The good guys thread [Archive] - Page 2

kuhio98

02-27-2013, 09:24 AM

DJ rocks despite hearing loss

Robbie Wilde thumbs through his iPhone as the sounds of voices and clinking glasses bounce all around him. His eyes never leave the phone's screen.

During New York Fashion Week, Wilde, 27, passes the time with friends and management at an exclusive party in Hell's Kitchen before taking over the turntables.

Wilde lives in a world of rhythm and bass. He just can't hear it.

Ear infections at age 7 left Wilde completely deaf in his right ear and took away 80% of his hearing in his left one.

It would be another four years before doctors would confirm what his mother, Maria Sapeta, dreaded: Her son was deaf.

"It was heartbreaking as a mother," she recalled. "It was probably one of the hardest days of my life. But Robbie was the one who gave me a hug and said, 'Don't cry.'"

Originally from Portugal, Sapeta and her husband, Emidio, then a cruise ship chef, had moved to the United States when Wilde was 5.

From childhood, he always had a "persistent personality," Sapeta said, laughing. Unlike many other kids his age, he always finished what he started -- from puzzles to cabins made from Lincoln Logs.

After losing his hearing, his grades slipped because he had difficulty understanding his teachers. Bullied in school, Wilde usually kept his deafness a secret.

When his parents suggested he attend a specialty school, he insisted on staying in public school. He worked with a speech therapist and began reading lips.

"I grew up in a way that I don't want any sympathy. I don't want to be treated differently," he said. "I just tried to maneuver around, reading lips and trying to hear my own way."

When her son announced he wanted to be a professional DJ instead of joining the family restaurant business, Sapeta was cautiously supportive.

"We could see his talent and his passion, but I kept worrying about that left ear," she said. "Anything to stop his dreams, he didn't want it."

Hearing is the most important sense for a DJ, who manipulates music, scratches records and uses mixers. But Wilde was determined to succeed without his.

http://i2.cdn.turner.com/cnn/dam/assets/130222132224-deaf-dj-robbie-wilde-tattoo-story-body.jpg

Always drawn to music, he discovered turntables in high school through a friend's brother who was a DJ.

Wilde got his first shot at performing as a DJ at his father's restaurant outside Newark, New Jersey, nearly a decade ago, and he hasn't looked back since.

"I still consider it as a hobby. I really do love it," Wilde said. "I don't see it as a job, and that's the best part."

Wilde started out playing CDs before pushing himself to scratch records, something he knew he needed help with.

"It's a hard business alone for the hearing community," he said, "And I was like, 'I'm hearing impaired and how's that going to work?'"

So he paired up with two-time DMC world champion DJ and Harvard math grad Sam Zornow, aka DJ Shiftee, who was teaching at Dubspot, a DJ school and production studio in New York.

Mastering turntables is a skill that takes hours of practice to learn and can be a lifelong pursuit, Zornow said.

"It takes two years just to get bad," he said. "And I mean 'bad' meaning bad."

Still, Zornow was up to the challenge of working with Wilde. At first he didn't know what to expect, but he said Wilde's success has surprised him.

"On paper it should be impossible. You're dealing with manipulating sound. Then combine that with a discipline that's hard in general, it's a really impressive task he's taken on," Zornow said. "From the beginning he believed in himself and continues to believe in himself."

Computer giant Hewlett-Packard noticed Wilde's skills and put him in a commercial this fall for its new touch-enabled PC, thrusting him onto the world stage.

"It's a true story of inspiration," said HP marketing executive Danielle Jones. "His is a profound story of someone being able to do the things that matter to them and the things that they love through technology."

Unable to hear lyrics or complete compositions, Wilde relies on technology to see the music by using his laptop and DJ software that helps him differentiate between vocals, bass and kicks.
He also feels the vibration whether physically from a club's speakers or through a SubPac, which resembles a seat cushion and allows him to feel the music by directly transferring low frequencies to the body.

Clubgoers and promoters dubbed him "That Deaf DJ" after he first came onto the scene in New Jersey -- a moniker even he uses. But Wilde said he wants to be more than just "a deaf kid trying to DJ."

"I want you to see me as a great DJ who happens to be deaf," he said.

Besides, he said, some things are better left unheard.

"There's a lot of sounds out in the world you don't want to hear. I like it muffled," he said. "I like who I am; I'm proud of who I am."

