A new shingles vaccine will be on the market within two years — and unlike the current one, the new shot will be nearly 100% effective and not weaken over time.
A study of 16,000 patients, aged 50 and older, found the new vaccine 97% effective — regardless of age. Drug maker GlaxoSmithKline developed the vaccine and conducted the studies.
Shingles is a painful rash of blisters that can engulf the whole body. Anyone who’s ever had chicken pox is at risk of shingles. Once you get chicken pox, the disease never leaves your body. As you age, your immune system weakens and the disease can reactivate as shingles.
There is a vaccine now, but that one is only 64% effective and it weakens over time. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control only recommends it for people 60 and over — and by the time they turn 70, the current vaccine is only 38% effective.
The new vaccine adds something called an adjuvant — a chemical that “wakes up” the immune system. It’s been used effectively in other vaccines and, in the case of shingles, allows the immune systems of elderly people in their 80s to better keep the virus at bay.
(READ more at NPR News) — Photo: CDC, Public Health Image Library
Alabama school standards for teaching science are evolving.
Education leaders have pushed past old standards which led to requirements like stickers on biology books warning that evolution was “a controversial theory.” Those now are gone.
Added are more hands-on experiments and course material about global warming and climate change.
There has been little opposition in Alabama, where both topics normally raise the ire of politicians and some parents. Three years of planning for the new standards went smoothly and they now have the backing of the state’s science teachers association.
The biggest change is in the area of “doing science” — involving students in conducting experiments and hands-on exploration of scientific topics. Science teachers love that because it will help students understand the subject better than relying on textbooks alone.
(READ more at NPR News) — Photo: Per Henning/NTNU, CC
The village of Zundert’s most famous native would have been awestruck at the sights, smells, and sounds of these 500,000 dahlia tributes.
Every year, the Corso Zundert parade brings out the competitive streak in locals who spend an entire year planning massive floats covered in dahlia flowers.
This year, to honor Vincent Van Gogh on his 162nd birthday, the colossal creations were themed around the artist’s paintings and self-portraits.
Dutch citizens take the parade very seriously, and usually start conceiving ideas for the float days after the competition ends – that’s 363 days of planning for the next celebration.
Between the months of May and August, teams of competing workers toil over the float’s frame, culminating in a feverish scramble the night before the parade when fresh flowers are finally nailed into place.
“By the First Sunday of September the fever burns within us,” the Corso Zundert website reads. “Will the moving floats be finished in time? Are there enough dahlias? And who is going to win this time?”
Photo Credit (and top) by Werner Pellis
The first Zundert flower parade took place in 1936 in honor of Queen Wilhelimina’s birthday, but the ‘parade’ only consisted of a modest bicycle and farmer’s cart. Since the village is known for having over 50 different species of dahlias, the idea of a larger flower parade eventually blossomed.
In order to keep a cap on the competitive craziness, the judges have limited the float size to 62 feet long, 15 meters wide, and 30 feet tall.
Because of its historical significance in the Netherlands, winning the trophy for best float is considered to be one of the greatest honors a Dutch citizen can receive in their lifetime.
Photo Credit: Erwin MartensPhoto Credit: Werner Pellis
Whenever anyone asks me how old my little Wiley is, I always say, “The rescue folks told us they think he’s between two and four years old.”
That being said, I definitely remember the exact day and time we picked him up, the day he became our baby.
I didn’t know that “Gotcha Day” was a thing until PetSmart charities sent our Chihuahua mix a care package that included a toy that says “Adopt,” a festive glittery bowl, some streamers, and a “Pup-Pie” (here on Amazon) that looks like a doggy cake.
Snow the Shepherd Instagram
Since many rescue dog owners never find out the actual day of their dog’s birth or their exact age, “Gotcha” day is intended to celebrate the day your pup was adopted.
The first official Happy Gotcha Day celebration will kick off this weekend, Sept. 11-13, at 1,400 PetSmart stores hosting events throughout the U.S., Canada, and Puerto Rico.
Every day, 1,000 pets find a new home through PetSmart adoption centers nationwide.
“For adopted pets, confirming a birthday is tough, so we wanted to call out to these new pet parents with a special day, ‘Gotcha Day,’ to celebrate the moment they brought home their newest family member,” said Eran Cohen, executive vice president of customer experience at PetSmart.
