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She Offered an Armed Robber a Glass Of Wine, Completely Flipped The Script

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pouring wine puppet sillouette- Manual Cinema:NPR-YouTube

An NPR podcast this week explored what happens when people flip the script, and respond to situations in ways that are completely unexpected.

Particularly interesting was the notion that a 180-degree change in attitude could shift a tense armed robbery in progress, and lead to a complete turnaround in the mind of the assailant.

A mellow Washington, D.C., backyard dinner party was suddenly confronted by a man with a gun pointed at the hostess’s head saying, ”Give me your money, or I’ll f*’ing start shooting.”

They tried to persuade him to change his mind, especially because no one actually had any money, but the situation was escalating.

RELATED: How Successful People Handle Toxic People

Suddenly one of the women did something extraordinary—she offered him a glass of French wine… and that changed everything.

The concept of upending a situation— responding to confrontation with kindness, for instance—is called non-complementarity.

CHECK OUT: The Amazing Tale of A Karmic Pact Fulfilled—I Got The Love I Finally Gave

Psychologist Christopher J. Hopwood says non-complementarity is also great for bettering relationships in your own life.

Alix Spiegel, host the “Invisibilia” podcast, explored the concept on the air in season two, episode five and, later, Manual Cinema brought the excerpted discussion to life with a shadow puppet performance.

(WATCH the video below)

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Photo of Good Samaritan Escorting Shoppers With Umbrella Goes Viral (WATCH)

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helping shoppers with umbrella kindness-FB Deepak Saini
In times of deep distress, sometimes it’s the smallest acts that can send the most powerful message—and one former reporter snapped a photo in a pouring rainstorm that he thought would be just the tonic for current events.

At a Target store in Kenner, Louisiana, shoppers were waiting out a torrential downpour instead of running to their car when one man began escorting people with his umbrella.

”I noticed this kind gentleman with a big smile on his face, drenched from head to toe, escorting women, mothers and kids to their cars, and helping them unload their groceries,” Deepak Saini told TODAY. “Every time he returned, he said, ‘Who’s next?’ with a big smile on his face.”

So, Saini shot a photo of the good deed, and the image stuck with him for the rest of the week.

He later posted it on Facebook, commenting, “I’m sure he was busy and had his own family to return to. But in that moment, it didn’t matter that he was black and the woman in this picture was white. It was one human helping another.”

INSPIRING: Homeless Teen Bikes 6 Hours To College, Sleeps In A Tent —Determined to Be a Doctor

“Right now we seem so focused on race and are letting ourselves be painfully divided. Kindness is something we all need to give to each other right now and let this man be an example.”

WGNO News in New Orleans spoke with the hero, James Varnado, who said, “People are people… It doesn’t matter if you’re the richest person in the world or the poorest person in the world—somebody needs help? Help ’em.”

(WATCH the video below from WGNO)

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Watch Volunteer Firefighters Rescue a Wild Fox Stuck In Soccer Net

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fox rescue-New Hope Eagle Volunteer Fire Company-FB

What did this fox say? …’Thank you!’

The poor thing somehow got stuck in a soccer net in a Pennsylvania park.

Police and volunteer firefighters worked to calm the distressed animal until they could free him from the tangled string.

The kind emergency personnel then carried the fox toward the woods so it could scamper off to safety.

(WATCH the video below from Inside Edition) —Photo via New Hope Eagle Volunteer Fire Company

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Gas Station Spreads Joy With Their Witty One-Liners on Welcome Sign

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A gas station in the Seattle, Washington suburb of Wallingford is winning people over with its witty sense of humor.

The Chevron Station at the corner of North 45th and Woodlawn Place North spreads much-needed laughter with every one-liner posted on their 54-character roadside sign.


Each week, the store manager Cassandra Gaspard, places the letters that add up to catchy one-liners like, “Ban Pre-Shredded Cheese, Make America Grate Again” or “My Reality Check Has Bounced”.

WATCH: Determined Dachshund Tries to Pull His Teddy Bear Into a Small Carrier

Some customers would never go anywhere else, as long as Cassandra and her amusing antics await them here.

You can follow the Wallingford sign on Facebook and renew your chuckles weekly.

