One recent morning I captured this moment out my back door in Virginia, USA.
The bell is a nice symbol for us in the New Year. We need to remind ourselves of what we are grateful for, and recount those good things regularly, like enjoying a church bell ringing every day at noon. (And, of course, use our new app or website to remind you of the good outside in the world.)
As far as New Year’s resolutions, I hope we each can set at least one intention to do better in 2016. (“Resolution” is a rather daunting word for some; I prefer “intention”.)
Working toward a few goals is something I intend to do, especially regarding Good News Network. (This year I will connect with a wonderful corporate partner who will purchase all our advertising banners on the site; I will launch radio content and post in podcasts; I also want to attract video partners to create original video content.)
However much I am hustling to get these accomplished I want to remember–and urge you to remember–an important truth: Life is a dance between making it happen and letting it happen.
How to choose when to let go, and when to keep pushing? That’s not an easy question, but meditation or quiet contemplation will help. I believe that my inner guidance, if I can hear it, knows the best course, but even that is subject to question. We can end up in the same place whether we take the easy graceful way, or the hard, painful way.
A company known for speeding Formula 1 race cars around a track, is slowing the spin on electric moters, saving money and reducing the carbon footprint of supermarkets.
Williams Advanced Engineering, the innovation division of Williams F1, adapted a design by Aerofoil Energy that uses simple plastic strips — and the complicated physics of fluid dynamics — to
throttle down the cold air escaping from refrigerated aisles in grocery stores.
The strips work like an airfoil — on a airplane’s wing or a race car’s tail — to effectively keep cold air from escaping, eliminating the need for the refrigerator to create more.
Williams relied on the same supercomputers used to design streamlined race cars to refine the refrigerator airfoils.
Depending on the size of the fridge, it cuts electricity usage anywhere from 10% to 30%.
That’s a substantial savings since refrigeration accounts for more than half of all electricity a supermarket uses.
Their new device is set to roll out in January, but UK supermarket chain Sainsbury’s has been testing the device since June and has already ordered more.
As many as eight of the UK’s ten largest supermarket chains are also considering adding the strips to their stores — to save some cold cash while rolling back their planet-warming carbon footprint.
On Tuesday’s broadcast of the 2015 Kennedy Center Honors, Aretha Franklin proved she is still the indisputable Queen of Soul.
Singing (You Make Me Feel Like) A Natural Woman in tribute to the honoree, singer-songwriter Carole King, Franklin brought the house to its feet. As the 73-year-old singer came to the piano, the moment brought a tear to President Obama’s eye and sent Carole King, the song’s composer, into orbit.
Having come back from serious health problems a few years ago, this video shows she might just be singing better than ever.
Watch her incredible show-stopping performance below…
Duchess Sanctuary, horse, PMU, mustang, equine, rescue, pony, draft horse, Premarin, BLM, horse slaughter, fund for animals
Mustang, Humane Society of the United States
Few activist groups benefited from such sweeping legislative gains in the United States as the animal welfare movement did during 2015.
The extraordinary victories came as the federal government banned the use of chimps in experiments, pushed for new rules to protect elephants against the ivory trade, established new protections for African lions from American trophy hunters, prevented the slaughter of American horses on U.S. soil, blocked efforts to remove critical federal protections for wolves, and so much more.
Protecting Horses from Slaughter
The omnibus spending plan from Congress in December contained language that continues the “defund” policy that’s kept horse slaughter plants from reopening on U.S. soil. It restated the long-standing ban on killing healthy wild horses and burros and the sale of any wild equines for slaughter.
The law also continues reforms like reducing the number of animals rounded up and transferred to long-term holding pens and increasing the use of humane fertility control methods.
Pet Food Safety
Submitted photo
In September, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) finalized a rule that requires protective measures for the safety of the food we give our pets. The standards apply to all domestic manufacturers and importers.
Additionally, in November, the FDA issued a final rule requiring foreign suppliers of animal food and treats to meet stringent U.S. standards on food safety.
Ending Invasive Experiments on Chimps
Photo by Delphine Bruyere, CC
Through a multi-pronged effort involving two federal agencies and Congress, the Humane Society of the United States worked to end the use of chimpanzees in invasive experiments, and practically shut the door on future use.
Now all chimpanzees – whether captive or wild – are listed as endangered, ending a decades-long loophole that allowed their exploitation for biomedical research and in the entertainment trades.