With the weekend festivities, and Facebook outreach, they hope to find families to take in 15,000 homeless pets across the country–dogs and cats that may have no known birthdays but finally have a day to call their own.
Photos by Richard W. Rodriguez/AP Images for PetSmart
As one of the 100 search-and-rescue dogs deployed at Ground Zero, this golden retriever holds a special place in the hearts of many New Yorkers.
Bretagne (pronounced ‘Brittney’) is the last known living dog to have worked at the 9/11 site and she and her owner were invited back to New York City from Texas for a day curated to honor their work and celebrate the dog’s Sweet Sixteen birthday.
BarkPost teamed up with 1 Hotels and her owner, Denise Corliss, to give Bretagne her best day ever. The pup got the royal treatment in a special suite overlooking her favorite NYC spot, Central Park. She was presented with a doggie “Key to the City” by Hudson River Park, and even got her own personalized billboard in Times Square.
She was given a surprise birthday party with tons of presents, a dog friendly cake, and a surprise donation in her name to Task Force 1, so they can keep training more search and rescue dogs, like Britagne.
Bretagne has had a long career, which included working on a rescue team in New Orleans ten years ago after Hurricane Katrina.
Now retired, Bretagne continues to give back to her community by volunteering at school programs that help children learn to read.
(WATCH the dog’s birthday fun in the video below)— Photos courtesy of BarkPost
Celebrate This Pup’s Life By Sharing It With Your Friends….
Ever since his wife died last year, 86-year old Jake Reissig has visited her grave site every day, bringing a single rose – something he did often during their 65 years of marriage.
But this summer, with Texas in a severe drought, he added something else to his daily ritual. When the the grass around his wife’s grave was turning brown and dying, Reissig brought a hose and started watering it.
One day, the Conroe resident noticed a young woman kneeling down and crying beside the grave of her late husband, a staff sergeant in the U.S. Air Force.
“After they talked and shared stories, she thanked him and left,” Reissig’s son Roger posted on Facebook. “Dad decided to honor this soldier and start watering his grass along with Mom’s daily. He does it every day. He said it is the least he can do for him after all that he sacrificed for us.”
When the parents of the fallen soldier, who was named Joseph Villasenor, later saw how Reissig was tending the grass of their son’s grave, they couldn’t believe a stranger could be so kind and hugged him standing alongside the two green plots.
Reissig doesn’t consider the soldier to be a stranger anymore. He talks to “Joe” every day while he waters —a simple act of compassion that has touched a veteran’s family and made an old man’s son even more proud of his father.
(WATCH the video from KPRC below) Photo: Robert Reissig, Facebook
Getting out of an abusive relationship isn’t easy—but actually packing up and moving out is even more daunting.
Hundreds of women have Aaron and Evan Steed to thank for coming to the rescue. These owners of a California moving company have volunteered to complete the move for them, free of charge.
When they first started their business, Meathead Movers in 1997, the high school athletes were simply looking for a way to earn some extra cash. Back then, their fee was usually $20 and a pizza.
As their business grew, the Steeds started getting occasional, frantic phone calls from women with little or no money who wanted to quickly move out before their abusers returned home.
The sympathetic movers always declined any compensation and rushed to the address to load their belongings.
One day, in 2000, a situation turned volatile when the abuser came home in the middle of the move. It was then that the company decided it had to ensure that the women and the moving crew were both safe, so they partnered with a local women’s shelter.
“What was good about that is, they could be vetting the requests for help, supporting the women with counseling, and making sure when we went in, the proper restraining orders were in place, or police were on hand if necessary,” Meathead’s CEO Aaron Steed told Good News Network.
Beth Raub, director of the local women’s shelter, said that one of their staff is always on-site the day of the move so they can “call law enforcement if things get dicey.”
Since those days in 2000, the company has expanded into Santa Barabara, Ventura, Orange, Los Angeles, and San Diego counties. Whenever they open a new office, within the first week, they head to a local women’s shelter and knock on their doors.
“It’s the special service we like to offer,” Aaron said on a phone call. “These moves became very personal to us, made all the employees so proud, and became part of our mission statement.” He also said the same services are offered to any victim of domestic violence–male or female.