(WATCH the video or READ more from King-5 News – Note* Auto-playing video so adjust your speakers)

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Kindhearted Brothers Hand Out Brown Paper Bag Lunches To 200 Homeless (Video)

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brothers-lunch bags for homeless-inside edition

Two brothers, Derrell and Kyllon Martin, created ‘The Helping Lunchbox’ to help feed the homeless people in their New Orleans community.

Volunteers help deliver the lunch bags filled with sandwiches, pretzels, and water—along with words of encouragement hand written on each bag to uplift the people living in poverty.

MORE INSPIRATION: 9-Year-old Makes Beautiful Care Packages for Homeless Women

Kristy Lewis Martin, the boys’ mother, says they started the project when the family noticed many people living under the bridge they passed by. Since then, the boys have served over 200 people.

(Watch the video below, from Inside Edition)

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“The Most Amazing Thing” is Happening to Officers, As Strangers Stop to Pray

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Officer Clinton Powell prays with black shopper-FB

Three separate incidents of strangers praying with police officers in Mississippi, Kentucky, and Georgia are reminding people that Americans—black and white—are coming together in the wake of tragedy.

In the photo above, Deputy Clinton Powell who works for the Muscogee County Marshal’s Office in Columbus, Georgia was in a local Wal-mart store when Avery Rosser approached him and began praying with the officer.


Rosser shared the picture last Saturday on Facebook following the recent shootings in Louisiana, Minnesota and Dallas.

Similarly, Rita Baker posted a photo she took in Kentucky while stopped at a traffic light. It showed a homeless man and an officer that appeared to be praying, standing on the side of the road, holding hands with their heads bowed.

“They stood this way for about 30 seconds,” she wrote, but didn’t know anything specific about the situation.

“It speaks volumes to the types of officers we have here at the Georgetown Police Department,” Baker said.

cop prays with man at car-Rita Baker-FB

In Mississippi, Harrison County Sheriff’s Deputy Josh Harmon said an older woman stopped him at a gas station and asked to pray with him. He said he was overcome with emotion when others, black and white, joined in.

WATCH: Inmates Break Out Of Jail To Save Life Of Officer Guarding Them

Harmon posted his feelings about the incident in a video: “Had one of the most amazing experiences of my life! I hardly ever post anything job related but this was something I will remember for the rest of my life and I had to share!”

“She comes up to me and says, ‘Your life matters. Can I pray with you?’ ” Harmon, 25, recalled.

“And we prayed. And people joined in. It was the most amazing thing. They were black, white, together. There was no hate. No one was saying anything negative. It was just us praying. And it was amazing.”

SEE MORE Inspiring Stories About Police Officers at Good News Network

“It’s not unusual for people to walk up and say, ‘Thank you for your service.’ People show support every day. But never anything like that,” he added. “I was pretty emotional.”

“Everything going on in this world right now, for somebody to come up to you like that right there, it completely blew me away.”

After his overnight shift ended, Harmon shared the video below in which he recounts the story for a longtime friend and his father.

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A Bolt of Insight Saved Him From Suicide; Now He’s Saving Kids in East L.A. With Meditation

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swami meditating in LA-Hooplaha video

After this Los Angeles man hit rock bottom, with partying, depression, and joblessness, only meditation provided a way out. Now he is taking his mindfulness practice to the city’s most vulnerable kids.

Swami Varadan was born in India and moved to Silicon Valley when he was two-years old. As an adult, he seemed to have it all, working on radio projects with Ryan Seacrest—until he lost it all.

Within the span of a month, after losing his car, his job and his home, Swami had no other choice but to move in with his parents in their small California apartment at the age of 31. Shortly after his arrival, Swami’s uncle, grandmother and best friend passed away.

RELATED: Look at These Cops Meditating Before They Hit the Streets in Canada

After losing his best friend to cancer, Swami fell into a deep depression. Still unemployed, he dove into severely unhealthy patterns and addictions. He was 30 seconds away from suicide, literally walking in front of a train, when he experienced a profound spiritual awakening. He left the train track and promised to better his life, by helping others.

MORE: Quiet Time Program Brings Radical Improvement To Schools Worldwide

The newly jovial Swami is now a meditation and mindfulness teacher in Los Angeles, and he teaches people how to cook Indian food, with his book, 7 Mantras for Success, 7 Recipes for Healing. He’s even back on the radio— this time, passing on advice to others based on his own transformation. Swami’s goal is to bring mindfulness to the masses, specifically focusing on the impoverished and underprivileged. He teaches meditation at The Boys and Girls clubs of East Los Angeles, as well as schools throughout the city.

