The good guys thread

[kuhio98]

BECAUSE COMFORT FOOD REALLY HELPS

My daughter, Lisa, and her husband had just moved to a new neighborhood when their 8-week old son, Harrison, was diagnosed with leukemia. Since he had to be hospitalized for 6 months for chemo, Lisa stayed with Harrison in the hospital and my son-in-law was home with their two other boys. When the families in their neighborhood found out, they brought over dinner not just for the first week, but for the entire 6 months of Harrison’s treatment!
Carole, Altamonte Springs, Florida

[kuhio98]

Favio Chavez Helps Children Make Music – Out of Trash

Back in 2006, ecologist and musician Favio Chavez found himself working on a recycling project in Cateura, Paraguay – a small village that sits atop a landfill.

He was horrified by the conditions in which children were living.

"It is not a place where people are supposed to live," he tells PEOPLE. "It's where the city throws its garbage."

So he decided to do something about it. Chavez, who had once run an orchestra in his nearby village Carapeguá, was inspired to create the Recycled Orchestra, where kids play instruments made from recycled garbage.

Cellos are made from oil cans and wood. Violins are made from whatever is around, including recycled forks.

"If the community wasn't next to a dumpster it would've never occurred to us to create instruments out of trash," says Chavez, 38. "This was just a natural solution based on our surroundings."

Chavez and the band are highlighted in Landfill Harmonic, a film that documents the harsh conditions of living on the landfill.
Kickstarter has launched a campaign, which ends May 15, to raise money to finish the project and bring the film to theaters worldwide. The campaign includes opening the Landfill Harmonic social movement and a world wide tour for the orchestra

"I know one shouldn't be naïve," Chavez says. "Music isn't going to change or fix all problems, but through the orchestra they can find stability they don't have in their family and communities."

Since its inception, Chavez has taught more than 100 kids. They say the band has done more for them than just bring music into their lives. It's brought hope.

"Before the orchestra, there was nothing to do," says Brandon Cabone, 16, who plays bass created from a can. "There are a lot of bad things to get into like drugs. It's been a big change in my life. My father is happy the orchestra is there."

Now, he says, he dreams of going to college.

"Favio has taught me many things about life and education," he says. "I would like to advance my education at a university, have a better life and integrate a formal orchestra."

In 2011, Chavez quit his job to devote all his time to the band.

"The orchestra is super important to me and I'm happy my wife is involved too," he says. "The kids are like our family now."

[kuhio98]

UWS Students Raise $800 To Pay For Injured Dog’s Vet Bills
Pup Found On Brooklyn Street With Serious Bite Wounds

NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) – A dog that was rescued after being dumped on a Brooklyn street and left to die is recovering thanks in part to students from an Upper West Side school that helped raise money to pay for her medical bills.

The young pit bull puppy named Misty was found with serious injuries and bite wounds all over her face and body. She is believed to have been used as a bait dog for dog fighting.

When Second Chance Rescue took Misty from a city shelter to treat her wounds, students at the Stephen Gaynor School began following the pup’s progress on the “Misty’s Journey” Facebook page and decided to help.

They set up bake sales and raised more than $800 to help pay for Misty’s care.

Dr. Kim Spanjol, a school counselor who works with the students on humane-education programs, said the students were inspired to help Misty.

“We do donate to a lot of dogs, but Misty was the victim of dog fighting which is a big problem in our city, around the country and around the world” she told 1010 WINS.

On Thursday, Misty visited the school so students could meet her in person.

Spanjol said she hopes the students’ work will help raise awareness about dog fighting.

“There aren’t any bad dogs, there are bad owners,” Spanjol said. “And that’s a message that the kids feel really strongly about – that pit bulls are often victimized because of that image and it’s really, really shameful and the kids want to do everything they can to show people that pit bulls are also sweet and loving dogs and Misty is a perfect example of that.”

Spanjol said the students have formed a group called the Youth Animal Protectors Club.

“It’s an issue that they care about very deeply,” she said.



Misty is doing much better and is ready for adoption. If you’d like to adopt or more information, visit www.nycsecondchancerescue.org

[cassiesmom]

After losing his 5-year-old son to leukemia in 2000, Richard Nares wanted to do something to help the families that do not have the same level of support that his family did. So three years later, he founded the Emilio Nares Foundation (ENF), named after his son.

Helping low-income families in California, the San Diego-based organization may be best known for its "Ride With Emilio" program, in which the foundation helps transport children with cancer to their chemotherapy and doctor appointments. But what makes the small nonprofit stand out is its hands-on approach.

"It's a real calling just to know that you can help, and see these families get to their appointments," Nares told The Huffington Post, adding that he's usually "there at the hospital every day." (Except for this month, while Nares is running 700 miles from San Francisco to San Diego to fundraise for the organization.)

Earlier this month, Silvia Johnson, the single mother of a child with cancer who receives regular rides to the hospital, explained to CNN that ENF provides her family with eight to 10 rides per week, all on the foundation's own dime.

"I don't know what I would do without them," Johnson told CNN.

Johnson is like many other parents in the area, some of whom own just one car or do not have the means to transport their children to the hospital for weekly appointments. Funded primarily by private grants and donations, Nares estimates that ENF drives more than 40,000 miles a year, carpooling families to hospitals in the San Diego area.

But the door-to-door program is much more than a simple transportation service. ENF picks up multiple families on any given day, some of whom, Nares said, ENF has been driving for two or three years. No one is dropped off until all of the are children are finished with their appointments.

"These issues with transportation are just huge. We have adults in San Diego asking us for rides," Nares told HuffPost, adding that ENF serves only children with cancer.

Aside from the carpool service, which Nares said is unlike any other in the nation because of its personal service, ENF also helps patients by providing an information center, equipped with laptops and staff to help families find resources, and organizes other weekly programs such as knitting-cum-support groups and snack deliveries to hospital rooms.

Nares admits that, after losing his son, it's difficult to be around small children with cancer every day. "Sometimes I relive the stress I see on their faces," he said. But, he added, "We do it because we have compassion for these families."


(source: Huffington Post "Good News" page)

[kuhio98]

The Clothespin Movement

I am trying to start something called the Clothespin Movement. Basically the idea of the movement is to write an encouraging phrase on a clothespin and clip it to someone or something. It could be a stranger's backpack, a friend, a sibling, a coworker, or a teacher. When you get a clothespin, you get the opportunity to spread it to another person.

[kuhio98]

Because Buying Lipstick Could Protect the Lives of Millions

As part of a new initiative, sales of MAC's Viva Glam lipsticks will fund programs that prevent the spread of HIV in women. Since 1994 the company has raised more than $160 million to fight HIV/AIDS globally.

[kuhio98]

Perfect Stranger

Last year was hard. My husband and I lost our business and also had to pay more than $20,000 in health-insurance costs. To cut down on food expenses we stock our big freezer with meat we buy in bulk. So when I went out to the garage one day last summer and found the freezer door open -- and thousands of dollars' worth of ruined food -- it was devastating. A few days later three readers of my blog, momofali.com, showed up at my house with food to restock my freezer. What made this gesture even more amazing? They live more than 400 miles away!
Diane, Columbus, Ohio