Wilde has gone from working small clubs to rocking this year's Consumer Electronics Show and Sundance Film Festival.

When he's not behind the turntables, Wilde is in the studio producing music.

Often questioned about the severity of his deafness, Wilde used to carry around a doctor's note and would show the back of his driver's license indicating his hearing impairment.

When people question his abilities, he said he has only one answer: "I didn't hear you."

kuhio98

02-28-2013, 11:12 AM

13-year-old girl creates program to give beds those in need

SHELBYVILLE, Ky. -- After watching the movie "The Blind Side," where an African-American football player is adopted by an all-white family and given his first bed, 13-year old Jessica Collins asked her grandmother a question: "Do you think there are people without beds?"

Her grandmother, Lynn Whittaker's response: "I'm sure."

Jessica Collins soon learned there was an overwhelming need in Shelby County. She helped create the program "A Place to Sleep," and in three years it has helped provide beds to more than 160 people -- many of them needy children and their families in Shelby County.

The program has also earned Jessica recognition from the state and a letter from President Obama thanking her for her volunteer efforts.

"I saw him not get a bed and it made me want to give people beds," said Jessica.

Jessica then turned to her church and a furniture store in Shelbyville. Tracy's Home Furnishings agreed to provide beds at cost to those in need. Jessica gathered collections and volunteers from her church pitched in.

"We just asked her what is it we could do to help out?" said Debbie D'Angelo, the manager at Tracy's Home Furnishings. "It makes me really emotional to think about these children not having a place to sleep -- I'm glad we are able to help out."

Jessica says many of her teachers and classmates tell her "they are inspired and that they want to start something ... it makes me feel good."

As shy and humble Jessica is, Sharon Garcia is just as thankful.

"It's been very good," said Garcia, a working single mom whose children benefited from the program. "We've had a lot of good nights of sleep for the kids. Just as a single parent it's helped me out a lot.

"It was just amazing. I got to meet the little girl and I wish my little girl would grow up to be like her when she grows up."

Jessica says many of the recipients have endured hardships, like losing their home in a fire, bed bug infestation and abusive relationships.

Jessica has learned the need seems constant. While nothing is official, Jessica's mother said there are rumblings of expanding her program to other school districts throughout the state.

kuhio98

03-01-2013, 10:28 AM

Helping Hand

I saw this on my way out to lunch today and though it was a small thing I was really touched by it. I saw an elderly Asian man carrying two fold-up chairs and a heavy bag struggling to get on and off an escalator. I then saw 5 strangers, two Indian guys, an older white couple, and a younger hipster girl all rush to help him and offer a hand. The old man was so appreciative and couldn’t speak any English (I think) but started bowing to say thanks to them. The smiles on the strangers faces and their willingness to help made me think that there really are nice and decent people out there. I am recently going through depression and seeing this sort of random act of kindness to people no matter what race or age, really warmed my heart.

kuhio98

03-02-2013, 11:52 AM

School raises money for 6-year-old in need of new heart

NORTH HAVEN, Conn. (WTNH) -- As the old saying goes, the pen is mightier than the sword, but the students at a North Haven elementary school hope the penny is even mightier as they go to battle for a classmate in need.

"Is it something about your heart," asked News 8's Jeff Valin.

"Yes," replied Matthew Jacques.

"What do you need," asked Valin.

"A new one," Matthew said.

Six-year-old kindergartener Matthew Jacques already has three surgeries to his resume, including one at just 10 days old.

"He's the million-dollar baby," said Alphonse Jacques, Matthew's father.

For Matthew, heart failure has been a way of life and a threat to life all along, but his school mates at Montowese Elementary in North Haven are going to war for him, a "penny war." Each grade level is trying to out-do the others, raising funds for his mounting medical costs.

"It's very challenging emotionally, financially," said Melissa Jacques, Matthew's mother.

"We want all pennies in our jar, or dollar bills," said Lara Silvestro, Matthew's teacher. "Any silver coins deduct points, so at the end of the day we can be in the negative instead of the positive, but all said and done, the money is the money at the end of the week."

You'd never know his troubles to look at him.

"I'm happy," said Matthew.

"We don't want to limit him to what he can't do, it's what he can do," Melissa said. "And I think, with that attitude, he has a great attitude towards it."

There's no prize other than bragging rights and hopefully a life saved, which brings us to another reward that can't be counted.

"It's taught them a sense of community and coming together to help out each other," said Silvestro.