Additionally, in November, the National Institutes of Health announced it will no longer use chimpanzees in research, reversing a decision to keep 50 animals for future needs.
Maintaining Federal Protections for Wolves
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
The Humane Society also helped block legislative maneuvering under consideration in the omnibus spending bill to remove federal protections for endangered wolves in the Great Lakes states and Wyoming.
The blocking maneuver may spare 1,000 wolves from hunters and trappers.
Anyone seeking to import a lion trophy will have to obtain an import permit from FWS, and no such permits will be granted unless the hunt is proven to enhance lion conservation. Most exporting countries will not meet this standard and so the rule will drastically reduce the number of lion trophy imports — from more than 700 a year to a trickle.
Photo Credit: Kevin Pluck, CC
Combating the Ivory Trade and Protecting Elephants
Charlesjsharp, CC
For the second year in a row, the FWS suspended imports of sport-hunted African elephant trophies taken in Tanzania and Zimbabwe.
The U.S. and Chinese presidents committed publicly in September to take action in both countries to crack down on the ivory trade.
Expansion of Marine Sanctuaries
Photo byThe Conduqtor, CC
President Obama issued an Executive Order, expanding the existing Pacific Remote Islands Marine National Monument, making it the largest marine monument in the world. The sanctuary is expected to protect nearly two dozen types of marine mammals, along with threatened species of sea turtles.
Protecting Captive Orcas
Orca baby By Jeanne Hyde, courtesy of Center for Whale Research
NOAA issued a final rule that eliminated the split listing of Southern Resident Orcas to include both wild and captive animals as endangered.
This means that Lolita, the only Southern Resident orca in captivity, who resides at the Miami Seaquarium, is now afforded protection under the Endangered Species Act.
This has a remarkable year for animal welfare. While we celebrate these gains, we look forward to securing additional advances for animals from federal agencies and the US Congress in 2016.
Reprinted by permission of the Humane Society of the United States from an article by Wayne Pacelle, Humane Society of the United States President and CEO
A baby’s diaper was not the only thing changed after a father discovered there was no way to clean up his infant in the men’s room of a local department store.
The frustrated father went straight to the top, writing a letter to the CEO of Macy’s, and the plea prompted quick changes at one of the company’s suburban Washington, DC stores.
Anthony Dew had taken his four-month-old son shopping for Christmas gifts at the Macy’s store in Hyattsville, Maryland. When Jeremiah needed a fresh diaper, his dad went floor to floor and asked clerks for directions, but couldn’t access a changing table anywhere in the store.
Frustrated, Anthony walked out without buying anything and wrote a letter directly to Macy’s Chairman and CEO, Terry Lundgren.
Within a week, the store had completely renovated its men’s room, adding plenty of space and a changing table for fathers to fix up their fussy infants for a day of serious shopping.
(WATCH the video below from WTTG News) — Photo: WTTG video
From moving companies helping women escape abusive relationships to a CEO setting a $70,000 minimum wage for his workers, business was good in 2015.
Here are ten of the most inspiring business practices we covered in the past year.
1. This Moving Company Helps Women Leave Abusive Homes At No Cost
Aaron and Evan Steed’s “Meathead Movers” not only volunteered their moving company to help victims move out of abusive relationships for free — they got other companies to follow their move.
After the September 10 Good News Network story about the inspiring moving company, thirty companies within just two weeks signed up to Meathead’s new campaign to offer free services to domestic violence victims. They ended the year with 122 companies pledging support. (Full story here…)
2. Airline Reroutes Mom to Son’s Bedside, Before She Even Knows He’s in Hospital
When Peggy Uhle’s family couldn’t reach her during a trip to let her know her son had been taken to the hospital, they called Southwest Airlines. Airline employees sprung into action going above and beyond what a business would be expected to do, and did it free of charge. (Full story here…)
3. Chick-fil-A Owner Stuns Employees, Pays Them During 5-Month Shutdown
Jeff Glover decided to expand his Austin, Texas Chick-fil-A, but that meant shutting down for five months.
He knew that would put his employees in a bind, so he continued paying them in full while they were out of work. (WATCH the video, or read more here…)
4. Ad Agency Helps Town Secretly Learn Sign Language To Give Deaf Neighbor a Great Day
The Leo Burnett ad agency set out to promote a new Samsung video call center in Turkey that helps the hearing impaired– and ended up making a deaf man cry tears of joy.
