Ronald Read always lived frugally – which is why his family was astonished to discover that the former JC Penny janitor and gas station attendant had saved an $8 million fortune.
Read had owned 95 stocks before he passed away, including big names such as Dow Chemical, General Electric, JP Morgan Chase, and CVS Health. Favoring paper and ink rather than modern phone apps, Read had kept stacks of his investment certificates locked in a safe deposit box for decades.
When the 92-year-old Brattleboro, Vermont resident passed away in June 2014, he had bequeathed $1.2 million of his savings to the Brooks Memorial Library where he frequented, and $4.8 million to the Brattleboro Memorial Hospital where he had an English muffin with peanut butter and coffee every morning.
Both establishments plan on using to the donations to undergo much-needed renovations on their aged buildings, as well as taking a leaf out of Read’s book and investing money for the future.
(WATCH the video below)
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A delivery network app that allows people to ship items with drivers already headed in that direction announced last week that it will provide free pickup and delivery for trips in and out of Baton Rouge—allowing free shipments of much-needed clothing, supplies and other non-perishable goods to friends and family affected by devastating floods.
Users of the Roadie app simply post items they want to send, and Roadie will cover the cost of delivery through its on-the-way community of drivers. Though they are waiving the usual fee for people sending stuff, the drivers will still get paid.
Many of the items needed in the wake of the flood –like mattresses, furniture, appliances and household supplies– can be difficult or cost-prohibitive to ship. At the same time, thousands of vehicles are already driving along the I-10, I-12, and other major corridors around Baton Rouge on any given day. Roadie, Inc. aims to fill unused capacity in passenger vehicles by connecting people who have stuff to send with drivers already heading in the right direction.
“Tens of thousands of homes have been lost or damaged in Baton Rouge, and now that the flood waters are receding, people are coming together to rebuild,” said Marc Gorlin, founder and CEO of Roadie. “Roadie was built around the concept of neighbors helping neighbors. If you have an extra couch or mattress in your basement in Houston, and your sister really needs it in Baton Rouge, then shipping hurdles shouldn’t get in the way.”
Roadie can also connect charities that want to help by making available those same drivers.
Download the app for your iPhone or Android at www.roadie.com, set up a “gig”, select a driver and get your items on the road. Shipments can be tracked in real time on any device.
As a way to earn extra cash, volunteers, students, church groups, or business travelers headed to Baton Rouge can capitalize on trips they’re already taking, while at the same time helping those in need. Drivers can download the app and bid on gigs that make sense for their schedules and itineraries. Plus, all miles driven for Roadie gigs qualify for a tax write-off and drivers enjoy benefits such as free roadside assistance, free food and drinks at Waffle House, and savings from other Roadie partners.
Since launching in January 2015, the company says its app has been downloaded by more than 250,000 people nationwide.
This little guy almost didn’t get a chance at life, but the days-old fawn was rescued just in the nick of time from the flooding disaster in Louisiana.
Photographer Scott Black captured the adorable deer being saved – though the baby didn’t appear to be hurt, he certainly was worn out.
“People have told me they cried happy tears at the photos,” explained Black. “Everyone is looking at the devastation and the destroyed homes, but I think the deer opened people’s eyes. They didn’t think about the wild animals.”
The Red Cross has declared the Louisiana flooding to be the worst natural disaster since Hurricane Sandy. Though thousands of residents and pets have already been evacuated, the flood waters are still draining.
(WATCH the video above)
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Gene Wilder – beloved actor, director, screen writer, and author – passed away today in his Stamford, Connecticut home due to Alzheimer’s complications at the age of 83.
Born as the son of a Russian Jewish immigrant in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, Jerome Silberman became interested in acting at age 8 after his mother was diagnosed with rheumatic fever and the doctor told him to “make her laugh.”
in 1955, he started studying at the University of Iowa where he adopted the stage name ‘Gene Wilder’ in honor of Thomas Wolfe’s character Eugene Gant in Look Homeward, Angel and Of Time and the River, and the playwright Thornton Wilder.
The actor went on to be nominated for two Academy Awards and is renowned for stealing the show in such adored films as Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory, Blazing Saddles, Young Frankenstein, and The Producers.
He only accepted the role as Willy Wonka on the condition that he could portray the fabled candy maker‘s first appearance in front of crowds as a charade where he pretends to be crippled– after limping forward with a cane, he wanted to fall forward into an elegant somersault, thus bringing the audience to tumultuous applause. When the director asked why, he replied “because from that time on, no one will know if I’m lying or telling the truth.”