"To see the amount of support that we get from his teacher, from his classmates, from the school," Melissa said, it's extremely overwhelming, it's very heartfelt.

Spare change everyone hopes can spare a life.

"Do you think this will help you get one," asked Valin.

"Yes," Matthew said.

Anyone interested in learning more about how you can donate, can contact Matthew's teacher Lara Silvestro directly by e-mailing her on the school's website . http://montowese.ct.nhs.schoolinsites.com/?PageName=TeacherPage&Page=16&StaffID=139420&iSection=Teachers&CorrespondingID=139420

kuhio98

03-03-2013, 09:13 AM

Disabled 'Kangaroo' Dog to Walk Again – with the Help of $7,000 in Donations
http://img2-2.timeinc.net/people/i/2013/pets/news/130311/kangaroo-dog-2-600.jpg

What's in a name? A whole lot when it comes to 1-year-old Chihuahua Victory, who always puts her best paw forward – even when she physically can't.

The disabled dog was born with deformed front legs, which cause her to totter around, almost like a kangaroo. Now, she's getting a chance to take the next step toward a normal life.

Victory is due to receive a protective vest, a set of wheels and a sled-like apparatus to improve her mobility, thanks to people around the world who heard her story and wanted to help, reports Today.

It's been just a few weeks since Victory was found on the streets of Dearborn, Mich., where she was taken in by the local Dearborn Animal Shelter and given her ever-appropriate name. No one came to the rescue to claim her.

Though there was no surgery available to help Victory, shelter staff found a solution through a combination of three orthopedic devices. The only problem? The price tag: $2,000.

But that was quickly solved after a newsletter telling Victory's story garnered global buzz. Within a week, the shelter staff met their goal – and then some – to the tune of $7,000.

Victory won't commit to a forever home until she's acclimated to her new devices, says Elaine Greene, executive director of Friends for the Dearborn Animal Shelter, a nonprofit that runs the organization. "We're all very attached to her, and she to us," Greene tells Today. "So we're looking for a very special situation."

Until then, Victory is enjoying life in the winners' circle.

"We thought that she needed a name that really described how she looked at life and the fact that she survived when many animals with deformities don't," Greene says. "She has such a wonderful personality and spirit that we felt she's been victorious over what could be barriers that stand in the way."

Taz_Zoee

03-03-2013, 11:12 AM

This was posted on Facebook by someone I went to highschool with.

So, last Sunday in church Pastor Peder talked about how Christ is the homeless, hungry, imprisoned, etc. Well, my husband took a second job at a gas station and has had a homeless guy coming in to get coffee and sometimes food if he was able to find enough money. When my husband works he buys him his coffee and food like hotdogs. He does it because he realizes we don't have everything but the least he can do is buy him a couple of dollars worth of food and drink. We have more than we need. Well, the homeless guy was not coming in for the last couple of weeks and my husband was worried that something happened to him. He showed up last night at the gas station cleaned up and told my husband, he got a job and just got his first pay check and he wanted to buy my husband supper. My husband thanked him and told him he was very happy for him but he had already had supper. As my husband told me this today we both had tears running down our faces. I have never been so proud of my husband. Thank you God for taking away his overtime so he could meet this man by trying to support his family. I am seeing a path that God is laying for us.

kuhio98

03-04-2013, 10:18 AM

Randy's Kindness

Randy and his wife Beth are very kind people who GAVE us a car! We are not family. My husband worked with Randy. They just saw that our car was very, very old (1980), and they gave us a safer, much, much newer, beautiful red car. I will never forget their kindness. They also gave us a large container of gumballs for our little girl. The car and gumballs were given as a surprise! One of the best days of my life! Thank you!

kuhio98

03-05-2013, 09:11 AM

Boy grows hair out for cancer patient

HAMDEN, Conn. -- He's just 10-years-old but a Hamden boy is making a big difference in the life of a cancer patient.

It was a two year odyssey that recently had a big payoff.

One could argue there is no such thing as a "bad hair day" in the Carrano family.

"She's a hairdresser and he's a barber, so, it's basically just an important part of our family," said Damian Carrano.

When your Mom cuts hair for a living, your dad cuts hair for a living, chances are, their kids are going to have good hair as well so 10-year-old Damian Carrano had an idea about his hair, inspired by the Ronald McDonald House.