The agency secretly spent a month teaching sign language to shopkeepers in the deaf man’s neighborhood who then surprised him with at every point in his daily routine with their new communication skills. Cameras shot from various hidden vantage points to create a lovely video. (WATCH and Get Full story here…)
5. $70K Minimum Wage Pays Off for the CEO Who Took a Pay Cut to Lift Up Workers
Gravity Payments CEO Dan Price announced in April he would cut his own $1.1 million annual salary to help make sure everyone in the company earned at least $70,000 a year.
Criticized and questioned at first, he had to add ten new employees by October to handle all the extra work coming in. Old customers stuck with him and his customer retention rate has risen to 37 percent better than the national average. (Full story here…)
6. Pizza Restaurant “Pies it Forward” in Florida
When a customer didn’t want a drink that came with his pizza order, he gave it to the next customer. That got the meatball rolling in a “Pie it Forward” campaign launched by Phil Solorzano’s Late Night Pizzeria in Florida. Generous customers now buy slices for folks who can’t afford food – and Phil often delivers the hot pies right to the homeless wherever they are hanging out. (Full story here…)
7. Airport Not Only Returns Lost Toy, It Makes Picture Book of Tiger’s Travels
Hobbes the Toy Tiger was left behind at Tampa International Airport in Florida when six-year-old Owen Lake boarded a plane to Texas. His frantic mother called the airport asking them to look for the stuffed animal Owen’s grandmother had handmade.
8. Donated Eyewear Allows Blind Mother to See Her Newborn Baby
The first thing Kathy Beitz saw since going blind 18 years earlier, was her newborn baby. eSight had donated the $15,000 glasses that uses video cameras with powerful view screens that lets Kathy see again.
9. Businessman Helps Church Install Colorful Tiny House Village for Homeless
Construction company owner Dewayne Jones teamed up with his college fraternity brother, Rev. Jeff Carr, to build a village of tiny houses to shelter the homeless.
10. Padres Baseball Team Keeps Disabled Pitcher on Payroll for 20 Yrs to Give Insurance
Major League Baseball’s San Diego Padres have kept a disabled pitcher on the team for 20 years — so he’d have the health insurance he needs.
Matt LaChappa was barely out of high school, warming up to pitch for a Padres minor league farm team in 1996, when he had a massive heart attack that left him with brain damage and confined to a wheelchair.
This six-year-old girl celebrated her final chemotherapy treatment in style — being escorted to the hospital in a fire truck with her own brigade of firefighters by her side.
Her parents had always taught Finley Brown and her brother to thank firefighters, police, and service members for keeping them safe whenever the kids saw them.
It so inspired them that Lucas Lambert and his fellow firefighters held a fundraiser to pay for her family to go to Disneyland after chemotherapy was done — and arranged to surprise her with her special ride to the last session.
“They’ve just been incredible, fireman Lucas in particular,” her mother, A.J. Brown told TODAY. “Like we didn’t have enough reasons to love firemen already!”
(WATCH the video from A.J. Brown below) — Photo: A.J. Brown
From donating millions to taking a full time job, from giving away houses to singing for stranded passengers, here are ten times that celebrities shone brightest in 2015
1. Prince William Makes History by Taking a Job– AND Donating His Full Salary
Britain’s Prince William became the first member of the Royal Family in direct succession to the throne to take a civilian job. The new Air Ambulance pilot is donating his £30,155 annual salary to charity, saying, “I feel doing a job like this really helps me to be grounded and that’s the core of what I’m trying to become.” (Full Story here…)
2. Tim McGraw Gives Mortgage-Free Homes to Dozens of Veterans
Country singer Tim McGraw celebrated Independence Day by giving new homes to 36 American veterans. He’s been giving vets mortgage-free houses for three years now — well over 100 in total.
“I can honestly say that I got as much or more out of the experience than the veterans who received the new homes and assistance,” McGraw said. (Full Story here…)
3. Robert Downy Jr. Comes to the Rescue of Bullied Seven-Year-old Boy
When a little boy’s mom posted a social media message about her son pretending to be Iron Man to stop bullies, the actor who plays the superhero sprang into action.