His nephew Jordan Walker-Pearlman also released a statement on his uncle’s death:
“We understand for all the emotional and physical challenges this situation presented we have been among the lucky ones — this illness-pirate, unlike in so many cases, never stole his ability to recognize those that were closest to him, nor took command of his central-gentle-life affirming core personality. The decision to wait until this time to disclose his condition wasn’t vanity, but more so that the countless young children that would smile or call out to him “there’s Willy Wonka,” would not have to be then exposed to an adult referencing illness or trouble and causing delight to travel to worry, disappointment or confusion. He simply couldn’t bear the idea of one less smile in the world.”
Walker-Pearlman told NPR that Wilder’s favorite singer, Ella Fitzgerald, at the moment of his death, was heard playing from a random playlist in the room, singing ‘Somewhere Over the Rainbow.’
“He continued to enjoy art, music, and kissing with his leading lady of the last twenty-five years, Karen. He danced down a church aisle at a wedding as parent of the groom and ring bearer, held countless afternoon movie western marathons and delighted in the the company of beloved ones.”
This 12-year-old girl decided to open a library in her impoverished village to provide incentives for residents to read more often.
Maria Clara gathered the literature by creating a campaign asking for book donations. Once she’d been given enough material, she opened the library in an abandoned office used to provide phone services to a nearby state highway.
The student lives in a village called “Povoado de Serrote” – a very poor area of Bahia in northeast Brazil.
Despite the size and the simplicity of the structure, the establishment will offer valuable research material for nearby students. According to government agencies, the reading rate of an average Brazilian is 1.7 books a year; and since the average income for regional families is only $120 a month, residents simply can’t earn enough to buy books, making the library an exciting new hub for improving literacy.
Click To Share This Book Story On Your Facebook – Photo by Eco Desenvolvimento
This 10-year-old girl was tired of strangers giving her dirty looks whenever she needed to use the handicap bathroom, so she designed her own sign to remind them that not all disabilities are visible.
Grace Warnock suffers from Crohn’s Disease, a painful inflammatory bowel disease that requires her to make a lot of bathroom trips.
After having enough of rude onlookers judging her for her use of the disabled toilets, she created a sign depicting a figure in a wheelchair next to two people with hearts, illustrating that not all diseases can be seen.
“Using Grace’s Sign at accessible toilets on the parliamentary estate sends out a powerful message to others across Scotland that these toilets are there for everyone with a disability, regardless of whether or not it is ‘visible,’” Scottish Parliament member Iain Gray, who backed Grace’s campaign, told Edinburgh News.
Spread The Good News, Click To Share – Photo by Andrew Cowan / Scottish Parliament
Older people living with dementia are benefiting as they “live in the moment” by getting up close and personal with paint on canvas.
Over the past three months the communal lounge at Ashfield Court care home in England’s Tyne and Wear, has been transformed into a den of creativity.
Supported by staff and the Gateshead charity for seniors called Equal Arts, residents in their 80s and 90s are exploring their creativity with watercolors, oils, and new brush techniques—without a need to focus on reminiscence.
In recognition of their achievements, a touring exhibition of their work, entitled Making a Mark, will open this Monday with the artists in attendance, and run through September 16 at the Oxford Centre in Longbenton.
It’s an opportunity for 80-year-old Lily Turner, 92-year-old Ellen Stocker and the rest of the group to share their artwork with their community for the first time.
“Residents really get a lot from these sessions,” said Karen Oliver, activities coordinator at the Akari Care home. “They get to meet someone new, and that’s important as a lot of residents don’t have many, if any, visitors.”
“The visual arts sessions have helped people to communicate with staff and each other. You can see residents making connections, about the past, about their work, and with each other.”
Equal Arts artist Betty Hill who has led the sessions, says, “Seeing their work displayed to the public really validates for residents what they’ve been doing and champions the notion of themselves as artists.
Another part of the Equal Arts program at the care home in North Tyneside is called HenPower. The innovative project introduces the activity of hen-keeping, which, like the art program, reduces depression and loneliness, and improves people’s well being.
“It is a fantastic opportunity and has also inspired care staff on creative ways artwork can be displayed in their venues as a real feature residents can take pride in.”
Awarded Lottery funding of £1m in 2013, the HenPower Arts project piloted in Gateshead has now rolled out to more than 30 care settings in the North East and across the UK.
(WATCH the videos on the Arts and Hen projects below)
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Colin Ross wasn’t planning on saving a small business when he woke up last Sunday suffering from the sickly after-effects of partying with his buddies.
To deal with his hangover, the gentleman set out to find a restaurant with some greasy food: Whitbie’s Fish & Chips in Lethridge, Alberta.
The store owner, John McMillan, welcomed his customer with a smile and the solution to a nauseous stomach – a three-piece halibut served on a bed of fries.
After devouring his meal, Colin felt the effects of his hangover ebb away – and he noticed that the restaurant was empty save for McMillan.
The two struck up a conversation and the 69-year-old chef explained to Ross that times had been tough for the little establishment. Whitbie’s had been so short on income, that McMillan didn’t even make enough money to pay himself at the end of the day.
