completed in 2014 – to Africa.

Africa bears the greatest burden of malaria worldwide. Global efforts in the last 15 years have led to a 62% reduction in malaria deaths between 2000 and 2015, yet approximately 429,000 people died of the disease in 2015, the majority of them young children in Africa.

CHECK OUT: First Ever Quadriplegic Treated With Stem Cells Regains Motor Control in His Upper Body

The RTS,S’s pilot program will be conducted on children ages 5 to 17 months old in hopes that it will drastically reduce infection throughout the poorest regions of Africa. The study will assess the efficiency of the vaccine by delivering four injections of RTS,S to infants in high-risk areas for the disease.

“The prospect of a malaria vaccine is great news. Information gathered in the pilot will help us make decisions on the wider use of this vaccine”, said Dr Matshidiso Moeti, WHO Regional Director for Africa. “Combined with existing malaria interventions, such a vaccine would have the potential to save tens of thousands of lives in Africa.”

Give Your Friends A Daily Dose Of Good News: Click To Share (Photo by Dr PS Sahana Kadamtala Howrah, CC)

Germans Switch on ‘World’s Largest Artificial Sun’

By
Good News Network
-

The world’s largest ‘artificial sun’ was switched on this year, illuminating a brighter future for renewable energy.

The “Synlight” facility, as it’s called at the German Aerospace Center Institute for Solar Research in Jülich, is a 3-story building containing 149 Xenon short-arc lamps, like the ones that are used individually to illuminate large cinema screens and project your favorite blockbuster movies.

The scientists can focus these ‘radiators’ on a tiny area, 20 by 20 centimeters, and with Synlight’s 350-kilowatt array, the result is 10,000 times the intensity of solar radiation at the Earth’s surface. Temperatures at the target point of the lamps can reach up to 3,000 degrees Celsius, which can then be used to manufacture fuels, including hydrogen.

Hydrogen is considered to be the fuel of the future because it burns without producing carbon dioxide. But the production of hydrogen – by splitting water into its constituents of hydrogen and oxygen – needs significant amounts of energy. In the future, this will be obtained from the sun.

RELATED: All Cars Sold in Norway to be Electric by 2025

Sunlight in central Europe is unreliable and irregular, so an artificial Sun is the preferred choice for developing production processes for solar fuels. Periods of unfavorable weather and fluctuating sunlight hours might otherwise negatively impact tests. Relocating research facilities to more sunny regions only appears to offer an improvement in these conditions; even at these locations, the Sun never shines with a constant intensity. In addition, a test environment with precisely reproducible conditions is key to development work.

Scientists at the DLR Institute of Solar Research already managed to produce hydrogen using solar radiation several years ago, albeit on a laboratory scale. The size of these processes needs to be enlarged significantly to make them interesting for industrial applications, hence the objective of Synlight.

“Renewable energies will be the mainstay of global power supply in the future,” said DLR Executive Board Member Lemmer. “Fuels, propellants and combustibles acquired using solar power offer immense potential for long-term storage and the production of chemical raw materials, and the reduction of carbon dioxide emissions. Synlight will enhance our research in this field.”

Shine Some Light On This Story: Click To Share (Photo by German Aerospace Center Institute for Solar Research)

Teen Survives Shot to the Head: “I am tougher than a bullet”

By
Good News Network
-

After two months spent recovering in the hospital, Deserae Turner is finally returning home.

The 14-year-old girl was mugged in February and shot in the head while being robbed.

Deserae was later found by family friends conducting a search party in a dried Creek bed and was taken to the Primary Children’s Hospital in Salt Lake City, Utah.

CHECK OUT: Teen Girl Uses ‘Crazy Strength’ to Lift Burning Car Off Her Dad

The teen will have to undergo massive amounts of intensive physical therapy in order to regain certain abilities, however Deserae’s parents, April and Matt, are reportedly just happy that their daughter is alive.

(WATCH the video below)

 

Click To Share The Inspiring News With Your Friends

England Just Had Its First Day Without Coal Since Industrial Revolution

By
Good News Network
-

For the first time since the Industrial Revolution, England went 24 hours without the use of coal for electricity.

According to the National Grid, the longest amount of time without coal was a 19-hour span of time in May. Then on Friday, it broke the record for the first full day without coal-power.

RELATED: French President Announces Plans to Close All Coal Power Plants by 2023

Britain reportedly hasn’t existed a full day without coal power since the 1882 opening of the Holborn Viaduct in London.

There are currently 16 coal plants left in the UK, all of which will be closed by 2025 in an effort to reduce pollution and harmful emissions.

The historic day comes as a welcome follow-up to a report published in March stating that the levels of greenhouse gases released into the atmosphere last year fell to the same amount as 1894 – the year that the first petrol-powered car was patented. The statement reflects the country’s 54% drop in coal use, amounting to only about 381 million tons of dispelled CO2 emissions.