Robert Downy, Jr. sent an online invitation with this photo asking Daniel Keyte if he’d like to be Downy’s guest at next year’s Hollywood premiere of “Captain America: Civil War.” (READ More here…)
4. Marty McFly and Doc Brown Emerge From DeLorean on Jimmy Kimmel Live
It was deja vu all over again as the stars of “Back to the Future” showed up in a cloud of smoke from a DeLorean on October 21, 2015 — just like they did in the second film of the series.
Instead of Hill Valley, actors Michael J. Fox and Christopher Lloyd materialized on the set of Jimmy Kimmel Live and reminded us of all the classic movie scenes about hover boards and time travel. Spend 10 minutes of your future and view the video here.
5. Jon Stewart Buys a Farm to Help Animal Victims of Cruelty
6. LeBron James Pays for College Scholarships For 1,100 Students
Basketball star LeBron James scored big with students when he gave full, four-year college scholarships to 1,100 students.
His foundation will cover tuition costs in Ohio for the seventh grade students after they have graduated high school– at a cost of $34,000 per student. (Full Story here…)
7. Dick Van Dyke Celebrates 90th Birthday, Busting a Move
The legendary star still has his moves, recreating his “Mary Poppins” dance steps for a music video earlier this year.
8. Broadway Casts of Aladdin and Lion King Get Stuck at Same Airport, Have A Sing-Off
When the casts of “The Lion King” and “Aladdin” ran into each other while both waited on delayed flights, they got into a sing-off.
Maybe the best musical showdown since the Sharks and the Jets from “West Side Story?” (Check out the video here…)
9. Oldest Jockey and First Latino Ever to Win Triple Crown Donates Winnings
When Victor Espinoza rode into history aboard American Pharaoh, the first horse to win the Triple Crown in 37 years, he shared the winnings.
After becoming only the twelfth jockey — and first Latino — to claim Triple Crown glory, he donated his $80,000 prize money to City of Hope, a cancer research and treatment center.
10. Kirk Douglas Gives $15 Million to Build Alzheimer’s Center
The star of “Spartacus” used his 99th birthday party to announce a $15 million donation to the Motion Picture & Television Fund.
The money will help pay for the Kirk Douglas Care Pavilion, which will be able to take care of up to 80 Alzheimer’s patients. (Full Story here…)
Here’s a way to start your New Year with a full heart! We’ve collected our favorite stories from 2015 to remind you how good humanity can be – 9 acts of kindness from adults, and 9 from kids and teens. Which good deeds are your favorite?
The kindness of Elvis Summers has gone down in Good News Network history after he whipped up a tiny shelter for his homeless friend in only 5 days. Since his initial construction, Summers has hosted several tiny house building events in L.A. and crowdfunded over $80,000 to construct more houses. (Full story here…)
When a young New Jersey waitress picked up the tab for some firefighters struggling against a neighborhood blaze, it sparked another good deed after the civil servants found out she had been struggling in her own way, using a GoFundMe page to raise money to buy a wheelchair accessible van for her father. (Full story here…)
Manchester United football stars Gary Neville and Ryan Giggs scored big time when they bought an old Stock Exchange building at £1.5 million for UK homeless folk to keep warm in the winter. (Full story here…)
A senior couple in the subway showed how kindness crosses boundaries. They noticed a young man dressed to the nines but struggling with his necktie. The photo above was snapped by a pedestrian who overheard the exchange and it has been shared almost a million times on Facebook. (The wife looks like she is kindly blocking the view so no one spies on the young man being tutored.)
Carol Suchman wasn’t playing around for Christmas this year – the New York woman bought the entire inventory of a toy store going out of business and donated it to the local homeless shelters. (Full story here…)
Shelby Hudgens hadn’t been able to push himself out of homelessness since his house burned down, but that didn’t stop him from helping others whose cars were stuck in the snow. After a news crew interviewed him about his three hours of good Samaritan exercise, a GoFundMe campaign was set up for the generous man, which gathered over $23,000 in donations. (Full story here…)
The internet wasted no time in stepping up to help little Safyre Terry have the best Christmas ever in 2015. Gifts, Christmas cards, and donations poured in after she sent out a Facebook plea asking for holidays cards to decorate with this year. As an update, she received a card and note from President Obama, and university students are now building her a prosthetic hand. (Original story here…)
One good deed has led to another for a man who broke a tenet of his religion to help a little boy hurt in an accident. Even though Sikhs are never supposed to take off their turbans in public, Harman Singh removed his and used it to help an injured boy. The reward for the poor college student was even more beautiful than his kindness. (Full story here...)