Ross resolved to help the business, explaining that he had “2,000 friends on Facebook”.
Though the old owner didn’t understand such computer-related terms, he certainly did three days later when customers from all over Lethridge were standing in line for his service.
Ross had posted a glowing review of the restaurant on social media, requesting everyone to share the post with their own friends in support of Whitbie’s.
“I ordered the halibut special for 23$ – absolutely amazing,” Colin wrote on Facebook. “That traditional British fish and chips was just what I needed. And the owner was a gem, a real classy stand-up guy, so I ask everyone in Lethbridge to share this and go support this hard-working gentleman. He deserves it and he makes Joeys only look like child’s play.”
“Our business has just gone right through the roof to the point where, you know, we’ve got people waiting an hour and a half to an hour and three quarters for their dinner,” McMillan told CBC. “Calgary had their flood. Fort McMurray had their fire and a little fish and chip shop in Lethbridge had its problem. The people of Alberta just come together. This is the greatest province and the greatest country.”
Cheers To Positivity – Click To Share With Your Friends – Photo by Colin Ross
After losing his police officer dad, this little four-year-old boy had an army of stand-ins for his first day of school.
Dozens of officers from the Amarillo Police Department were standing in for a 39 year-old cop who died earlier this month from car accident injuries sustained a year ago. They escorted him into the Coronado Elementary school and lined up in the Texas hallway to give young Jackson hugs and support on his important first day of pre-kindergarten.
Jackson “really enjoyed having everyone here,” his mom, Jessica Scherlen, told KVII News. “Just to know that he’s still loved by the blue family and that they still care . . .emotionally, it’s awesome to see.”
These friends with badges also escorted two of Jessica’s other children to their first day of classes.
(WATCH the moving video below KVII) –Photos courtesy of Amarillo Independent School District
These Dutch mall shoppers were caught by surprise when a swarm of 30 actors dressed up in 17th century garb started storming the corridors for a “thief”.
Carrying swords while riding in on horseback, the actors definitely caught the attention of pedestrians browsing the shops in Breda, Holland in 2013.
The stunt ended in a real-life arrangement of Rembrandt’s iconic painting The Night Watch in order to promote the reopening of the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam.
(WATCH the video below)
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This new interactive art installation designed specifically for pooches has hounds howling with excitement.
The London, England exhibit features a whole host of pawesome creations – like an open car window simulator that blows air into dog’s faces; a play ball pit made to look like a giant dog food bowl; a magic water bowl fountain; and even paintings colored in a dog’s color spectrum.
Veterinarians were consulted over the mental and physical stimulation of every piece and – judging by the joyous romping, it became a huge success.
“I think that play is really important to a dog’s mental and physical health,” Wilcox said in a video about the exhibit. “And I really hope that the artwork gets a lot of dog tails wagging.”
Even though the installation was only open for the duration of last weekend, the innovative inventions will perhaps result in the creation of more puppy museums in the future.
(WATCH the video below)
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Through a string of sources, Miller was told about how Couric met with CBS News president Sean McManus, after only 3 years of working with the company, to address rumors of the significant layoffs.
Couric proposed covering the necessary budget shortfall from her own salary, and only requested that there be “no public or private acknowledgement of the deed.”
Since the book was published on August 9th, 2016, the journalist has received widespread applause and admiration despite her modest wishes.
Pay The Positivity Forward, Click To Share – Photo by EllasPortfolio, CC license (top); and David Shankbone, CC (featured)
In the wake of the torrential rainfall causing debilitating floods this month throughout Louisiana, young voters in the neighboring state decided to set aside their political differences in order to lend a helping hand.
In a perfect show of Southern hospitality, the Texas Young Republicans Committee teamed up with the Texas Young Democrats to deliver supplies to displaced Louisiana families.
The group set up an Amazon wish list filled with items necessary for the evacuees.
Since the donations started pouring in, the activists have distributed the gifts to flood victims together —without qualms, arguments, or disagreements.
“We understand that a diversification of ideas is what makes us better as a human race,” TYD Communications Director Chelsea Roe told Upworthy. “At the end of it all, that’s what we have in common — we want to leave this world we live in a better place than it was when we came into it.”
If you would like to support the bipartisan disaster relief, you can send supplies to Scott’s Drum Center, C/O Flood Relief 4956 Johnston St, Lafayette, LA 70503.
In a historic moment, after four years of negotiations, FARC rebels in Colombia have signed a peace deal with the government, bringing to an end decades of armed conflict and setting up a process for reconciliation and reintegration.
“We can say the armed conflict is over and the exchange of ideas has begun,” said Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos at the signing ceremony Wednesday night.
Under the agreement, FARC, The Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia People’s Army will turn in its weapons and become a political movement, similar to the path taken by the Irish Republican Army in 1998.