Power Up With Some Positivity: Click To Share

Frog Mucus Could Kill Flu Viruses For Good

By
Good News Network
-

Frog mucus is loaded with molecules that kill bacteria and viruses, and researchers are beginning to investigate it as a potential source for new anti-microbial drugs.

When they studied a colorful tennis-ball-sized frog species from southern India, they found a “host defense peptide” with the ability to destroy many strains of human flu.

This peptide is far from becoming an anti-flu drug, but its protection of mice against these infections is actual evidence of its flu-killing ability. It seems to work by binding to a protein that is identical across many influenza strains. In lab experiments, it was able to neutralize dozens of flu strains, from the 1934 archival viruses up to modern ones.

“I was almost knocked off my chair,” says flu specialist and study co-author Joshy Jacob of Emory University. “In the beginning, I thought that when you do drug discovery, you have to go through thousands of drug candidates, even a million, before you get 1 or 2 hits. And here we did 32 peptides, and we had 4 hits.”

RELATED: Platypus Venom Could Hold Key to Diabetes Treatment

”We just happened to find one the frog makes that just happens to be effective against the H1 influenza type.”

Practically all animals make at least a few anti-microbial host defense peptides as part of their innate immune systems, and researchers are only beginning to catalog them. However, frogs have drawn the most attention as a source of host defense peptides, because it’s relatively easy to isolate the peptides from their mucus. Researchers can simply rub a powder on the frogs to make them secrete their defense peptides, which can then be collected.

POPULAR: Pills Made Especially for Girl’s Rare Cancer Completely Eliminate Tumors

Researchers from the Rajiv Gandhi Center for Biotechnology in Kerala, India, have been isolating peptides from their local frogs and screening them for potential anti-bacterials, but Jacob wondered if there might also be peptides that neutralize human-infecting viruses. Jacob and his colleagues screened 32 frog defense peptides against an influenza strain and found that 4 of them had flu-busting abilities.

The researchers named the newly identified peptide “urumin,” after the urumi, a sword with a flexible blade that snaps and bends like a whip, which comes from the same Indian province, Kerala, as the frog.

Click To Share This Hopping Good Story With Your Friends – OR,  (Photo by Sanil George and Jessica Shartouny)

Woman Vows To Complete Late Father’s Bucket List Years After His Death

By
Good News Network
-

Laura Carney’s father created such a hefty list of things to do before he died that he unfortunately never had time to finish them all.

That’s why his daughter is vowing to complete the bucket list for him.

Laura’s 54-year-old father, Nick Carney, died when he was hit by a distracted driver in a Pennsylvania car accident 13 years ago, but his hand-written to-do list remained hidden until recently.

After Laura discovered the three-page list hidden among her father’s possessions, she and her brother began working their way through the sixty items. They have already completed 13.

RELATED: Daughter Fulfills Dad’s Last Wish With Side-Splitting Obituary

Laura, who just turned 39 years old, has now completed the Boston Marathon and had her picture published in a national magazine. According to Inside Edition, she next plans on corresponding with the Pope and swimming a river.

You can follow Laura’s journey by checking out her blog My Father’s List.

(WATCH the video below)

Click To Share The Sweet Story With Friends

Watch Baseball Mascot Put Himself in Front of Fly Ball to Protect Child

By
Good News Network
-

Alligators might seem menacing in the wild, but this green guy was spotted protecting a child from a rogue fly ball earlier this week.

The sweet man inside the Gators mascot suit at the University of Florida – fondly named Albert – was sitting next to a youngster at Wednesday’s game against the Central Florida Knights when a softball started heading their way.

Albert wrapped himself around the boy, and took a hit to his soft, squishy head instead.

RELATED VIDEO: Hero Soccer Player Saves Opposing Goalie From Choking

Playfully surprised by the fly ball, Albert flopped across the seats to recover.

In exchange for the kindness, the boy whom Albert protected desperately tried to resuscitate his hero with CPR, resulting in the cutest video on the internet this week.

(WATCH the video below from Twitter)

Pitch This Story To Your Friends

For Years College Students Provide the Homeless With Free Health Care

By
Good News Network
-

Stephanie Oh knows what it’s like to live below the poverty line.

After graduating college with a degree in bioengineering, she volunteered for AmeriCorps and subsisted on food stamps. But today, Oh gives pays it forward by using her medical education to provide free healthcare to homeless populations.

Oh is the student director of the Promise Clinic, an initiative that provides primary health care for lower-income residents of New Brunswick, New Jersey. The clinic, founded in 2005, is one project under the Rutgers University’s Homeless and Indigent Population Health Outreach Project (HIPHOP), which fosters relationships between medical students and the local community by providing free care to the poor. Up to 600 students volunteer annually in the university’s programs.

LOOK: Guy Gives Shelter Dogs Free Haircuts to Help Them Get Adopted

“When health care students become knowledgeable about the people they serve, they are better able to practice patient-centered medicine,” says Susan Giordano, HIPHOP program coordinator. “Our goal is for student leaders to promote and advocate for the community by instilling humanism in medicine.”