It had already been discussed that the biological father would walk Brittany down the aisle, but as a last-minute surprise, dad grabbed the hand of her step-father so they could give away their daughter together. (Full story here…)
Super volunteer Erin Byrnes beat the odds and won a free car at only 13-years-old. Having a heart of gold, however, Erin immediately wowed the crowd by donating the car to the charity that had conducted the money-raising raffle. (Full story here…)
Dee Andrews’ has always had a unique way of dancing, but when bullies started criticizing her sweet cheerleading moves during a game, three eighth-graders on the Lincoln Middle School basketball team walked off the court to defend her. Dee has since described their actions as “sweet, kind, awesome, and amazing.” (Full story here…)
Bambi’s got nothing on this duo: every day before school, this little boy took the time to walk a blind deer from grassy patch to grassy patch to make sure he had enough to eat. Inspired by his kindness, one of the neighbors called a local rescue group to help the little deer. (Full story here…)
The students of a North Carolina high school have opened their hearts – and their pantries – to fellow students in need. Filled with toiletries and non-perishables, the supplies have made a great difference to the needy teens attending the school. (Full story here…)
Jack Swanson had put away $20 in pennies to buy himself a shiny new iPad, but when he heard about a place of worship being vandalized, the boy pulled out every stop in his piggy bank to contribute. His good deed did not go unnoticed, however, when an Islamic attorney heard about his donation and sent along an iPad, courtesy of the American Muslim community. (Full story here…)
A detective in the making, Malyk Bonnet saved the day after watching over a scared-looking woman who was being abducted by an old boyfriend. Once the kidnapper asked for bus fare to a town 25 miles away, Malyk knew he had a chance to step in and possibly help. That is just what the brave teen did. (Full story here…)
Christian Trouesdale walked his way to internet fame after walking old man Bob and his groceries home from Aldi. The young teen has since kept in contact with Bob after sharing the news of their popularity. (Full story here…)
Jamie wasn’t expecting to save a life when he went out to the cafe that day, nor was he probably expecting the man to call him ages later and say that he and his new wife had named their baby after him. (Full story here…)
30,000 hardworking teenagers from the Evangelical Lutheran Church spent an entire week cleaning up the downtown Detroit city area along with 70,000 abandoned houses. (Full story here…)
MAKE Someone’s New Year Warmer–SHARE This…(Top photo, Ed Yourdon, CC)
This 95-year-old jazz piano player is booked solid since placing an online advertisement asking musicians to join him for a jam session.
Edward Hardy tickled the ivories in a jazz quartet for 40 years when he was younger. When he had to go into a care home for dementia, he needed to strike up a new band.
The World War II vet placed an ad on the website Gumtree and musicians have been beating a path to his door in Wookey, England, ever since.
At least 80 musicians jumped at the chance to sit in for a set. On top of that, the other three members of his former quartet — who he hadn’t seen in 30 years — all showed up because of the ad.
This past year saw giant leaps in how we cure cancer, with breakthroughs in treating Alzheimers and preventing Ebola. These technological developments – both big and small – promise better lives in the years to come.
Here are ten of the most positive health and science breakthroughs of 2015.
1. New Cancer Treatments Can Save a President–or a Baby
Esther Hyejin Chung, CC license
Former U.S. President Jimmy Carter drew attention to new advances in immunotherapy treatments when it cured his brain cancer in just four months.
Here’s how it works: The human immune system doesn’t always see cancer cells, so they can grow unchecked. Immunotherapy changes the equation, strengthening the body’s immune system to include killing cancer. Laboratories all over the world announced breakthroughs this year.
Scientists in the UK were able to inject an altered cold-sore virus into cancer cells, signaling the immune system to attack tumors — and to maintain a “memory” that created new antibodies to kill future cancer cells.
Researchers in Texas used a similar method to cause prostate cancer cells to effectively “self-destruct” by exposing themselves to a newly trained immune system. Coupled with traditional radiation treatment, it led to a 20% improvement in the number of patients surviving at least five years following treatment.
New England Journal of Medicine
Other treatments opened new fronts in the battle against cancer. Researchers in New York were stunned when a combination of two drugs used together completely dissolved a Stage IV tumor in just three weeks(pictured in the CT Scan at left).