The “ideas” that were iterated in the peace accord include serious agrarian reform on behalf of the government, and reparations for thousands of victims of the war.
It also creates a United Nations-backed commission to monitor the implementation of the agreement.
This little cutie might be old for his species, but that doesn’t stop him from shooting hoops to pass the time.
Eddie the 16-year-old Southern sea otter was rescued from the sea after not being able to survive on his own and brought to the zoo in Southern California.
When the critter’s X-rays showed that he had arthritis in his elbows in 2013, zookeepers were put to the task of finding ways to keep Eddie’s joints healthy and active.
As it turns out, the elderly otter is the Michael Jordan of the sea.
In 2015, Binh and Phuoc Wagner made national news with their incredible story: the twins were adopted from a Vietnamese orphanage by a Canadian family when they became very sick and in dire need of liver transplants – their adopted father, even though he was a perfect match, could only donate a piece of his liver to one of them.
Since Phuoc was considered the sicker of the two, she received her father’s donation, leaving Binh waiting for a transplant of her own.
The search began for a second donor – an anonymous stranger who would voluntarily give up a piece of their organ and undergo weeks of recovery.
More than 600 people offered to donate but only one of them was chosen: Kris Chung, a 19-year old student who lived five minutes down the road from the Wagners at Kingston’s Royal Military College in Kingston, Ontario.
Now a year late, Kris is much more than a stranger to the Wagner family.
After initially connecting over Facebook and learning of his identity, the twins’ parents met up with Kris for coffee.
“I just gave him a big hug when I first saw him,” Johann Wagner told Macleans. “I don’t even think I said: ‘Thank you.’ It was more: ‘Wow, it’s you.’ ”
Kris, now 21, has now become a member of the family, stopping by the house every day after school and growing alongside his “little sister” Binh.
Kris and Johanna are working alongside each other for a non-profit known as Twins For Hope – an organization providing Vietnamese orphans like Binh and Phuoc education, shelter, health care.
This 6-year-old boy had lost faith in ever seeing his favorite ball again – at least before the local police force answered his poster asking for help.
Te Kahu Hall was outside playing with his beloved red ball when it rolled into the street where a woman in a silver car stopped next to the toy, picked it up, and drove away.
However despite his dismay, he immediately started searching for his lost treasure, creating hand drawn posters with the ball’s picture and bringing them in to the Whanganui, New Zealand police station.
The boys in blue were so touched by the child’s plight, they made a Facebook post describing the predicament to their page’s followers.
Even though the police were still searching for the lost toy, they bought a green replacement ball for Te Kahu to cheer him up.
The boy was so ecstatic about the gift, he would only kick it around his yard for short periods of time because he didn’t want to dirty the precious present. Carrying it around night and day, Te Kahu insisted that he would never let it leave his sight, let alone get stolen.
That’s when Hall’s parents started getting phone calls from people around town who had seen the police force’s Facebook post and were offering money and second hand balls for Te Kahu.
The family was delighted by the reminders that they still lived in a kind community that looked after each other, even if it was only over a little lost toy.
(WATCH the video below)
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Though shark attacks on humans are relatively rare, the irresistible shape of a surfer on the water’s surface closely resembles that of a seal to sharks with their terrible eyesight – putting them in the same category as prey.
That’s why this wearable device has just been tested and proven to repel the underwater predators from swimmers.
The Shark Shield Freedom 7TM creates an electric field that causes muscle spasms in the creatures’ body, thus deterring them from approaching any further than about 4.2 feet on average.
Though the schematic still needs more intensive testing with other species of sharks, it had an almost 100% success rate with great white sharks who have been the culprits behind the majority of shark attacks.
Out of 322 encounters between 41 sharks and a camera with bait and the Freedom 7TM attached, only one great white shark got past the field, and it only proceeded to nudge the bait rather than bite.
The control study without the device attached showed that sharks would constantly wrap their jaws around the bait without hesitation.
There have already been other shark repelling devices on the market, but none have ever undergone scientific trials and research to make sure that they work in protecting ocean-goers.
Click To Share This Shocking Story With Your Friends – Photo by Kawika Holbrook, CC
In celebration of the National Park Service’s Centennial, you can now go on a ten minute virtual tour of one of the most famous American parks with none other than President Barack Obama as your tour guide.
Published by National Geographic, the 360-degree video wanders through the mountains, rivers, and woods of Yosemite National Park in the Sierra Nevada mountains of California.
Since the First Family visited the scenic oasis earlier in the summer, the POTUS’s voice explains the history and significance of the breath-taking scenery.
The National Park Service is allowing free admission to all 412 of their parks this week – with their 413th addition on the way – in celebration of their centennial.
(EXPERIENCE the virtual tour below)
Multiply The Good, Click To Share – Photo by Toddwendy, CC