"Two years ago, my mother used to take me to the Ronald McDonald House to just play with the kids, know what it's really about," said Damian.

"There was this one particular little girl that he took too, he was playing with her, she was 2, 3-years-old, so cute, and she was missing hair," said Grisel Carrano, Damian's mother.

"I wanted to do this since my mother has cut her hair, and I feel like I really did a good thing for people," said Damian.

Mom Grisel shed and donated her locks for wigs to be used for cancer patients so Damian, then just 8-years-old, vowed to do the same thing, must to the astonishment of his brother.

"Well it would go in his eyes sometimes, and it will cover his face," said Cameron Carrano, Damian's brother.

Much to the astonishment of everyone else, amazed that two years passed without a single clip.

"People in school used to say, "Why do you have long hair? You look like a girl," said Damian.

"It started to go through that funky stage, and I thought that would crack him, and that didn't crack him," said Ron Carrano, Damian's father.

It wasn't the weight of the world on young Damian's shoulders, just hair, 12 inches of it.

"The worst thing about my hair is I had to wash it for like five minutes," said Damian.

His silky mane is now on the way to help a sick child and that, would be a true definition of a "good hair day."

"I just kept on going because I knew it was for a good cause," said Damian.

kuhio98

03-06-2013, 09:22 AM

Gonzo the blind sled dog

http://wcax.images.worldnow.com/images/21452794_BG1.jpg

BRETTON WOODS, NH - If you see him in action, you can tell Gonzo is meant to be a sled dog.

"He just throws his head in the wind. He's just wagging his tail -- he's just along for the ride," says dog musher AJ Norton. "He's such a ham."

But sudden illness threatened to take him off the team. Three years ago, Gonzo went blind in the span of just a couple weeks. Treatments didn't work, and no surgery could restore his sight. His future as a sled dog was in limbo.

"We kind-of went to our vet and we said, 'You know, what do you think?' And he said, 'Run this dog. You know, just take him out and see what he does,'" Muddy Paw Sled Dog Kennel owner Karen Tolin says. "He looked excited to go, so we harnessed him up, slowly reintroduced him, and over the span of about a year reintegrated him into running with the team. Because he wanted to. He was very sad when he got left behind."

A solution developed when Gonzo's brother, Poncho, became his seeing eye dog. It was a process that took time.

"When Gonzo began to lean into Poncho at first, that's when he became frustrated. But eventually he began to allow that when he realized there was something different about his brother," says Tolin.

And with that realization, Gonzo's future as a sled dog didn't seem so far-fetched anymore.

"Poncho might lean into him, nudge him, bark at him. They've developed a system of commands far beyond what we could teach," Tolin says.

"If they're back there Poncho will kind-of give Gonzo a little nip like, 'Hey bro, there's a hill coming up,'" Norton says.

Though Gonzo and Poncho work quite well as a team, they are trying to make Gonzo more comfortable with other dogs, that way he isn't too dependent on his brother.

"If something were to happen to Gonzo's brother we would want him to feel like he could stand on his own two feet and be confident," says Tolin.

Gonzo's neck line also helps keep him running straight, but his brother has his back when Gonzo's blindness lands him in trouble.

"Gonzo stepped, literally fell off the trail into the deep snow and went 'Poof!'" Tolin says. "The story goes, Poncho literally leaned over and on the X of the X-backed harness, grasped with his front teeth, brought him up, and then they kept going."

And their wagging tale of inspiration has given his handlers a new perspective on disability.

"We perceived him as having a limitation, so we were a bit more hesitant, but for the dogs, the sky's the limit," Tolin says. "He says 'Okay, I'll adapt and keep going.'"

"I figure that if I was blind, I'd rather be out running doing something for fun than sitting at home, you know," says Norton.

They told us that as long as this dynamic duo wants to pull sleds, they're not going to stop them.

Muddy Paw Sled Dog Kennel also has an active sled dog rescue and adoption program for other dogs. You can learn more about that here: http://www.dogslednh.com/

kuhio98

03-07-2013, 10:44 AM

Take a book, leave a book, it's free

FOLSOM, Calif. —Kelly Friesen was struck the moment she saw it at the intersection of Stoney Hill Drive and Gable Street in Folsom.

"Wow. What a great idea," said Friesen, a Folsom resident.

A 6-year old girl took a few looks and expressed satisfaction.

"Yeah, I like it," said Alison, who lives down the street.

Duane Samples watched it all from across the street this week and smiled.