(WATCH his story in the video below)

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These Folks Worked Together to Claim World Record: 50 Million Trees Planted In One Day

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Terry Turner
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India continued its massive push to reforest their nation on Monday when men and women in the state of Uttar Pradesh set out together to plant 50 million trees in a single day to improve the environment —and for bragging rights.

The feat would easily break a 2013 world record set by neighboring Pakistan for most trees planted by a team of 300 in 24 hours (847,275).

More than 800,000 turned out to plant the saplings, which were handed out by officials who will be monitored the plantings for growth with the use of aerial photos.

INSPIRING: Village in India Plants 111 Trees Whenever a Girl is Born

A government agency elsewhere in the nation had already claimed the record for most trees planted in 12 hours by a team in multiple locations, according to the Guinness record book. The Forest Department in Madhya Pradesh planted 14,372,801 trees with the participation of volunteers at 9,272 locations in July 2014.

India is spending $6.2 billion for tree planting across the country with a goal of 235 million acres of new forests by 2030.

RELATED: Ex-NASA Engineer to Plant One Billion Trees a Year Using Drones

It will take judges from the Guinness Book of World Records about two months to confirm the final number planted.

(READ more at ABC News) – Photo by Captpiper, CC Help This Story Grow, Share It With Your Friends…

Wildlife Group Buys Exclusive License for Shark Fishing on Great Barrier Reef to Halt the Practice

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Terry Turner
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Shark cc Kawika Holbrook

A wildlife group has purchased an exclusive commercial license to fish for sharks along Australia’s Great Barrier Reef — just so they can shut down the practice.

The license allows the holder exclusive rights to drag a three-quarter mile long net along the reef. Roughly 100,000 sharks were taken by commercial fishing in the region last year.

The World Wildlife Fund purchased the $100,000 license to protect both sharks and the reef.

The organization cites a 2013 study published in the journal PLOS One that shows when sharks and other predators are removed from a coral reef’s ecosystem, the reefs have a harder time recovering from disease and other threats.

RELATED: Manatee Population Has Rebounded 500 Percent, No Longer Endangered

The WWF says it especially important to preserve shark populations in light of an unprecedented “bleaching” that’s hit the Great Barrier Reef this year.

“After bleaching, algae spreads,” WWF-Australia’s conservation director, Gilly Llewellyn told The Guardian. “Researchers found that where sharks were removed by overfishing, smaller predators like snapper became more abundant. These snapper kill the algae-eating fish and the algae then overwhelms young coral.”

LOOK: Actor Jared Leto Becomes Global Wildlife Ambassador for WWF

Shutting down shark fishing along the Great Barrier Reef is also expected to save the lives of dolphins, sea turtles, and other marine animals caught in the giant nets.

Hook Some Good News for Your Friends, Share It… (Photo: Kawika Holbrook, CC)

Homeless Teen Bikes 6 Hours To College, Sleeps In A Tent —Determined to Be a Doctor

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Fred Barley screenshot WAGA TV

When security officers found a 19-year-old sleeping in a tent on a college campus, they became the first to help, but, soon everyone in town was opening their heart and wallet for Fred Barley.

The homeless student had packed everything he owned into a pair of duffle bags and ridden a small 20-inch bicycle for six-hours in 100 degree heat to get to school. He was registered for his second semester at Gordon College in Barnesville, Georgia and wanted to beat other students into town before all the part-time jobs were taken.

The biology major who wants to be a doctor set up a tent to stay in the bushes on campus until the dorms opened in August. He settled in with just one box of cereal to eat until he found a job.

When campus police officers found him, and heard his story, they wanted to help. The officers put him up for two nights in a motel and the college offered to let him move into his dorm room the following Monday.

CHECK OUT: Homeless Man Hands Out Resumes Instead of Asking for Cash-and Lands Job

But that was just the beginning. When one of the cops told the story to his wife, she shared it on social media and the community started offering help—one person in particular, Casey Blaney. She sought him out at the motel room and his story touched him so much that she went around town and found employment for him, herself.

He’s now a dishwasher at a pizza parlor and needed shorts and shirts for the job, so she took him shopping.