Aaron Steed (right) says MM hires student athletes to give them an income while in school.
Yesterday, the company launched a new campaign that asks other businesses to “get creative” and help victims of domestic violence. Called #MoveToEndDV, the Meathead Movers hope to inspire others to rethink how they can work with shelters, or help women as they try to rebuild their lives and move into their first home or apartment.
“Some of our ideas are for businesses to offer free security systems, a dog kennel service, or for an auto-mechanic to provide oil changes,” Aaron said. “All those little things would help defer costs of starting over.”
Their goal is to spark 100 new stories of businesses offering services, and form a like-minded community. Already they have received pledges from stylists for free haircuts, from a realtor offering rental searches, and a counselor who has offered to help.
“We’re so excited about it,” said Aaron. “It brings so much more purpose and passion to our lives and if we can be an example for others, that is so much better.”
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Graffiti artists are so often viewed as hooligans and rabble-rousers who vandalize property and cause trouble for respectable members of society. But perhaps their expressive spark can be put to good use?
The Mexican government asked an alternative art group specializing in murals and graffiti known as Germen Crew to paint a village of 209 houses.
The result is an entire town covered from street to rooftop with a 215,000 square-foot rainbow. The goal was to try and rehabilitate the town of Palmitas’ image and inspire the local youth.
Germen Crew made sure to ask for community participation to bring the town together for the project.
For the past 13 years, the young painters have created unique forms of street art in hopes of keeping Mexico on the map as a country with a strong and modern cultural identity. The group also aims to challenge whatever stereotypes the world might have about their country and it’s people.
Since Palmitas has been beautified, crime in the community has dropped dramatically and the 452 families living in the town feel happier and more confident in their shining new city.
If you dine out with friends, need a compatible roommate, want to stay current with neighborhood happenings, or care about historical street scenes, these four innovative apps will make life in The Big Apple—and in some cases, other cities, too—a whole lot easier and more enjoyable.
Split a restaurant check with friends in a single click
Photo by Lars Plougmann, CC
Instead of counting cash or stacking credit cards—much to your waiter’s dismay, we’re sure—to divide up the bill among your friends, use Cover, which lets you check in, pay the bill, and add the tip using ApplePay or your credit card.
It’s also a quicker way to pay even if it’s just you picking up the check. The app will even calculate the tip for you, based on what percentage you want to leave.
Ah, simplicity!
You do have to make sure the restaurant takes the payment method first—over 300 restaurants do—and let your server know that is how you’ll be footing the bill.
The app is also available for use in the Bay Area and Los Angeles.
Find out what’s happening in your very own neighborhood
The Blockfeed app lets you know what’s happening, and when, in any of New York City’s five boroughs.
In addition to notifying you about fun things to do, it also aggregates the most popular local news based on social media feeds, tracking your location and keeping you up to date on important neighborhood news via a local news stream.
Hold up your phone to see what the view was like 100 years ago
Photo by takomabibelot, CC
OldNYC, a digital project that comes straight from the New York Public Library, lets you see what one of 35,000 buildings used to look like up to 100 years ago.
Many of the photographs were actually taken by one man, Percy Loomis Sperr, who spent decades photographing the city.
Using the app, just hold up the viewfinder, and you’ll be directed to a photo from a database that contains buildings as they appeared back in the day. The database is also full of photos of important historical moments, like a shot of Union Square in 1885 during Ulysses S. Grant’s funeral procession.
Other cities have instated similar apps, like London’s Streetmuseum app, and the website WhatWasThere.com, which gives you access to old photos from around the world.
Photo by Jim Wall, CC
Know what you’re getting into with your new roommate
Roomi, an app that helps you find the perfect roommate before you co-sign that lease, aims to take the risky guesswork out of committing to a cohabitation.
The company aims to take the “fear of the unknown out of moving” and ensure that people feel more at-home wherever they live.
The app, which is free, seems to be successful in making it easy for people to post room openings, and connect with each other. Roomi just features NYC right now, but they plan to expand.
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Pet lovers are always posting their photos and heartwarming rescue stories—now, you can raise money for the shelter of your choice by doing it.