"It's a great feeling," Samples said.

Last week, Samples built a free, mini-library perched atop a wooden post at the corner of his front yard.

"It's named a Little, Free Library," Samples said.

The two-shelf box, with a wood-framed glass door, was built to hold books for anyone to take or leave, at no cost or obligation.

"A lot of times, neighbors don't know neighbors anymore," Samples said. "Hopefully, this will help bring our community a little closer."

kuhio98

03-08-2013, 01:16 PM

Made with Love

These moms rallied their community to sew more than 3,000 dresses for girls in Zambia.

Darla Senecal had heard that children in Zambia need help but it wasn't until she saw a talk show featuring Mothers Without Borders (MWB) founder Kathy Headlee Miner that she really understood why: There are millions of kids living in poverty there (more than 800,000 who lost one or both parents to AIDS). Inspired to take action, she told her friend Nancy Luke that the two of them had to find a way to pitch in. The prospect of making a difference in the poverty-stricken country definitely seemed daunting: Few of the children have access to the most basic necessities, like food, shelter, and clothing.

Still, as mothers themselves, Senecal and Luke were determined to help. They formed a local chapter of MWB in their hometown of Bristol, Vermont, with eight of their friends and neighbors. Shortly after their second meeting the women spotted an announcement on the national MWB Web site: Thousands of Zambian girls desperately need dresses. Instructions for making a basic dress, done by stitching a skirt onto the bottom of a T-shirt, were included in the posting. "The concept was so simple, yet genius," says Senecal. The Bristol group made it their mission to contribute as many dresses as possible to the cause -- and to get their community involved. They posted flyers inviting everyone in the area to a Saturday sewathon at their town hall and left collection boxes for T-shirts, skirts, and sewing supplies at local stores. "This project seemed so doable, especially since I knew many other moms would be inspired to help," says Luke.

In fact, the Bristol MWB members and nearly 200 local volunteers stitched more than 1,000 dresses. One of their group members even flew to Zambia to help deliver the clothes. Thrilled by their success, the group held a second sewathon the following year and another two events each year after that, bringing their grand total to more than 3,000 dresses. The women are planning a fifth event next year, with no plans to stop anytime soon. For Luke the experience proved that you don't need to have a lot of money to make a difference in someone's life. "Everyone was able to make a contribution whether it was fabric, thread, or simply their time," she says. "Bit by bit we got the job done."

http://images.meredith.com/lhj/images/2010/07/l_101586377_w.jpg

kuhio98

03-09-2013, 09:53 PM

Greenwood Mayor Marvin McGee putting in overtime to plow the streets himself

One city leader in Missouri is working overtime to make sure everyone can get out of the snow.

Marvin McGee is the mayor of Greenwood.

He's been plowing city streets for the past few days.

"I'm a citizens’ mayor,” McGee said. “I would like to think that if I was a citizen, I would want my mayor to pitch in. That's what mayors do."

McGee says residents have been asking the city to clear the snow, but since they only have a two-man crew, he stepped in to help.

This has many people in Greenwood shocked.

"It blew me away,” resident Doyle Garner said. “I mean I was totally shocked. I mean, I grew up in a small town and I never expected to see the mayor himself getting in a Bobcat and coming out and doing all that."

McGee has been using the city's Bobcat to plow the snow since 2010.

kuhio98

03-11-2013, 12:49 PM

The Miracle Rescue By Jan, Duluth, Minnesota

http://image.guideposts.com/sites/guideposts.com/files/imagecache/story/content_editors/story/jan-nash-angel.jpg

I adopted a two-year-old poodle/terrier mix from our local shelter, and named her Angel. She came from another shelter as a stray who had been abused.

Angel was very skinny, extremely shy, and afraid of everyone. I fell in love with her immediately. Since I have multiple sclerosis, I believed that this dog would be perfect for me. We would take care of each other.

I live alone in a high-rise building on Lake Superior with other seniors and disabled tenants. Within weeks, with lots of love, patience, and socializing with neighbors and pets, Angel became a totally different dog.

My little soul mate is now the happiest and most popular dog in the building. She loves everybody, giving kisses to everyone she sees. She never misbehaves, snaps, or barks at anyone. Angel brings her favorite toy or treat to me when I’m feeling bad, or she jumps on my bed and whines until I lie down. She then lies beside me.