A previously untested form of gene therapy saved a baby’s life after months of cancer treatment failed. Doctors in London transplanted special “designer immune cells” into the one-year-old girl to fight cancer. The untried process cured her leukemia in a matter of months.
2. Ebola Eradicated in Africa–Vaccine Trial Proves 100% Successful
NIH, public domain
Ebola was eradicated in Liberia by May, in Nigeria in October, and both Sierra Leone and Guinea were declared free of the disease in December.
3. New Antibiotic Could Battle Resistant “Superbugs”
The global panorama, CC license, Flickr
Scientists in Massachusetts used an electronic chip to grow microbes in their native soil, creating a new antibiotic called Teixobactin. Believed to have “evolved to be free of resistance,” it could be used to treat “superbugs” that have grown to become immune to other antibiotics.
4. Breakthrough Can Deliver Medicine to the Brain for the First Time
Allan Ajifo, CC license
Doctors in Canada broke the so-called “blood-brain barrier” for the first time. They developed a method for penetrating the protective layer of the brain to allow medicine to be delivered directly to deadly tumors through the blood stream. The breakthrough allows easier and far more effective treatment of cancer, Parkinson’s, and Alzheimers.
5. Discovery Promises New Treatments, Possible Prevention of Alzheimer’s
Australian scientists solved the puzzle of how Alzheimer’s disease destroys connections in the brain. Their discovery of a battle between two proteins opens the door for new treatments and a possible cure or prevention of the most debilitating form of dementia.
6. Diabetes Rates Are Falling Substantially in the U.S.
Americans are drinking 20% less soda than in 1998, the number of people exercising regularly has increased by 17% since 2001, and children are consuming 5.5% fewer calories on average than they did in the 1990s. Another impressive trend: childhood obesity rates have plummeted by more than 40% over the last decade.
7. Ice Bucket Challenge Leads to ALS Breakthrough
Knox County Government, CC license
A social media craze in 2014, led to a breakthrough for treating–or one day curing–ALS, also known as Lou Gehrig’s Disease.
The “Ice Bucket Challenge,” that urged people to record videos of soaking themselves with freezing water (to simulate ALS symptoms) raised a huge amount of money for research–three times as much money that was spent the previous year.
Giant whales leaped off the U.S. Endangered Species List entirely as their numbers rebounded. Humpback whales(pictured, right), on the list since 1973, were delisted in April.
There was also a baby boom going on among a clan of the world’s most endangered killer whales, orca researchers reported this spring. The births increased the population of Southern Resident Killer Whales by three percent.
9. Man Creates ‘Shoes That Grow’ So Poor Kids Don’t Outgrow Them
Practical tech can be more important than high tech inside developing nations.
Kenton Lee designed the shoe after realizing why so many kids he saw in a Kenyan village were barefoot — their parents couldn’t afford new shoes every time a child outgrew a pair. His invention gives them a shoe that protects them from soil-borne disease as they grow.
10. Ex-NASA Engineer to Plant One Billion Trees a Year Using Drones
A start-up plans to help solve the world’s climate problems by using drones to plant forests of seedlings.
The environmental engineer who worked 20 years with NASA wants to use drone technology to plant up to one billion trees a year, without having to plant each one by hand. Drones will fly two or three meters above the ground and fire out pods containing pre-germinated seeds that are covered in a nutritious hydrogel.
Make Your Friends’ Top Ten List, Share This… (Top 2015 Photo: ErAnger, CC)
If teens already have a hard time with positive body image and self-esteem, imagine how they feel going through the drudgery of chemotherapy or a long hospital stay, possibly losing their hair or a limb, and always giving up their individual freedom. Hospitals have many volunteers and programs to amuse little children, but when it comes to teens, there is little to take their mind off the misery.
That’s when “Design My Room” makes them feel like a firework.
Working with 36 hospitals across the United States, the nonprofit redecorates sterile patient rooms to look “more like home” for teens whose spirits could use a lift.
The formerly dreary atmosphere is transformed by new boldly-colored blankets, cozy rugs, movie posters, and sports memorabilia – each item geared to the patient’s interests. Once the teens are finished with their treatment, they can bring the new decor and gifts home with them.
The idea for Design My Room came from “Wish Upon A Teen” president Michelle Soto, who was inspired by working with older youth at a California children’s hospital.
