At a midday prayer service in Dallas, hundreds of citizens packed Thanks-Giving Square Park to show support for the police department that is grieving the loss of five officers killed in a tragic shooting Thursday.
After the speeches, citizens lined up to express their condolences to the uniformed police in attendance– and hugs became the best way to say what words can’t.
“It’s overwhelming,” Senior Cpl. Monica Cordova told the Atlanta Journal Constitution. “We were overwhelmed with grief. Now we’re overwhelmed with gratitude.”
My husband Tom and I have always been the adventurous types. Our 11 year old daughter, Capri, loves to sing and our 9 year old son, Bowen, adores computers. We know that life is short and we wanted to come up with something extraordinary to do as a family.
I had a flash of inspiration one evening: Tom wanted Capri to sing the national anthem at a hockey game. What if Capri sang anthems with children around the world? Why not find local children to sing with her while raising money for a good cause? Suddenly, “Around the World in 80 Anthems” was born!
Was it possible to even go to 80 countries? Could Capri learn 80 anthems in the native language of each country? We thought so, but first we asked Capri and she agreed to learn 5 new anthems in a week (“easy!” was her response). We started the investigative process and our children started looking into who they wanted to help. We set a reasonable period of time to be away from our regular lives and came up with 9 months. While I started to figure out the logistics of hitting 80 countries within our deadline, Tom was busy talking to a friend in Burundi, Africa who highly recommended SOS Children’s Villages as a worthwhile charity.
Capri and Bowen researched the organization and determined that they really wanted to help orphaned and abandoned children. Bowen invented “Bowen’s Blog” where he would blog about each country and Capri would sing each country’s national anthem.
Everything fell into place and, after many months of hard work, we found ourselves at the airport ready to board our first flight. We had managed to secure several sponsors such as Flight Centre, Eurail and a few others, but we would cover the rest of the costs ourselves. All money raised would go to SOS Children’s Villages.
We have now been traveling for 7 months and have been to 65 countries. We have had incredible moments, met hundreds of amazing people, seen both fabulous and frightening places all while having the most unbelievable experiences of our lives. We have had the chance to stay at over 30 of the SOS Children’s Villages throughout the world during our travels. Because of this, our experience has been richer and truer to life than the average traveller due to the fact that we have eaten with the families, shared many hours with them and had the chance to become part of their local lives for a few days. Seeing and hearing stories about the abandoned or abused children, we can now more easily comprehend the pain of those affected most by the “adult problems” most prevalent in each region. Whether it was HIV or AIDS in South Africa, drug problems or sex-trafficking issues in South America or lack of education, alcohol and abuse in Eastern Europe, we saw first hand the effect that these problems had on the kids.
Our children have learned that, despite differences due to religion, skin color, social status and economic conditions, children everywhere have the same hopes and dreams, play the same games and all want to be loved and cared for. In singing together with the local children in their language, Capri forms a special bond.
Bowen has interviewed many young boys and has asked them, “If they had one wish, what would it be?” With answers as surprising to him as “a bicycle” (doesn’t everyone already have one??), “world peace” (a different perspective from a boy in Vietnam than one from Canada) or “good luck for my whole life” (a common wish in China).
With 15 more countries to go, we continue to soak up each and every morsel of this enriching experience. Although we are nearing the end of our journey, we know that we want to continue to work to inspire other families and children to use their talents to move outside of their comfort zone by seeing life from a different perspective and by doing what they can to help those who need it most.
Please watch the videos and donate if you can. Follow along on our website or our accompanying Facebook and YouTube pages.
A surprising yet affectionate bond between cats and dogs could help save cheetahs from extinction in the wild.
In zoos across the United States, the big cats are gaining a sense of confidence and comfort from the dogs, which are placed with the cubs after they’re born.
But more importantly, in Africa, there is a specific dog, the Anatolian shepherd, that is actually saving cheetahs.
“You may see in history that this dog could be responsible for saving the cheetah from extinction,” according to Jack Hanna, Director Emeritus of the Columbus Zoo, which is backing with the African program.
Adult coloring books have suddenly sky rocketed in popularity—and it’s not surprising. They offer an inexpensive way to boost your self-expression and creativity, while reducing stress at the same time.
But, a new book created especially for the recovery community is so inspiring it will surely leave people on their rehab journey addicted to creative coloring.
The publisher, Health Communications Inc., known for its deep roots in the addiction and self-help fields, has collected soothing drawings, and added encouraging quotes, to create “Inkspirations for Recovery.”
The company, most noted for creating Chicken Soup for the Soul, the most popular self-help series ever published, has in that same vein begun marketing Inkspirations color books for every interest— from gardening to women empowerment.