One night, Angel became restless and woke me up. I rarely go out late at night, as Angel uses a puppy pad after dark. This time, though, because of her odd behavior, I decided to get dressed and take her out. She was whining and seemed anxious.

I took her around to the parking lot side of our building, back by our garage.

She always stays by me, either on or off the leash, but this time she pulled as hard as she could and whined. I unhooked her leash, thinking she must have to go badly. Instead of running to the grass, Angel hurried into the parking lot and darted between two vehicles. I found her sitting next to Wayne, one of our tenants, who was on the ground. He lay in a fetal position with his walker nearby.

I stooped down to ask what had happened. Not fully conscious, Wayne mumbled that he had fallen. He wore shorts and a light jacket, although it was 38 degrees. He couldn’t move. He said he’d recently had surgery on both knees and was in a lot of pain.

I feared he might have also broken something. After calling 911, I asked him how long he had been lying on the cold pavement. He said, “About an hour, I think.”

I squeezed my knees under Wayne’s head to lift it off the ground. He was freezing, so I tried to cover him with my body and coat. We stayed like this, with Angel near him, until the police and ambulance arrived. The paramedics quickly transferred Wayne to a gurney and bundled him in warm blankets. Soon he was on his way to the hospital.

I have no idea how Angel knew about the injured tenant. We live on the eleventh floor, and our apartment faces the lake. Our windows were closed, and I had a small fan running.

The next day, I called the hospital and talked to Wayne. He told me he had suffered a severe heart attack and had no idea why he was outside by his van at that hour. He kept thanking me. I told him it was God and Angel he should thank.

Taz_Zoee

03-11-2013, 01:28 PM

kuhio98

03-11-2013, 07:17 PM

There are many other wonderful, inspirational pet stories here: http://www.guideposts.org/inspiration/pet-stories

A sweet video: http://www.guideposts.org/video/pet-stories/rescue-at-sea

kuhio98

03-12-2013, 01:11 PM

The Kind Stranger

One day I was riding home and my bicycle broke. There weren't many people around and I was pretty scared being all alone, but I stopped and tried to fix it nonetheless. A complete stranger, also riding a bike, stopped by and fixed it for me. It's such a small thing, didn't take more than a minute, but he was so reassuring and nice - even offered me a handkerchief to clean my hands. It was over a year ago and we'll probably never meet again, but I still pray for his safety and wellbeing every night. A random act does change many things!

kuhio98

03-14-2013, 12:40 PM

Little Bird

My children laugh at me as I always pick up worms or other small creatures that are stranded on the footpath when we are out walking. I maintain that if we are kindest to the smallest of living things we will also view all life as precious. Well as I returned home from walking my dog outside my front door I saw a small sparrow lying on its back by the side of the road, with its legs twitching in the air. Seeing it was in danger of being crushed, I carefully picked it up and took it inside with me and seeing it had no obvious injury I put it in the garden where I leave the bird seed for our feathered friends, happily within an hour it had recovered and flown away. I know this is a small thing but it made me feel happy all day.

kuhio98

03-15-2013, 02:16 PM

Pulling children out of Nepal's prisons

Pushpa Basnet doesn't need an alarm clock. Every morning, the sounds of 40 children wake her up in the two-story home she shares with them.

As she helps the children dress for school, Basnet might appear to be a housemother of sorts. But the real story is more complicated.

All of these children once lived in Nepal's prisons. This 28-year-old woman has saved every one of them from a life behind bars.

Nepal is one of the poorest countries in the world -- according to UNICEF, 55% of the population lives below the international poverty line -- so it lacks the social safety net that exists in most Western nations. Space is extremely limited in the few children's homes affiliated with the government.

So when no local guardian is available, an arrested parent often must choose between bringing their children to jail with them or letting them live on the streets. Nepal's Department of Prison Management estimates 80 children live in the nation's prisons.

"It's not fair for (these) children to live in the prison because they haven't done anything wrong," said Basnet, who started a nongovernmental organization to help. "My mission is to make sure no child grows up behind prison walls."

Basnet is one of several in Nepal who have started groups to get children out of prison. Since 2005, she has assisted more than 100 children of incarcerated parents. She runs a day care program for children under 6 and a residential home where mostly older children receive education, food, medical care and a chance to live a more normal life.