MyRescue.dog is a new website (hosted at .dog, rather than .com) and was created in hopes of raising up to $100,000 to dog shelters and rescues nationwide.
To raise funds, rescue owners are invited to upload a picture of their favorite furry friend with a brief adoption story. Each post which will generate a $10 to donation to Petfinder Foundation.
Voting is open until September 26, and each vote will generate a $1 donation to Petfinder Foundation.
In the end, the top dog will receive $25,000 to donate to its shelter or rescue of choice, while the next 15 runners-up will get $5,000 to donate.
Here are some of our favorite stories—be sure to vote!
Charlie
“Charlie was brought in as a stray to McKamey Animal Center.
It was fate that we met. I was volunteering at the shelter and fell in love with him the second I saw him.
He has completed our family and we love him dearly.”
Comet
“Comet was used as a breeding dog for much of his life. Because one of the other males didn’t like him, he was forced to live in one room all alone. He was a very shy, timid, unsocialized dog.
I met him about a month after the rescue took him in at an adoption event where I was to pick out a new foster to take home. Instantly I fell in love with Comet and he has really come out of his shell since being rescued.
He loves everyone he meets, whether they have four legs or two, and isn’t afraid of anything anymore. He enjoys going everywhere with me and loves wrestling with all his foster brothers.”
Zoe
“Zoe was found as a stray in Brooklyn and brought to Brooklyn Animal Care and Control.
Who knows her back story but whatever it was, she was a very timid pup…who couldn’t trust anyone.
Thanks to Pibbles & More Animal Rescue they stepped up to rescue Zoe before euthanize and give her a second chance.
It took time and devotion and she’s finally able to let her guard down, and be the dog she always had in her.”
Bailey
“Bailey was found in the rain, at night in a parking lot in Miami, Florida by a good Samaritan who took her in, checked for a chip, fostered her and posted her on petfinder.com.
We were looking for a dog just like her, so we adopted her and have spent the last 8 years promoting rescue and pit bull breeds!”
Cubby
“Cubby lived at a breeders for 8 years until they were done with him. He had never touched grass, his legs were deformed from living in a cage and he was blind in one eye.
This photo is the day I was taking him home and he was scared but sat quietly looking at me.
Now he is like a puppy and loves going outside, playing with his toys and loves his new brother. He has been a real blessing.”
To see all of the dogs and post your own rescue dog love story and photo, visit MyRescue.Dog.
Despite being one of the poorest countries in the world, Malawi has reduced its child mortality rate by more than two-thirds, saving the lives of 280,000 children under age five.
The southeast African country credits its success to three areas: the use of treated mosquito nets to prevent malaria among pregnant women and children; enhancement of its rural community clinics to treat common childhood ailments like diarrhea and infections, and increased immunizations against diseases like polio.
Reducing child mortality was one of the 8 United Nations Millennium Development Goals set in 2000 to aid the world’s most vulnerable people by addressing poverty, the spread of HIV/AIDS and lack of water, sanitation and education.
Overall, child mortality rates for kids under five have plunged by 53 percent since 1990– down from 12.7 million per year to 5.9 million.
Introducing more lifesaving efforts for newborns in sub-Saharan Africa and Southern Asia — areas with the most child deaths— is critical to bringing down global figures even further.
UNICEF, the UN children’s aid group, celebrated the milestone, having reached–and exceeded–the goals before the end of the target year, with a beautiful video from Malawi.
(WATCH the video from Unicef Malawi below) Photo: UNICEF
A high school senior’s simple idea is making nighttime less lonely for dozens of foster kids in California’s Central Valley.
17-year-old Conner Johnson decided to collect twin bed sheets for children in foster care — fun, colorful sheets sets, with stripes, superheroes and flowers, the kind that kids love. And in just over 7 weeks, he gathered $3,600 worth of bedding kindness
Johnson was inspired by his mother, who has taken in eleven foster infants in the past four years, caring for them until they are placed with a family.
“It gave me a first-person view on their struggle, how the system works, what they go through,” Conner Johnson told the Tracy Press. “I decided I wanted to do something.”
The Tracy High School senior is giving the sheet sets to Case For Kids, a nonprofit that provides foster children with a personalized storage box filled with clothes, handmade blankets and toiletries whenever they are placed locally with a family.