But it is their premiere edition made for ex-addicts that might become as popular as their recovery classic, Healing the Shame That Binds You. Kevin M. Dixon, a Behavioral Health Technician and Certified Recovery Support Specialist in Tucson, Arizona points to several benefits of the Inkspirations workbook.
“Using a coloring book for someone in early recovery is an excellent way to distract them from not only the mental obsession but the physical craving that characterizes addiction.”
Inkspiration user C. Rosenberg loves soaking in the book’s thought-provoking messages: “An hour spent coloring a page in this beautiful book is an hour very well spent—relaxing, comforting, and, ultimately, satisfying. The quotations and messages sprinkled throughout offer a deep level of contemplation to this creative pastime.”
The paperbacks are composed of high quality paper that allows you to use your medium of choice—like water colors—although a heavy hand using dark colored markers may occasionally bleed through the thick pages. But, with perforated pages that are easy to pull out, users can easily hang or frame their artwork, too.
Well known in the recovery field, Rokelle Lerner was chosen to select the thought provoking quotes. Lerner currently holds the position of Senior Clinical Advisor to Eric Clapton’s recovery center in Antigua, the Crossroads Centre. This made her the perfect fit to contribute to the book. She also her own book published, Daily Affirmations for Adult Children of Alcoholics.
Health Communications, which celebrates its 40th anniversary in 2016, has also released an Inkspirations series of ready to color and mail greeting cards so you can send colored best wishes for any occasion.
Whether you prefer to stay in the lines or create new ones of your own, Inkspirations has a coloring book for you, to add fun and inspiration into a life that’s worth celebrating.
Patrick Stewart trades in his Star Fleet uniform for a ten-gallon hat in his latest role: “Cowboy Pat” — a parody video of a country-western singer, with songs for sale that actually rustle up some cash for a good cause
Billed in the video as “England’s premier cowboy singer,” Stewart cracks a whip and dances in boots and chaps as he croons while selling his collection of five tunes, like the theme from “Rawhide,” “Buttons and Bows,” and “South of the Border.”
“Sometimes it takes an Englishman to teach us what’s great about being an American,” the announcer says.
A toll free number at the end of the video also takes you to a recorded message from “Cowboy Pat,” explaining he can’t come to the phone because he’s “out rustling cattle.”
(WATCH the video below from Patrick Stewart and Ethan Eubanks)
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A nationwide network of dental offices is putting smiles on the faces of thousands of veterans who don’t have dental insurance.
Allen Williams is one of the vets welcomed at 400 Aspen Dental clinics recently. He served four years in the Marine Corps, worked hard all his life, and is now a caregiver for his mother and a friend with Parkinson’s.
He says a Marine is supposed to be able to smile and face himself in the mirror, but his missing teeth caused him too much embarrassment.
He was one of 4,000 vets Aspen Dental helped on June 25th with its “Day of Service.” The network provided more than two million dollars in free dental care for veterans, all in one day.
Their “Healthy Mouth Movement” is also back on the road again this summer, sending its MouthMobile — a 42-foot dentist office on wheels (pictured below) — on a 33 city tour to provide dental care for vets. The van comes complete with a lab for making dentures, it’s own X-ray equipment, and two fully functioning exam and treatment rooms.
Since starting in 2014, the Healthy Mouth Movement has provided nearly $6.3 million in free dental care to more than 11,000 veterans. Fewer than half of veterans receive federal VA dental benefits because they are not 100% disabled or have dental conditions related to their time in the service.
After his visit, Allen Williams was able to look into a mirror and see his smile restored.
When their armed guard suffered a heart attack, a group of prisoners broke the lock on their holding cell to rescue him — putting their own lives in danger.
The inmates were awaiting court appearances in Parker County, Texas when the lone armed guard fell over, unconscious, in his chair. They tried calling for help, but no one came.
The men realized if they broke out to help the guard, their actions might be mistaken for a jail break, and police could come rushing in with guns drawn—but their instinct to help was stronger.
Throwing their combined weight against the cell door, they forced it open. Still handcuffed and shackled, they continued yelling for help and this time officers in the courtroom upstairs could hear them.
As one of them reached for the guard’s radio to call for help, police rushed into the holding room and corralled the inmates before realizing there was a medical emergency.
Officers say the inmates’ action likely saved the guard’s life — without their help it might have been another 15 minutes before anyone found found him.
“It never crossed my mind not to help whether he’s got a gun or a badge,” inmate Nick Kelton told WFAA News. “If he falls down, I’m gonna help him.”
Police performed CPR until paramedics arrived with a defibrillator, got his heart beating again and took him to a hospital.
This is not the first time inmates have come to the aid of their jailer. Several prisoners at the Orient Road Jail in Tampa, Florida rushed to rescue a guard, as seen on this video, during an attack by another inmate who had him in a choke hold.