That didn’t satisfy Casey’s desire to help, so she set up a GoFundMe page Tuesday, “Success for Fred”, that has raised nearly $40,000 for the student by this morning. Donations of clothes, shoes, a new bike — even talk of buying him a car — started pouring in.

RELATED: Teen Takes Paralyzed Dad To College, Cares For Him While He Studies

A community Facebook page has posts from people as far away as Michigan and Texas offering help, including free dental care and attorney fees to set up a trust fund so Barley’s money will go toward his education.

“In spite of all the sorrow, sadness, violence and hatred in today’s world….it’s touching to see so many people come together for this young man,” Gina Oakley wrote on the page. “Fred…you are an inspiration to many. Best of luck to you, and may all your dreams come true. You are truly loved.”

In a video thanking people for all their help, the student says he “can’t come up with even half the words” to express his thanks. “I love you all.”

CHECK OUT:  Penniless Artist in India Falls in Love, Rides Bike to Sweden to Be With Her

Before his trip to the school, Fred had been living in a tent 50 miles away. He saw a college education as his way out of homelessness, thinking about it this way:

“I can take it out there, and sleep in a tent without a job, or I can come down here and do something and apply my life and make something better for it,” he told WAGA News.

(WATCH the video below from WAGA News) — Photo: WAGA

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Colombians Are Building Houses With Wasted Plastic—Shaped Into Huge Lego Bricks

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Joao Freitas
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lego plastic homes in Bogota-eltiempo-dot-com

A group of Colombians are transforming the serious problem of pollution by using plastic waste—and the Lego building model—as a solution for the thousands of people without houses.

The Bogota-based company, Conceptos Plasticos, seeks to reverse the damage that plastic causes to the planet and use it to benefit those most in need. The initiative was born out of Colombian musician Fernando Llanos’s need to build his own house in a difficult-to-access area in the center of the country.

Subsequently, this idea became architect Oscar Mendez’s graduation thesis. After several years of investigation, Mendez materialized a modular brick made of all types of processed, discarded plastic. The system works like Lego and is adaptable to all types of terrain and any climate.

RELATED: Lego Spends Millions To Ditch Oil-Based Plastic

“It has a social impact because in Latin America the housing shortage is terrible,” says Mendez, the owner of the company. “Forty percent of people living in Africa, Asia and Latin America do not have a house.”

He also detailed the environmental and economic importance of using this type of waste to build modular homes.

Photo by Conceptos Plasticos
Photo by Conceptos Plasticos

“In Bogota alone, approximately 750 tons of plastic waste is thrown into the landfill site, of which only 100 are being recycled. We are making 100 homes out of the plastic in Dona Juana (the city’s landfill site), giving value to something that has no market.”

CHECK OUT: App Saves Prescription Drugs From Landfills, Sends to Needy Patients

Conceptos Plasticos’s model home is 40 square meters divided into two bedrooms, a bathroom, living room, dining room and kitchen, and can be put together in only five days by four people who need no previous building experience. The houses are assembled without using any type of adhesive. This makes them portable houses that can be disassembled easily in order to transport and reassemble them.

Oscar Mendez, photo by Conceptos Plasticos
Oscar Mendez, photo by Conceptos Plasticos

And, anyone who’s played with Legos knows how no adhesive is required to build a sturdy structure.

When discussing the cost of making the houses, Mendez said they are a lot more economical than a house built from traditional materials. “We don’t charge per square meter built, but by kilogram (of plastic) processed,” said Mendez.

RELATED: Newly Discovered Bacteria Can Eat Plastic Bottles

One 40-square meter home costs approximately $130 per square meter built. That’s $5200

Learn more at the company’s website (in Spanish only)

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Literature Professor Bikes Straight to the Homeless, Offering a Weekly Street Library (WATCH)

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Street Books-NationSwell video

Meet the professor who began a library on wheels to make sure people on the fringes of society have access to literature and stimulating conversation—even chats about Chomsky.

Laura Moulton, a writing professor in Portland, Oregon, outfitted her bike with a mobile library and for several years, has been biking straight to the homeless every week, serving all genres of books to over 5,000 patrons.

“Being recognized and spoken to on the street and offered a book for someone who has really been struggling can be a really powerful thing,” Moulton told Nation Swell.