The organization told Conner they can’t always include sheets because they are so expensive, but they would make the kids feel more at home, like their bed is special. When the children leave the foster home, they’ll take the sheets with them.
Johnson set up collection boxes at three local businesses. He then spread the word on social media, receiving donations by mail from strangers as far away as Nevada, Texas and Pennsylvania–surpassing his original goal of 100 sheet sets, gathering more than 180 for Conner’s Sheets.
(WATCH the video below or READ more at Tracy Press) Photo: KMAX video—Story tip from Mike McGinley
Racial stereotyping is harmful to everyone, especially our children.
That’s why 100 black men dressed in suits lined the sidewalks last week whooping and hollering as inner-city kids boarded the bus to start another school year.
Martin Luther King Elementary School children in Hartford, Connecticut were high-fived and cheered by doctors, lawyers, police officers, surgeons, and small business owners who gathered together to reinforce positive role model images of black professionals.
The men who organized the event, DeVaughn Ward and Pastor Al Johnson created a Facebook page titled “Calling All Brothers” where black men could tag their friends asking them to come. The page gathered momentum until there were 100 sharp-looking men ready to cheer urban children on their way to learn.
“In an urban community, people say that black men [aren’t] valued or there aren’t enough black men doing something,” Johnson told A Plus in a phone interview. “I wanted to prove everyone wrong.”
The event has already been flooding social media and news outlets, with an opportunity to change people’s perspectives for the better.
Dr. Rich Mahogany, a fictional therapist with a mental health message for men only, uses ‘bro’ humor to make fun of professional advice, like Will Ferrell makes fun of news people in Anchorman. But, through a similar deep, authoritative voice, comes an attempt to tackle serious issues like stress, anger, depression, addiction and suicide, using videos and a website known as “Man Therapy.”
The sometimes crude humor cuts through the stigma of mental illness to address the pressures of masculinity. Being the strong, silent type—never sharing emotions until they’ve reached a boiling point–can take a dangerous toll on mental health. ‘Dr. Mahogany’ prods men to “get off their keisters” and try exercises and tips to help improve their well-being.
The site was developed in 2012, originally designed to reach men in Colorado, a state with one of the highest suicide rates in the country. Its appeal has since stretched far beyond Colorado; in the past three years, Man Therapy has attracted three quarters of a million views.
Suicide is the tenth leading cause of death for adults in the U.S. and men are most at risk–accounting for 78% of fatalities in 2013, according to the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention.
The Man Therapy team of mental health experts is especially focused on reaching a specific group, what they call “double-jeopardy men,” working guys with the most risk factors who are the least likely to seek help. They use language that can resonate with these men who might otherwise not want to think about their mental wellbeing.
ManTherapy.org is a nonprofit collaboration between the Colorado Office of Suicide Prevention, The Carson J. Spencer Foundation and the advertising agency, Cactus.
The website will soon come out with a new version that can be customized, allowing users to match resources with individual needs.
Offering, as Dr. Rich Mahogany would say, “Therapy the way a man would do it.”
(WATCH the video below)
Editor’s note: The below video is slightly “colorful” at times, we suggest discretion among younger Good News readers.
This week, GNN has been covering the positive global efforts to help Syrian refugees – from the Finnish Prime Minister opening up his home, to German football stars promoting hospitality, to 60,000 Iceland citizens volunteering to take in migrants.
Now there’s an online service where German and Austrian residents can share their flats and apartments with refugees.
The website Refugees Welcome – similar to Airbnb – has connected over 138 asylum-seekers with willing European housemates who’ve volunteered their homes.
Residents can sign up by providing a brief summary of housing availability before they’re matched with a flatmate who is right for them. An external organization will then find a refugee who is suitable and put them in contact to arrange a meeting to make sure that the two can get along. After that, the refugee can either be funded by micro-donations, federal funding, or crowdfunding.
Not only is the housing a lifesaver for the refugee, but the ability to converse daily in German better assimilates them into the culture. The website currently has over 800 Europeans opening their doors to the influx of refugees.
The Berlin founders of Refugees Welcome, Mareike Geiling and her boyfriend Jonas Kakoshke, first got the idea because they were horrified by how refugees were being treated in their country.