Shamayim Harris is a one-time school administrator who’s now leading a group of mostly volunteers in the redevelopment of her Detroit-area neighborhood.
If she has her way, the whole town of Highland Park, Michigan—much of which now looks like a ghost town—will be reborn.
She’s doing it for her son, Jakobi, who was only two years old when he was killed by a hit and run driver, and she’s doing it for her community.
“I want it to be something infectious,” she tells CBS’s Steve Hartman. “I want other people to know what they can do to their neighborhoods… You can do it!”
This bald bird loves to boogie to “Some Nights” by FUN.
Kurter Barnett of Ontario, Canada rescued the Goffin Cockatoo six years ago, after it had been abused by his owners and the stress led to the loss of all his feathers.
Julia and her best friend Walter share something in common — both the puppy and the little girl were born deaf.
A Good Samaritan found Walter and his litter mates in December when the pups were only six weeks old and brought them to the Pasadena Humane Society shelter.
Julia and her mother fell in love with the little dog the first time they saw him. Mom remembered when Julia was a baby and couldn’t hear her voice, she would recognize her mom by smelling her neck. The first time she picked up Walter he sniffed her neck — the same way Julia had done as an infant.
If you’re cutting carbs to lose weight, you may want to weigh new research on pasta. Scientists have found that pasta in moderation may actually help you lose extra pounds.
You will have to cut back on the creamy sauces, though.
Pairing pasta with vegetables, nuts, olive oil and other staples of a healthy Mediterranean diet kept waistlines slim for participants in a large Italian study.
Researchers at IRCCS Neuromed in Pozzilli studied more than 23,000 people living across Italy and found those who ate moderate amounts of pasta had a lower body mass index (BMI).
“We have seen that consumption of pasta, contrary to what many think, is not associated with an increase in body weight, rather the opposite,” study author George Pounis said. “Our data show that enjoying pasta according to individuals’ needs contributes to a healthy body mass index, lower waist circumference and better waist-hip ratio.”
The researchers found that people who eat pasta tend to adhere more closely to a Mediterranean diet — which is frequently credited with other health benefits. Previous studies have shown the diet can lower the risk of breast cancer and could reduce the risk of Alzheimer’s by half.
The Italian research stresses moderation — they did find people who ate larger portions of pasta did gain weight. A proper serving should be limited to a half cup, about the size of your fist.
Though their research was partially funded by pasta company Barilla, the study’s authors showed no conflict of interest in their findings, which were published in the journal Nutrition & Diabetes.
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“When I began water therapy,” said Beth. “No one expected me to ever move in the water without someone holding me up.”
After my youngest daughter’s C6-7 spinal cord injury, we became a team. Beth, fourteen years old, tried again and again to stay afloat in the rehab pool on her own. Weeks later, she floated in the water with her arms gently waving under the surface–at a time when moving on land and pushing her new wheelchair was difficult.
“I immediately loved the water and the freedom I had in it,” she recalls.
Two years after her injury, a therapy student helped Beth learn how to do the backstroke without sinking. It was the week before our first wheelchair games, and a coach at the games encouraged us to attend a national meet to “see the possibilities.”
Swimmers in my daughter’s S3 classification were rare, so she decided to work with a coach so she could swim all of the strokes.
She could do the backstroke but learning to swim on her stomach—and still breathe—was the biggest challenge.
It took weeks of failing before Beth figured out how to move forward on her stomach just a meter or two. Over months, she gradually extended the distance. Eventually, she learned the actual modified strokes.
“I basically swim with my upper body and pull my entire body with my arms. Since my hands can’t cup the water, my arms do all the work. It would be something like an able-bodied swimmer with their legs tied together and their hands in fists.”
Venturing out of our small town of Tiffin, Ohio, Beth and I shared adventures across the country and around the world. A Paralympian, she set fourteen American Records for the U.S. Paralympic National Swim Team and the Harvard Women’s Swimming and Diving Team—the first member to have a visible disability. Eleven records still stand.
“Many people were surprised that I compete in swimming since I use a wheelchair. It has been fun for me to show how people with disabilities can be competitive in sports just as much as others.”
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Cindy Kolbe is a lifelong disability advocate who managed group homes in Ohio and ran a nonprofit in Massachusetts. She currently lives in Summerville, South Carolina. Her daughter Beth is employed as a health policy lawyer in Washington, DC. Cindy’s blog shares their adventures at Struggling With Serendipity.
Shortly after cashing a check for $187,000, a man who had been homeless and living in a shelter for six months left his entire inheritance in the back of a taxi cab.
The Boston cab driver was faced with a choice after searching for the man unsuccessfully back at the hotel where he picked him up. In the end, he decided to take the cash—stacks of 100s and 50s —directly to the police.