As of the 2010 census, approximately 34% of New Brunswick residents lived in poverty. Each summer, Giordano runs an internship for HIPHOP’s incoming student leaders that introduces them to partner organizations and takes them on a community tour to teach about the logistical challenges for residents with no cars on tight budgets—eating healthy, accessing medical care and obtaining support.

“The tour is eye-opening,” says Gloria Chen, CHI student director and second-year medical student. “It makes us aware of how difficult it is for our patients to have healthy lifestyles. There are a lot of services they can’t access since they don’t have transportation.”

RELATED: Woman Changes Homeless Man’s Life After He Stood on Same Street Corner for 3 Years

As the clinical arm of HIPHOP, the student-run Promise Clinic provides free primary care services at Rutgers Eric B. Chandler Health Center to the uninsured adult clients of Elijah’s Promise community soup kitchen. Over the past two years, the students have raised more than $30,000 to help cover medical expenses.

Each year, approximately 45 teams of four to five medical students see patients under the supervision of faculty advisers. The teams – composed of first- through fourth-year medical students – care for the same one to two individuals throughout their medical school experience. In addition, patients also see students from the interdisciplinary practices as their care warrants. Since its inception, the Promise Clinic has seen about 600 patients, who visit once every few months.

CHECK OUT: Rick Steves Sacrifices Nest Egg to House Dozens of Homeless Women and Kids

“By providing a continuum of care to the same patient over four years, students gain a strong knowledge of the patient’s condition and form a bond,” Oh says. “It’s a rare opportunity for students to care for a specific patient in a very personal way. I have seen student doctors spend hours arguing with pharmacological companies to lower the cost of medicine or advocate for patients with charity care.”

As a result of their experience, many students remain in primary or family care, Oh says.

Click To Share With Your Friends (Photo by Jacqueline Gonzalez)

Amy Schumer Buys Bed For Worker Who Let Her Use Bathroom in Mattress Shop

By
McKinley Corbley
-

Amy Schumer isn’t just a stand-up comedian – she’s apparently also a good tipper.

Cashier Sagine Lazarre was working a shift at the Six Corners Mattress Firm in Chicago, Illinois, when a female jogger entered the store asking if she could use the bathroom.

Lazarre granted her permission and didn’t think very much of the action until the woman emerged from the restroom and asked which mattress was Lazarre’s favorite.

When the cashier pointed out her favorite $2,000 mattress, however, the jogger declared that she wanted to buy the bed for Lazarre as a thank you for giving her the bathroom break.

CHECK OUT: Rick Steves Sacrifices Nest Egg to House Dozens of Homeless Women and Kids

Lazarre protested the gesture, but the woman simply said that she was an actress and a comedian who had no problem affording such a gift.

As Lazarre swiped the comedian’s credit card, she saw the name imprinted on the front: Amy Schumer.

The second that Schumer left the store, Lazarre performed an internet search on Schumer and was shocked to discover that she had just spoken to the esteemed actress in person.

The new mattress couldn’t have come at a better time, either; Lazarre and her daughter had just moved into a new apartment in Woodbridge last month.

“It’s amazing, mind blowing. I’m still shocked,” Lazarre told WGN News. “The lady that was right there talking to me is Amy Schumer. It was amazing. Unbelievable.”

Don’t Sleep On This Story: Click To Share (Photo by 92YTribeca, CC)

University to Ban New Student Athletes With History of Sexual Violence

By
Good News Network
-

Indiana University has just become a trailblazer for college campus safety by announcing new policy changes that ban student-athletes with a history of sexual violence.

The ban states that “any prospective student-athlete – whether a transfer student, incoming freshman, or other status – who has been convicted of or pled guilty or no contest to a felony involving sexual violence … or has been found responsible for sexual violence by a formal institutional disciplinary action at any previous collegiate or secondary school … shall not be eligible for athletically-related financial aid, practice or competition at Indiana University.”

RELATED: Tennessee to Become Only State Offering Free Community College For Adults

The policy will be strictly enforced through cooperation between coaches, parents, teammates, and teachers. Thorough background checks and internet searches will be conducted by school representatives to make sure that all prospective student-athletes have had no “previous or potential arrests, convictions, protective orders, probations, suspensions, expulsions, or other discipline involving sexual violence or any other matter.”

The ban has been widely applauded on social media since its announcement; due to the amount of income garnered from college sports teams, universities have become notorious for prioritizing their athletes over the safety of their students. According to PACT5, an organization dedicated to fighting sexual assault in college, student-athletes are responsible for a disproportionate amount of sexual violence on campuses nationwide.

They are hopeful, however, that Indiana University will become a shining example of combatting such crimes for other colleges throughout North America.

Click To Share The News With Your Friends

1...858859860...1,716Page 859 of 1,716
© Copyright 1997–2026 GNN, LLC