CHECK OUT: Clint Eastwood Donates Oceanfront Land to Preserve Open Space for Public

Borrowing books from libraries is difficult for the homeless because they lack the required documents, like identification, and a home address needed to get a library card. Additionally, their everyday lives make it hard for them to return books on time, or in good conditions, triggering hefty fines. Many simply give up the luxury, which makes mobile libraries an ideal solution.

Her program, called Street Books, has received grants, but mostly is powered by people donating the books, and by Mouton peddling them to grateful readers.

(WATCH the video below from NationSwell)

Photo Bomb! Satellite Catches Moon Crossing Earth’s Face (WATCH)

By
Terry Turner
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The moon appears to “photobomb” this stunning view of Earth in a time lapse video released by NASA.

For only the second time since it was launched, the DSCOVR (Deep Space Climate Observatory) satellite has captured the moon passing between the space probe’s orbit and our planet

CHECK OUT: Ex-NASA Engineer to Plant One Billion Trees a Year Using Drones

”The project recorded this event on July 5 with the same cadence and spatial resolution as the first ‘lunar photobomb’ last year,” said the project scientist Adam Szabo, comparing the one almost exactly a year ago.

Its orbit is constantly changing, and it is rare for the satellite and moon to match paths in a way that lets the spacecraft photograph both the Earth and moon at the same time.

RELATED: 30 Years After Shuttle Disaster, Engineer’s Guilt Eased by Flood of Letters

DSCOVR is located almost a million miles from Earth, nearly four times as far away as the moon. Operated in conjunction with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), it has been snapping a series of photos every day since its launch 19 months ago as part of its mission to monitor atmosphere, climate, and vegetation on the planet.

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Animal Shelter Enlists Help of Pokemon GO Players to Walk Dogs

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Terry Turner
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pokemon dog walkers Released Muncie Animal Shelter

An Indiana animal shelter has created a way to make Pokemon GO even more successful — giving dogs a long walk while players hunt for creatures.

Muncie Animal Shelter Director Phil Peckinpaugh hatched the idea of enlisting players as dog walkers after seeing a group of people playing the augmented reality game, which requires walking in order to birth a new Pokemon.

CHECK OUT: After Child’s Pokemon Cards are Stolen, Cop Replaces with His Own Collection (WATCH)

He put together a digital flyer featuring Pokemon characters Cubone and Growlithe and the response was immediate — dozens of volunteers showed up on the first day to walk dogs while playing the new game on their phones. It’s been shared more than 25,000 times since Tuesday morning.

The Pokemon GO app, designed to get people off their couch, takes players outside to hunt, train, and battle Pokemon. Peckinpaugh, who plays the game himself, realized it would make a great recruiting tool for volunteer dog walkers — and the shelter has plenty of animals, now called “poke-dogs”, that need fresh air and exercise.

 

“Kids, they love it,” Peckinpaugh told Buzzfeed. “There are people walking dogs, posting pics on their Instagrams and social media. That exposure for the dogs is really quite epic.”

RELATED: 6 Reasons to Be Happy the New Pokemon App is Taking Over the Streets

MORE: Angry Birds App Helps Protect Real-Life Eggs of Endangered Species

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Cops Pay Restaurant Bill For Couple Who Refused To Sit Next To Them

By
Terry Turner
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Cops Buy Dinner for Couple WTAE

When a couple refused to sit near police officers at a restaurant, the cops picked up their tab — and even threw in a 35% tip.

The officers, from Homestead and Whitaker, which is three miles from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, were having dinner Saturday when the couple was to be seated near them. The man insisted on sitting on the opposite side of the restaurant.

The men in blue said it as obvious the guy wanted nothing to do with them. That’s when the officers decided to do something that would show they were not bad guys, and asked their waiter to bring the couple’s bill.

RELATED: Firefighters Pay it Forward–Big Time–After Waitress With Heart of Gold Picks Up Tab

The officers paid the $28.50 check and left a message on it:

“Sir, your check was paid for by the police officers that you didn’t want to sit next to. Thank you for your support. I left a $10.00 tip too.” 

Cops Pay Bill screenshot WTAE cc geralt

CHECK OUT: City Police Have Brought 109 Addicts to Rehab, Instead of Jail

“Essentially the whole goal of it was to let him know that we’re not here to hurt you, we’re not here for that,” Homestead Officer Chuck Thomas told WTAE News. “We’re here for you. We work for the public. And we just want to better the relationship between the community and the police.”

