When nine-year-old Khloe Thompson first asked her mom why people were homeless, the answer inspired her to brighten their lives.
She started her own charity, Khloe Kares, to provide homeless women with brilliantly colorful shoulder bags that she sews with her grandmother— and packs with personal items.
Her great-grandmother taught her how to sew the handsome totes, which she then fills with soap, shampoo, toothbrushes and other personal care items. Khloe personally takes them to homeless women in the streets around her California neighborhood, handing them out.
Her family says Khloe’s work in Irvine has “opened our eyes” to be more respectful and helpful to the homeless in their community.
“Sometimes they give me hugs, sometimes they say ‘God bless you,’ and then they say ‘Thank you,” Khloe told PopSugar. “Don’t be so afraid of them — they’re just a normal person like you.”
(WATCH the video below from PopSugar Celebrity) — Photos: Khloe Kares
A dog rescued from rising flood waters has a new home with the Texas sheriff that has been saving the animals, lives and property throughout his Houston jurisdiction.
A news crew spotted the dog chained to a porch during flooding last week. They jumped into waist-deep water to pull it to safety and took it, along with five other dogs they rescued, to the local humane society.
Fort Bend County Sheriff Troy Nehls, who was with the KPRC news anchor and photographer at the time decided to adopt her.
“I am happy to say the only water this girl will be in now is the swimming pool in my backyard!” Sheriff Nehls wrote on Facebook. “We picked her up today from the Houston Humane Society.”
A 2-day-old sea otter was reunited with its mother after being blown away in a strong tide.
The Marine Mammal Center in Sausalito said it was extremely rare to be able to reunite a pup and parent after they’ve been separated, but this time it proved successful–and someone recorded the memorable moment with a video.
A veterinarian with The Marine Mammal Center and a sea otter biologist with the California Department of Fish and Wildlife were called to the scene in San Luis Obispo, California after the baby, which couldn’t even swim, was found adrift. They cruised up Morro bay to see if a female otter would react to the pup’s cries.
There is a reason why Cristiano Ronaldo earned the title of most charitable athlete in the world last year–and he’s proved his generosity again.
The Portuguese footballer, who is considered the best soccer athlete in the world and plays for Spanish club Real Madrid, is donating his handsome bonus for winning the Champions League in last month.
The 31-year-old superstar decided after the victory to give his prize of $661,000 (€600,000) to a non-government organization, according to Spanish journalist Pipi Estrada.
The State Department reported Thursday the number of terror-related attacks around the world dropped by 13 percent in 2015.
Additionally, the annual report measured a 14 percent drop in fatalities from terror attacks. This represents the first decline in total attacks and resulting fatalities worldwide since 2012.
The reduction in attacks was mostly attributed to fewer attacks in Iraq, Pakistan and Nigeria.
Also significant was the sizeable reduction in the amount of territory held by the Islamic State in Iraq, as well as the finances and foreign terrorist fighters available to it.
The statistics, which are compiled by the University of Maryland and independent of the U.S. government, showed that 55 percent of all attacks took place in five countries: Iraq, Afghanistan, Pakistan, India, and Nigeria.
There was also an increase in 2015 of international cooperation to act against terrorist threats, including the U.S.-led coalition to fight the Islamic State and task forces created to counter Boko Haram and al-Shabab on the African continent.
Emma’s parents shot a video of their daughter opening a present on Wednesday—one that she never expected, but now she can’t stop hugging it.
Her mother Courtney Fletcher Bennett caught the emotional reaction on camera when Emma, who has a prosthetic leg, received a special edition American Girl doll that arrived in the box with its own prosthesis.
The customized doll came courtesy of A Step Ahead Prosthetics, which has been retooling the dolls for little girls with limb loss.
The American Girl dolls are altered at no cost to families because the limb maker believes it is “absolutely crucial” to boost the self-confidence, self-esteem, and feelings of inclusion of these amputee children.
“Something as small as a doll that resembles them can have a profound effect on their mental and physical well-being,” they say on their website.
Anyone with a child who is dealing with an amputation can send the company an American Girl doll which they will modify with a prosthetic limb (or limbs) to match the child.
The miniature legs and arms themselves are entirely designed and fabricated in the Step Ahead prosthetics shop alongside the “real” prosthetics, and are painted by hand in a variety of colors.
Contact the company here if you are interested in having them customize a doll.
Every day for five years, youth pastor Rich Reaves has arrived to work in the shadow of a cross and a crescent moon. There, at his Houston church, he and senior pastor Elliott Scott discuss ways they can live out “true Christianity” by loving their neighbors–in this case, members of a mosque next door.
Meanwhile, across town, a dozen religious leaders from the Islamic and Christian communities meet to find common ground and discuss ways to educate Houstonians on “true Islam,” in order to address growing concerns over Islamophobia.
While recent news reports focus on the ISIS threat, and verbal attacks made by Christians against Muslims, a less reported story is going on behind the scenes: members of the two faiths coming together in the name of peace.
For Reaves at Lifepath church, the first step in reaching out to his Muslim neighbors was to make contact.