When this little girl was diagnosed with a cancer so rare that there was no specific treatment for it, doctors created a “precision medicine” designed just for her condition.
Allison Schablein was only four-years-old when doctors found multiple tumors in her brain and spine. After four months of treatment, her cancer — a type called anaplastic astrocytoma — became resistant to chemotherapy and started spreading.
Her doctor at Dana-Farber/Boston Children’s Cancer and Blood Disorders Center knew the research hospital was testing a cancer drug that targeted a specific mutation in melanoma. The doctor knew Allison’s cancer had the same mutation and wondered if a variation of the drug could work for her.
This type of treatment is called “precision medicine” because it uses the patient’s genetic information to help target a precise molecule in cancer cells. Chemo takes a much broader approach — trying to kill of lot of cancer cells quickly.
The more targeted therapy of precision medicine can have stunning results.
Allison took two pills each day for two months and when she went back for a brain scan, doctors there couldn’t find any trace of the cancer.
“I stood up and screamed,” her father, Dan Schablein told ABC News. “It was just shocking and the most incredible feeling.”
Though technically not “cured,” the New Hampshire girl has led a normal life for years, and continues to take the drug to prevent a return of her cancer.
These two dogs are an Australian penguin’s best friend — with skills that have saved as many as a two thousand birds in the last ten years.
Foxes had nearly decimated the population of ‘little penguins’ on Middle Island — killing nearly 200 a year.
But, since 2006 when Eudy and Tula started guarding the species, which is the smallest type of penguin in the world, there hasn’t been any evidence of a predator attack.
After the dogs started patrolling the island, the flock grew from a low of just 10 birds to more than 150 today.
It was a local chicken farmer, Swampy Marsh, who first suggested using the large, white Maremma sheep dogs as penguin guardians because they were so good at protecting his free range hens.
The community of Warrnambool sponsored the dogs’ training and still provides homes for them through the winter.
During the penguins’ mating season, the dogs patrol the island five days a week, spending their days off at Flagstaff Hill Maritime Village, where they meet visitors and help educate people about conservation.
(WATCH the video below from Bondi Vet) — Photo: Peter Abbott
When firefighters set up a command post nearby to battle a pair of wildfires in the area, Buttons wandered over and personally introduced herself to every firefighter she saw, letting them pet her, and placing her head on their shoulders.
Share This Story With Your Herd Of Friends... (Photos by Kittitas County Fire Dist. #7 )
The Guests, including many military families, who were enjoying July 4th festivities at the While House Monday, got to watch pop music celebrities perform on stage, but also an impromptu sing-along led by President Obama himself.
After celebrating the nation’s birthday, the crowd got to join in singing ”Happy Birthday” to the Obamas’ oldest daughter, Malia, who turned 18 the same day.
Fifth graders fanned out across Bristol, England handing out flowers and hiding inspiring messages in library books to uplift as many people as they could.
The project was part of “Brilliant Bristol,” an effort to “make Bristol the UK’s happiest city” and set a world record for the most random acts of kindness in a single day.
The jury’s still out on the world record, but responses on the BBC Points West Facebook page are hailing the project as a success.
“These are the Life Skills we should be teaching our children,” Chris Gould wrote.
“That’s such a lovely thing for children to do,” Shazia Sheikh added, “More schools should do this. It makes the children feel good as well as others. Brilliant.”
(WATCH the video above from BBC Points West) — Photo: BBC
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Soon you can strap this on to keep yourself from ‘tying one on’.
This monitor worn like a wrist watch let’s you know how much alcohol you’ve had.
The prototype Skyn from BACtrack won the National Institutes of Health’s “Wearable Alcohol Biosensor Challenge” in May. The U.S. government sponsored the contest to create a small and accurate way of measuring how alcohol is affecting a drinker in as close to real time as possible.
The Skyn detects ethanol molecules escaping through the skin and sends constant reports — as many as one per second — to your phone using a Bluetooth connection (pictured below).
You’ll be able to see when you’ve had enough — or too much.
BACtrack gets its name from Blood Alcohol Content — or BAC, the measurement used to determine how intoxicated a drinker is based on the amount of alcohol in their system.
The company makes a range of consumer devices designed to measure alcohol levels in a person’s bloodstream. Most are small enough to fit in a pocket or clip to a keychain, but the Skyn promises to be even more convenient because you wear it.
Rather than having to take breath tests, the Skyn gives users almost real time measurements of their BAC. It causes the phone to vibrate as users near 0.04% BAC — about half the legal limit to operate a vehicle in most states – warning them to slow down on their drinking.
BACtrack hasn’t announced a final price on their new device, but the company plans to have limited quantities of the Skyn available by the end of 2016 — just in time for the holiday season and the parties that go along with it.