(WATCH the video below from WTAE News) — Photos: WTAE; geralt, CC

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12-Yr-Old Opens Food Pantry, Gets Huge Surprise From Tyson Foods

By
Terry Turner
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This girl is not even a teenager yet, but she’s feeding hundreds of people facing hunger in her community every month.

Twelve-year-old Kenzie Hinson founded the Make a Difference Food Pantry after learning that one in three children—and one in five elderly people—in her North Carolina community do not have enough to eat.

She opened the pantry out of a church a year ago and it now donates groceries to more than 1,000 people every month — and, perhaps more amazing, Kenzie knows the first and last names of every single client.

“It’s more than just about food,” Kenzie says, it’s how people feel when they walk in the door.”

CHECK OUT: Girl’s Lemonade Recipe to Saves Bees Turned Into Million Dollar Whole Foods Deal

Tyson Foods heard about the girl’s good works and named her a winner of their Meals That Matter Hero award. Along with the honor, the company surprised her with a new commercial-sized freezer and a $20,000 donation to her food pantry.

“I got so excited when they surprised me with the gift that I couldn’t help but cry,” Kenzie told Good News Network. “Eventually, I want to make my food pantry into a warehouse and have a garden so we always have fresh produce—the commercial freezer and $20,000 check to help with expenses are bringing me one step closer to my goal!”

WATCH: 9-Year-old Makes Beautiful Care Packages for Homeless Women

There is one other major benefit she sees to winning the Meals That Matter Hero award: “I’m sure there are lots of other kids out there with ideas like mine to help people, and I hope that by sharing my story it will help other kids to see how much they are capable of.”

Well, it sure inspired us.

(WATCH her story, and see her surprise presentation in the video below)

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UK Retail Giant Crowdfunds Solar Power For Its Stores, Gives 5% Interest

By
Terry Turner
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PublicDomainPictures, CC license

Solar Panels CC PublicDomainPictures

British retailer Marks & Spencer is crowdfunding a switch to green energy and promising a profit for people willing to invest.

The plan calls for installing solar panels on nine of its stores around the UK. The chain has 852 stores in the UK and about 200 stores in nine other countries in Europe, Asia, and Africa.

The project will produce 891 kilowatt-hours of electricity from the solar panels.

The company has created M&S Energy Society and partnered with a nonprofit to raise $1.63 million for the solar project —selling shares ranging in price from $132 to $132,000 and promising a target of five percent interest each year over the 20 year life of the project.

RELATED: Solar-Powered Pod Allows You to Live Anywhere Off the Grid, Now For Sale

Any profits from the electricity generated will be steered back into a community benefit fund to pay for green local energy installations on other businesses near the stores.

“This project is a great opportunity for customers to invest in green energy and help the environment, while also supporting local community groups,” Lydia Hopton said. “We’re really excited that M&S will be the first retailer to launch a partnership of this kind.”

CHECK OUT: Tesco to Give All Unsold Food to Charity in its 800 UK Supermarkets

Other UK companies are also pursuing green energy projects. Grocery chain Sainsbury’s has already installed 170,000 solar panels on it’s stores and hardware company, Kingfisher, is spending $71 million to install panels.

Globally, Swedish furniture giant Ikea, pledged to spend more than one billion dollars on solar energy for its stores.

(READ more at The Guardian) — Photo: PublicDomainPictures, CC

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WATCH This 11-Year-old Taekwondo World Champ Kicks Autism Stereotypes to the Curb

By
Terry Turner
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Watch this 11-year-old who just became a world champion whirl and spin in a routine of exacting Taekwondo movements. Now, imagine he has autism.

Ethan Fineshriber was diagnosed with that condition when he was three years old. Eight years later, the boy from Sandy, Utah not only won the title at the ATA World Championship, he received a perfect score from the judges.

At age five, his mother enrolled him in Taekwondo because she was worried about his lack of social skills, friends, and exercise. Ethan fell in love with the sport immediately, and started developing discipline, self-confidence, and determination.

WATCH: Gymnast Falling on Her Head Saved By Coach With Ninja Moves

Three years ago, after winning national titles, Ethan decided he wanted to compete in a world championship, and never lost his focus on the goal.

“I felt nervous that I wasn’t going to win,” Ethan told KSTU News, “But the judges called the number and everybody around me went insane.”