“The sad truth is that most hospitals do not understand what teens want or need,” she says. “As a Child Life Specialist, I frequently had to tell 16-year-old cancer patients that, if you were not into balloon animals, toys for tots, or magicians, then we were pretty much fresh out of programming.”
A mother of three–two of which have special needs–Michelle understood the difficult trials that her patients were going through.
“On one especially bad day at work, when I had seen enough disappointed and lost faces of teens with cancer, I made a promise to myself,” says Soto on the Wish Upon a Teen website. “I would find a way to provide the resources that my teenagers needed and longed for.”
Since the Michigan-based program started in 2011, Design My Room has been averaging makeovers for 12 patient rooms a week, with remarkably positive results.
20-year-old Taylor Janssen was in the hospital for several weeks of therapy after becoming paralyzed in an accident. The sports fan was given a Detroit Tigers room makeover with game posters and fat-heads of his favorite players.
“What they came in and brought to my room is, you know, really special—to kind of make it a little more livable as I’m here going through rehab,” says Janssen. “It feels less like a hospital room and more like a place I can live and have friends come.”
Cohen, who played the title character in “Borat,” and Fisher, star of “The Great Gatsby” and “Wedding Crashers”, divided their contribution evenly between two international charities.
Half will help Save the Children immunize 250,000 Syrian children against a measles outbreak in their country.
Benny the shelter dog isn’t sure what to think when strangers show up outside his kennel door, but once he figures out he’s being adopted, his enthusiasm takes off like a rocket.
The eight-month-old pit bull mix had spent weeks living at the Los Angeles, California Carson Animal Care Shelter before being offered a forever home earlier this month.
A delightful video shows Benny, shy at first, retreating into the corner of his kennel as dogs bark and the shelter worker steps inside.
But, as soon as he realizes he has a new family, Benny’s ready to go — strutting his stuff on the way out and sniffing a few “good-byes” to those left behind — with nearly non-stop tail wagging along the way.
(WATCH the video below from Saving Carson Animal Care Shelter via Facebook)
“Everything’s bigger in Texas,” the old saying goes, and Texans are demonstrating their hearts are bigger than any storm.
Since December 26 when the Dallas area was hit by tornadoes — some with winds as strong as 200 miles per hour — so many volunteers have come to the rescue that recovery teams have sometimes turned them away because of an over-abundance of help.
Cities have started asking people to sign-up before arriving at disaster sites to better manage the volunteers. The city of Garland has set up a website specifically for people who want to help. In Rowlett, citizens have set up an unofficial Facebook page to let community members know what and where contributions are needed.
“This is an amazing community,” Rowlett resident Brandi Hurst told Good News Network. “Many restaurants and grocery stores have been giving away food to those affected, complete strangers have opened their homes and have been searching for missing pets— such an outpouring of love!”
Neighbors have been stopping by Moates Elementary School in Glenn Heights to drop off toys and food for displaced families sheltering there.
About 400 people showed up Monday at another elementary school to salvage desks, books, and other school supplies from the building that had been destroyed while unoccupied in Red Oak.
“This really hit home,” Periete Todd, a volunteer at the shelter, told KXAS News. “Everybody cannot just sit at home and not participate… It is awesome, it shows what a great community that we live in.”
Area Chick-fil-A restaurants discarded their “never open on Sunday rule” to make free sandwiches for first responders and storm victims.
This morning Chick-fil-A is breaking their own rule and cooking on a Sunday. For the best reason possible, to help feed those first responders and people in need affected by last night's tornadoes.
“A huge thank you to Chick-fil-a from the Garland FD!!!!” Garland firefighter Kevin Douglas wrote in a Facebook comment. “The sandwiches have been awesome and kept us going. God bless y’all!!”
Other first responders are getting financial help from the Dallas Police Department’s “Assist The Officer Foundation.” At least 17 officers had their homes damaged or destroyed in the storms. The foundation has handed out $20,000 in two days to help police officers and their families with temporary housing.
Dallas-based American Airlines has donated $100,000 to the American Red Cross’ relief efforts in the four-county area around the city affected by the storms.
And people are not forgetting the animals.
Volunteers are patrolling damaged neighborhoods, rounding up lost pets and helping them find their families. In the video below, Comia Peoples cried tears of joy after searchers reunited her with her dog, Lexi, after finding the pup in the ruins of her Glenn Heights home.