“Many asylum-seekers have to stay there for years … doing nothing, because they are not allowed to do anything,” Kakoshke told NPR. “They are not allowed to work, they are sometimes not allowed to have German classes and sometimes it’s not a city, it’s a village and there’s nothing to do and so you get depressed after years and stuff like this.”
All of the housemates that have been paired since the site’s creation, except for two, have had positive feedback with the exchange, and continue to insist upon giving the refugees a warm welcome to the country.
Photo by Syeefa Jay, CC
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With a theme, “Feeding the Planet,” the 2015 World’s Fair in Milan has attracted millions to Italy this year by showcasing design innovation and asking the question, “How will we meet the growing food demands of the planet?”
The Expo Milano is a small city unto itself, where 145 nations have erected stunning pavilions and plazas. Some nations are wowing the crowds with architecture, while others are promoting traditional agricultural products touted as ideal for feeding the population.
France pavilion by Jean-Pierre Dalbera, CC (and Iranian pavilion on front page)
Like small-town produce markets, vendors display nutritious, easy to grow quinoa from Bolivia or rice from Cambodia. Visitors to the Italian Copagri pavilion can follow tomatoes and pasta on their journey from soil to tabletop.
Down a walkway of reclaimed boardwalk planks from Coney Island, visitors to the United States pavilion will marvel at a football-field sized vertical garden. Combining industrial ingenuity with agricultural heft, the theme here demonstrates ways to grow more food on less acreage.
USA Pavilion by Michael Wahl, CC
The US pavilion also features an array of food trucks – the hottest trend in American cuisine – serving everything from traditional barbecue to Korean tacos.
Anyone who has tasted meals from a modern food truck has walked away assured that quality can survive even in tight spaces, and creativity is the best answer to the challenge of feeding an increasing number of mouths in crowded urban environments.
And, of course, what would an Italian food expo be if it didn’t feature Margherita pizza? This one broke the Guinness World Record for being almost 500 meters longer than the previous record holder for World’s Longest Pizza.
In mid-June, 80 volunteers worked for 12 hours in a long line at the Expo to construct the 1.5 kilometer (nearly 5000-foot long) masterpiece using 150 liters of Italian olive oil.
Thousands of lucky visitors to the global expo got a free taste of the pie, which produced 35,000 slices.
The award-winning pizza’s producers generously set aside 300 meters of the pie to bring to the welcome centers that had been established for refugees in Milan.
Dog really has always been man’s best friend – and apparently best teacher too.
10 different elementary schools in Chicago are being visited by some scholarly pups to motivate at-risk kids toward a love of learning and reading.
The nonprofit, SitStayRead, organizes teams of volunteers to chaperone Dog Visits where kids get to read to dogs for one hour. Since the program started in 2003, it has reportedly helped students develop reading fluency 50% faster than non-participating classrooms.
The program’s methods vary per grade – fourth graders will sometimes be visited by Guest Readers reciting a poem or story pertaining to dogs, or they can use their Reading Rewards points earned from writing book reports to receive more Dog Visits. At the end of the year, the school hosts a Reading Rewards Celebration giving students a backpack filled with writing supplies and goodies for the summer. This helps stimulate the child’s desire to learn and supports a new love of reading.
In order to provide enrichment to those most in need, SitStayRead only provides year-long class volunteering for schools that are 90% low-income, with kids 60% below their grade reading level.
“Reading to a dog increases confidence and generates excitement about reading,” SitStayRead reports on their website. “These trained dogs, assisted by dog-themed books and writing assignments, change a child’s reading session from an abstract concept into a real life experience. Children get to read about a dog, see a dog, and touch a dog — an experience that leads to true and lasting learning.”
Pups who seem up to snuff for joining a Dog Team must pass a simple test that rates the dog’s sociability. An evaluator will run around the dog making loud noises, ask for a sit/stay demonstration, and watch how calm the dog is during interaction.
Getting dinner on the table after a busy day can be a chore–serving healthy food, an even bigger challenge. Now, imagine trying to do it after spending a long day at the hospital with a sick child.
For parents who face this reality, the Healing Meals program is a welcome relief.
Created by registered dietitian Stacey Antine, it provides free, nutritious, take home food for families with children undergoing treatment for cancer and other serious disorders.