RELATED: Autism-Friendly Clothing Dumps Zips, Buttons and Tags, Offers GPS

His mother remembers when he was named champion, his team lifted Ethan onto their shoulders and everything came to a halt as people rushed onto the ring to celebrate. The boy proved what can be accomplished even with autism—or perhaps, because of it.

(WATCH the video below from KSTU News) — Photo: KSTU

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Kids Are Teaching Grownups About Kindness

By
Patrick Rafter
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“Kindness in words creates confidence. Kindness in thinking creates profoundness. Kindness in giving creates love.” ~ Lao Tzu

Educators from across the U.S. gathered in Cambridge, Massachusetts for “Making Caring Common: Cultivating Kindness and Preventing Bullying in Schools,” a 2-day program at the Harvard Graduate School of Education. Drawing on 2014 Harvard research that found that 80 percent of youth say their parents care more about their achievements and happiness than about whether they are being kind, the program’s goal was to share strategies for promoting school cultures of caring and for preventing challenging student behaviors like bullying.

As the parent of three children who hopes they’ll grow up to be kind and giving members of society, the survey results were disturbing, especially having just read Sherry Turkle’s new book Reclaiming Conversation: The Power of Talk in a Digital Age, which cited concerns that today’s kids’ pervasive use of smart phones has made them less empathetic and unpracticed in conversation skills necessary for true communication.

MORE: Police Surprised This Humble Boy After Thieves Steal His Xbox

But, there’s also an encouraging and contradictory trend that shows that more and more kids are “giving back” and embracing new technologies to show their charity.

In May 2016, the social fundraising website Booster based in Newton, Massachusetts announced “B-Cause: Kids” – a first-of-its-kind national awareness initiative to inspire more kids to be generous and giving.

“Since kids are our most important asset, Americans need to do whatever we can to ensure their well-being, to help them to become well-rounded citizens, and to teach them to give back,” said Andrew Moss, President of Booster, LLC. “It’s time to spread the word that philanthropy is fun, and that charity is essential for all children.”

RELATED: Orphan Best Friends Unknowingly Adopted By Families in Same Town

Booster’s initiative honors what it calls the “next generation of philanthropists.” In a post on its blog, Booster has showcased a group of 14 American kids (from 7-to-16 years of age) who are making a difference standing up for people and causes they care about.

As their profiles in the blog post illustrate, these kids are running t-shirt fundraising campaigns to raise awareness and money for a range of charities including childhood cancer research, ending homelessness and hunger, rescuing sexually exploited and enslaved children, supporting childhood literacy, protecting endangered African wildlife, and other worthy causes.

WATCH: Suspect Weeps When Judge Remembers Him as “Nicest Kid in Middle School” –It Changed His Life

The stories of these kids are inspiring and many grownups would do well to emulate their model of generosity.

In a cynical world filled with bad news about terrorism, floods, fires, murders and worse – it’s reassuring to have some “good news” knowing that tomorrow’s budding philanthropists are already doing good work.

This growing trend gives me optimism for the future and brings to mind the words of Louis Pasteur:
“When I approach a child, he inspires in me two sentiments — tenderness for what he is and respect for what he may become.”Multiply The Good… Click To Share (Photo by Lighttruth-CC)

Teen Trumpeter Plays Touching Taps Tribute For Fallen Dallas Officers (WATCH)

By
Terry Turner
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A 14-year-old boy identified only as “James” showed up at the Omaha, Nebraska Police Department with a trumpet, and without fanfare, honored police officers killed in Dallas.

The teen played “Taps,” the traditional bugle call performed at military funerals, as he stood at Omaha’s memorial to its own fallen officers.

Police officers inside weren’t aware of the performance until the boy had left, but were deeply moved when they saw a video of James on social media.

RELATED: Police Surprise Humble Boy After Thieves Steal His Xbox

“We would like to say thank you,” the Omaha Police Department posted on its Facebook page. “Let him know how touched we were by his performance.”

“Thank you young man,” Claudia Russell posted in the comments. “You did a beautiful job playing taps. Always make me cry.”

CHECK OUT: Look at These Cops Meditating Before They Hit the Streets in Canada

“Every time I hear taps the tears begin to swell,” Kimberly Kirkland McBride wrote. “Pretty awesome young man, with all that the country is going through.”

(WATCH the video above from Vanessa Rinaldi on Facebook)Tap Your Friends With This Tribute, Share It…

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