“I couldn’t figure out how to reach them,” Reaves said, noting that there was no signage around the mosque’s gated complex to even indicate what the name of the mosque was. “I finally called the phone number posted for deliveries.”
He learned that the mosque was planning an event that would bring thousands of Muslim visitors to the neighborhood. Rather than recoil, Reaves took the opportunity to offer help. The church offered its soccer field and parking lot to make room for the visitors–and teams of youth passed out bottled water to those heading toward the mosque. Although Lifepath is an evangelical church, they made no attempts to proselytize. They focused on simple acts of service and words of kindness–and were given gratitude in return.
The path to interfaith cooperation has been cobbled together in a different way on the other side of Houston by Bishop James Dixon II and M.J. Kahn.
When Dixon, the pastor of a large African American church called the Community of Faith, put together a citywide faith-based relief effort for Tax Day Flood victims in April, he decided to invite Islamic leaders to participate alongside area pastors. Out of this response to tragedy grew a discussion on how to build a bridge of understanding between Christians and Muslims to combat Islamophobia.
Bishop James Dixon II and M.J. Kahn meet with Christian and Islamic leaders to work on combating Islamophobia – Photos: Linda W Perkins
Dixon said that as an African American, he could relate to being the target of prejudice, and so he felt compelled to stand with moderate Muslims who have become recent targets of vilification. Recognizing that the root of prejudice is often ignorance, he and Khan, president of the Islamic Society of Greater Houston, are now working together on a summit to educate the public about Islam.
Hayden Trigg only wanted what a lot of other seven-year-old boys dream of — a tree house. His dream would have seemed an impossible uphill climb to anyone confined in a wheelchair, but Hayden, it turns out, has friends in high places.
Born with both spina bifida and cerebral palsy, it has been difficult keeping pace with friends and siblings when they play outside.
The Make-A-Wish Foundation found a way around Hayden’s barriers. It contacted nearby Austin Tree Houses to build “the best treehouse ever” for the Texas boy. Their accessibility plans included wide spaces and ramps connecting two, 200-year-old oak trees in the Trigg family’s back yard.
Hayden invited his entire first grade class over for the ribbon cutting and an afternoon exploring his new treehouse.
“It was the best day of his life,” Hayden’s mom, Adrienne Trigg, told ABC News “His wish was to share it with his friends. He’s got to be the most popular kid in school right now.”
(WATCH the video below from ABC News) — Photos: Make-A-Wish and Austin Tree Houses, Facebook
Leslie Binns first saw Sunita Hazra when she was sliding down the mountain, building momentum toward a way station. Binns stopped her slide and saw her oxygen tanks were empty.
After she got her bearings, his fellow climber tried to continue descending the mountain on her own, but after just 60 feet, the Indian woman collapsed. Binns rushed to her, gave her his spare oxygen bottle, and escorted her back down the slope to the base camp through a long, dangerous, and bitterly cold night.
A little boy sometimes bullied for his dwarfism has newfound confidence thanks to a new dog that happens to have the exact same condition.
The bullying was so upsetting that five-year-old Quaden Bayles wouldn’t even let his family talk about the fact that he has dwarfism—until he met Buddy, a Shih Tzu rescue dog, who shares Quaden’s condition, called achondroplasia.
Quaden is only about half as tall as other kids his age and his limbs don’t grow at the same rate as his body and head. Being different left Quaden depressed, but his new best friend has given the Australian boy a whole new outlook on life — showing that he’s not alone.
The pup has been so effective at helping Quaden to accept his condition that he now proudly proclaims how his dog “has dwarfism like me.”
“It’s been an instant confidence booster, where he’s now accepting his diagnosis so happily, like it’s cool to have dwarfism now.” his mother Yarraka Bayles told TODAY.
Buddy’s inspiration isn’t exclusive to just Quaden. He has become the mascot of Stand Tall 4 Dwarfism, a group featuring Quaden’s adventures that Yarraka set up to help people understand the condition.
(Photo: Stand Tall 4 Dwarfism, Facebook)SHARE This Inspiring Pair…
Morgan survived three suicide attempts and battled depression and anxiety before she entered a program that put her to work alongside horses in a stable that “can tell when you’re upset or happy”.
“It felt like I was in a deep, dark black hole that I couldn’t get out of,” she told the Des Moines Register. “I feel like I’m finally crawling over the top of that.”
The program, Leading With Horses at Jester Park Equestrian Center in Granger, Iowa, has helped her overcome, so much so that she will be graduating from high school after assuming she would drop out for years.
“What just happened?” judge Simon Cowell finally asked as he joined the audience in a standing ovation for the eighth-grade opera singer’s stunning performance.
When a customer complained about three young women wearing traditional Muslim head scarves at an ice cream parlor, a worker told him to “go give somebody else your business.”
The California shop’s baker Jessie Noah showed the man to the door as Malaak Ammari, one of the three young women, caught the incident – and Noah’s courage – on video.
Ms. Noah, who had never witnessed outward bigotry by anyone before, says it was just instinctive to stand up for the women.