Inspiration struck while she was taking care of her own father as he underwent treatment for cancer, making sure he was eating the right foods.
“When families are in this time of stress, it’s s not a time to educate people about what they should be eating, it’s a time to make sure they’re getting what they need,” Antine told Good News Network. “That prompted me thinking, ‘How can I make that happen?’”
Antine went to a nonprofit and proposed the idea that was met with a resounding “Yes!”
Whole Foods even joined the team effort, donating the ingredients that are whipped into meals by student volunteers from a local culinary school.
Since the program started in 2014, 6000 Healing Meals have been distributed at two New Jersey hospitals.
“These children have heightened nutritional needs, yet lack access to healthy meals,” Antine continued. “This is not a handout; it is part of their treatment.” A crucial step to keeping their weight up and immune system strong.
Healing Meals feed a family of four with dishes like cheesy lasagna rolls, chicken fiesta fajitas, and “Japchae,” a Korean stir-fry. The meals also come ready with thoughtful additions, like cookies made with iron-rich molasses and ginger, to help with nausea.
There’s reducing, reusing, recycling—and then, there’s an architect who transforms cardboard tubes into miracle building materials.
Shigeru Ban, a Japanese architect renowned for his functional, sturdy paper-made structures, has built projects ranging from bridges and exhibition pavilions to emergency housing shelters.
He realized back in 1986 that the spools used for carpets, cloth and paper, are, in fact, strong, lightweight, and inexpensive, making them the perfect medium for building bridges. Best of all, he keeps all that waste from heading for the landfill.
“I just didn’t want to waste material—it’s as simple as that,” Ban told Martin Moeller in an interview. “I was put under the label of ‘environment-friendly architect,’ but that is not my strategy. I just want to use any material where it is.”
As the 2014 Pritzker Architecture Prize recipient, he works with engineers and consultants to make sure that his structures are absolutely sound.
One of his most popular designs is a temporary bridge he built in 2007 over the Gardon River in southern France, which can hold twenty people at a time. The entire structure was made from cardboard tubes that formed two arc-shaped trusses that support a stairway.
Erected for the summer tourist season, the bridge is part practical and part sculpture standing elegantly next to the ancient Roman aqueduct, the Pont du Gard.
Ban also helps save lives by building emergency shelters out of the tubes, pairing them with rock-filled foundations and walls of woven bamboo sheeting.
He built the shelters for survivors of the earthquakes in Turkey (2000), Bhuj, India (2001), and Haiti (2010).
He also collaborated with the Make It Right foundation to construct housing in New Orleans following Katrina, and has led ongoing reconstruction efforts in the Philippines.
Currently, Ban serves as leader of an architects-without-borders-type group called, Voluntary Architects Network. The organization provides emergency housing and basic infrastructural amenities to disaster-stricken areas worldwide, including recently in Nepal following the April earthquake.
Meet Baddiewinkle, the baddest granny to ever rock lipstick and cutoffs.
Helen Ruth Van Winkle, the 87-year-old rebel that is taking Instagram by storm with over 1.5 million followers, has the sass, attitude, and fashion sense of a fun-loving teenager.
After her husband died on her 35th anniversary, Helen decided to recover from the grief by taking her love for life and turning it into a social media persona named Baddiewinkle.
“I’m not an old person and I’ve never been an old person – I just do my thing,” Baddiewinkle told Refinery29 in the video below. “One day I was laying out in the sun so I put on a tye dye shirt and a pair of cutoff shorts of my granddaughter Kennedy’s. She came home and said ‘Oh Grandma, you look so cute, let me take a picture of you.’ Baddiewinkle has helped me a lot – in spirit, anyway.”
Since her Instagram fame, Baddiewinkle has appeared on MTV with Miley Cyrus, kicked it with Nicole Ritchie, and hung out with Gwen Stefani.
She says she would love to be a role model for older people. Apparently it doesn’t matter how old you are, so long as you’re living life to the fullest and taking some cute selfies while you do it.
The sympathetic movers always declined any compensation and rushed to the address to load their belongings.
Charlie
He was a very shy, timid, unsocialized dog.
Inspiration struck while she was taking care of her own father as he underwent treatment for cancer, making sure he was eating the right foods.