The Dallas Morning News put together a collection of 15 links to help people locate pets lost in the confusion of the storms.
Christian humanitarian organization World Vision normally sends relief packages around the world, but the storm hit close to home, so the group began distributing hygiene kits, family food packs, blankets and clothing from its nearby Grand Prairie warehouse.
Even as they were helping fellow Texans, there was enough charity in the Lone Star State to overflow to others. That same Grand Prairie warehouse also readied shipments for storm victims in Mississippi and Georgia over the weekend.
Photos: Kristina Ortega and Patrick Gustafson, Rowlett TX, Facebook
A busboy’s honesty has led to an avalanche of “tips” from people rewarding the 50-year-old man for his good deed.
As soon as Johnny “Thumper” Duckworth found an envelope full of $100 bills on the floor of the diner where he worked, he gave it to his boss and got right back to work.
His boss, Randy Emmons knew $3,000 was a huge amount of money for Duckworth, who has no car or home and whose wages are garnished to pay medical bills. He rides his bike through cold and snow to get to work on time.
It turns out the lost money belonged to one of his regular customers at Randy’s Southside Diner in Grand Junction, Colorado, who immediately rewarded Duckworth with $300 for returning the Christmas shopping cash.
”He’s one of the most honest people I know,” Emmons told TODAY. “That’s life-changing money for him, and for him just to turn it in like it’s nothing, that’s something to me.”
Duckworth’s integrity, even while facing poverty, motivated Emmons to set up a GoFundMe page called “Tip Thumper” to raise enough money to give a new start to the man who is sleeping on friends’ couches.
A genetically pure herd of American bison has been living in Utah’s Henry Mountains, a discovery offering new hope that wild herds can be expanded to once again roam freely in the West.
Most bison alive today have been interbred with cattle after the iconic prairie species was nearly hunted to extinction. But, scientists having run DNA tests on some of the 350 bison in the Utah herd have now confirmed they are direct descendants of roughly 20 wild bison transferred from Yellowstone National Park in 1941.
Farmers started cross-breeding cattle with bison in the 1800s hoping to create livestock that could flourish in the arid lands of the desert southwest. It was assumed that wild bison, roaming freely with cattle would also interbreed with domesticated livestock, but this rare herd has avoided that for 70 years.
The Utah herd, though grazing closely by cattle, showed no signs of brucellosis – a livestock disease that ranchers fear bison could spread if reintroduced to parts of the country.
“This is a remarkable finding considering these free-roaming, legally hunted animals live on unfenced public lands and graze alongside livestock,” Johan du Toit, wildlife ecologist from Utah State University, and one of the researchers said.
He adds that the herd could be an important resource in restoring bison to their historic range across the American West.
A bachelor’s over-the-top Christmas display attracted thousands of spectators — and even a wife.
Chad Koosman didn’t have much time for dating around the holidays. He was busy running 50 miles of wire and cord to power the 450,000 lights in his annual display.
But, like shepherds are attracted to a bright star in the Christmas story, his future wife, Angie, was drawn to see the fantastic display — and she saw quite a catch in the Minnesota bachelor, especially his charitable, giving nature.
Chad has been raising money for a Christian charity every year since he was in eighth grade. His light extravaganza has collected more than $400,000 in donations for the charity in eight years.
Drivers being pulled over for minor violations were skeptical, tearful, and ultimately thankful when a deputy sheriff handed them $100 bills instead of traffic tickets.
The sheriff’s department in Monroe County, Georgia sent out Deputy Timothy Campfield armed with a stack of money to surprise motorists.
“Use it on your young ‘uns,” he told one man he pulled over.
The new owner of a vacant house asked a homeless squatter on the property to leave, but then returned to offer the polite young man a job — and a room in the house.
James Eppler had been homeless since he was 16 and recently found shelter on the old house’s porch. When Chris Crever bought the property in Portland, Oregon, he confronted Eppler and told him he had to move on.
Eppler thanked Crever–which startled the new property owner into seeing him differently. The homeless man was grateful that Crever had been polite in telling him to leave, which made him feel like a human being.
The respectful exchange shifted everything.
The new owner offered Eppler a job helping to repair the house and told him he could live in one of its rooms temporarily. The homeless man suddenly had a place to sleep and to shower.
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