The man had been spouting racist and religious insults when Noah stepped in, giving him his money back and kicking him out of Andrew’s Ice Cream and Dessert in Orange County.
The shop more than made up for the three dollars in lost business. Hundreds of American Muslim supporters turned out Saturday to eat ice cream and thank the staff for taking a stand against hate.
(WATCH the video below from the Huffington Post) — Photo: Malaak Ammari, Twitter
Almost 32 years after Jillian Sobol was abandoned as a newborn at San Francisco State University, she has donned a cap and gown as one of their graduates.
Students there found Sobol just hours after she was born in 1984, left in a cardboard box in a dorm laundry room. The infant was turning blue and nursing hopeful Esther Wannenmacher took charge, clearing Sobol’s airway and telling others to call an ambulance.
Sobol reunited decades later with Wannenmacher, who says it was “divine intervention” that she happened to be doing laundry the night the baby was discovered.
Until recently, I had no idea that you could fairly easily teach your brain to be happier. As most of us could have guessed, researchers have found that positivity (having a positive outlook) makes us happier.
Research shows that we are happier and more open to possibilities when we notice the positive.
Positivity has also been proven to cause people to be more successful.
Luckily for us, there are simple, proven ways researchers have found for us–even us pessimists–to be happier. We need to train our brains to think more positively.
This teenager came up with a $30-million idea that seems so simple, big companies are kicking themselves for not thinking of it first.
Taylor Rosenthal created a company that sells vending machines for public venues like sports stadiums and amusement parks to allow people to buy first aid kits on the spot. He thinks the machines will be a money maker for himself and a godsend to parents when their kids suffer a scrap, bruise or bee sting.
“Instead of having to wait in that long EMT (Emergency Medical Technician) line for an hour, wasting possible fun time,” he told CNN, “you could go to our machine and get quick and easy access.”
When he started pitching RecMed to investors, it was so impressive the 14-year-old was able to quickly raise $100,000 in start-up capital for building the machines.
A large, but unnamed, health care company got wind of his business and offered him $30 million for the company outright, but Taylor turned them down seeing even more return on his idea in the future.
The Alabama teen came up with the idea while playing baseball and watching parents scramble to find Band-Aids for their kids when they skinned their elbows and knees.
He first tried setting up a stand and selling basic first aid kits, but it proved too expensive to turn a profit. So the young entrepreneur “pivoted,” as he put it, to creating a vending machine that would do the work without having to pay a salesperson.
The machines dispense prepackaged kits designed for different needs. Selling for $5 to $25, the kits will contain anything from simple bandages and ointments for cuts or sunburns to protective gloves and gauze pads.
The Six-Flags theme park chain has already put in a soft order for 100 of Taylor’s RecMed machines.
The first thing Quintin Conway says in his tearful message last month, on the day he dubbed ‘Perspective Tuesday,’ was this: “I don’t want to be on Facebook. I don’t want to make this post or talk to the public.. but I’m going to–and here’s why.”
He was having a really lousy morning and was feeling sorry for himself.
After visiting a store in Liberty, Missouri, crossing off things on his to-do list, and inundated with more things he needed to do, he was leaving the parking lot and noticed a woman as he drove past.
There was a lady, probably in her 60s, sitting in her car reading–and she had no hair.
Driving out of the parking lot, he was hit with an overwhelming urge to turn around, go back into the store and buy her some flowers and take them to her.
“So I turn around, go back into the store–and mind you, I am cranky, I’m in a hurry–and I buy these flowers.”
He walked up to her and told her about a “crazy urge” he had to bring them to her, like she “needed a smile.”
“Sometimes when you get down on yourself, you gotta have perspective.”
Choked up and wiping away a tear, he apologized again for making “this stupid post on Facebook”, even when he didn’t want to, expecting everyone to think he was a sissy for crying. He urged everyone to keep a perspective on their life because “it’s important”—and to try to make someone smile.
(WATCH his video below—And, Share the Inspiration!)
Be Sure And Share This Sweet Story Of Kindness With Your Friends On Social Media…
When a family in Wisconsin saw pictures of a blind shelter dog with the same condition as their own beloved pooch, they knew they just had to adopt it.
The problem that might have stopped some people is that Batty the bulldog was in an animal facility 2000 miles away in California.
Nearly 300 South African firefighters landed at the airport in Canada to inspire hope for a nation fighting against a massive wildfire, not only by their presence but with their voices as they broke into song before joining their Canadian brothers on the front lines.
As the firefighters filed into the Edmonton airport, a man who had been evacuated from his town because of the blaze personally thanked each member of the team for traveling halfway around the world to help.
The firefighters, part of South Africa’s Working on Fire program, had just completed a 20 hour flight and were waiting to head out to join Canadian and American crews battling the massive Fort McMurray fire in Alberta when they launched into their native singing. Members say the musical dance line helps them bond.
Working on Fire is known for giving young people jobs and training while providing protection from wildfires in South Africa.
(WATCH the video below from the Associated Press) — Photos: Working on Fire, Facebook