"I had a very fortunate life, with a good education," Basnet said. "I should give it to somebody else."
Basnet was just 21 when she discovered her calling, she said. While her family ran a successful business, she was studying social work in college. As part of her studies, she visited a women's prison and was appalled by the dire conditions. She also was shocked to discover children living behind bars.
One baby girl grabbed Basnet's shawl and gave her a big smile.

"I felt she was calling me," Basnet said. "I went back home and told my parents about it. They told me it was a normal thing and that in a couple of days I'd forget it. But I couldn't forget."

Basnet decided to start a day care to get incarcerated children out from behind the prison walls. While her parents were against the idea at first -- she had no job or way to sustain it financially -- eventually they helped support her. But prison officials, government workers and even some of the imprisoned mothers she approached doubted that someone her age could handle such a project.

"When I started, nobody believed in me," Basnet said. "People thought I was crazy. They laughed at me."
But Basnet was undaunted. She got friends to donate money, and she rented a building in Kathmandu to house her new organization, the Early Childhood Development Center. She furnished it largely by convincing her parents that they needed a new refrigerator or kitchen table; when her parents' replacement would arrive, she'd whisk the old one to her center.

Just two months after she first visited the prison, Basnet began to care for five children. She picked them up at the prison every weekday morning, brought them to her center and then returned them in the afternoon. Basnet's program was the first of its kind in Kathmandu; when she started, some of the children in her care had never been outside a prison.

Two years later, Basnet established the Butterfly Home, a children's home where she herself has lived for the past five years. While she now has a few staff members who help her, Basnet is still very hands on.
"We do cooking, washing, shopping," she said. "It's amazing, I never get tired. (The children) give me the energy. ... The smiles of my children keep me motivated."

Coordinating all of this is no easy task. But at the Butterfly Home, the older kids help care for the younger ones and everyone pitches in with household chores. The atmosphere feels like an extremely large family, a feeling that's fostered by Basnet, who smothers the children with love. The children reciprocate by calling her "Mamu," which means "Mommy."

"I don't ever get a day off, but if I [didn't] have the children around me, it would be hard," she said. "When I'm with them, I'm happy."

All the children are at the Butterfly Home with the consent of the imprisoned parent. When Basnet hears about an imprisoned child, she'll visit the prison -- even in remote areas of the country -- and tell the parent what she can provide. If the parent agrees, Basnet brings the child back.

She is still eager, however, for the children to maintain relationships with their parents. During school holidays, she sends the younger children to the prisons to visit, and she brings them food, clothing and fresh water during their stay. Ultimately, Basnet wants the families to reunite outside prison, and 60 of her children have been able to do just that.

Parents like Kum Maya Tamang are grateful for Basnet's efforts. Tamang has spent the last seven years in a women's prison in Kathmandu. When she was convicted on drug charges, she had no other options for child care, so she brought her two daughters to jail with her. When she heard about Basnet's program, she decided to let them go live with her.

"If Pushpa wasn't around, (they) could have never gotten an education ... (they) would have probably had to live on the streets," she said. "I feel she treats (them) the way I would."
Tamang's oldest daughter, Laxmi, said she can't imagine life without Basnet.
"My life would have been dark without her," said Laxmi, 14. "I would've probably always had a sad life. But now I won't, because of Pushpa."

In 2009, Basnet started a program to teach the parents how to make handicrafts, which she sells to raise money for the children's care. Both mothers and fathers participate. It not only gives them skills that might help them support themselves when they're released, but it also helps them feel connected to their children.
"Often, they think that they're useless because they're in prison," Basnet said. "I want to make them feel that they are contributing back to us."

Making ends meet is always a struggle, though. The children help by making greeting cards that Basnet sells as part of her handicraft business. In the past, she has sold her own jewelry and possessions to keep the center going.

Her biggest concern is trying to find ways to do more to give the children a better future. She recently set up a bank account to save for their higher educations, and one day she hopes to buy or build a house so they'll always have a place to call home. Their happiness is always foremost in her thoughts.

"This is what I want to do with my life," she said. "It makes me feel (good) when I see that they are happy, but it makes me want to work harder. ... I want to fulfill all their dreams."

kuhio98

03-16-2013, 06:23 PM

Because Online Friends Make a Real Difference

"My 4-year-old son, Cole, has lymphoma. I've gotten a lot of support from the women at CafeMom.com, but one mom, Linda, is amazing. For Cole's birthday she got people from all over the country to send him cards. The response was overwhelming. With a sick child every smile is precious, so I'll always be grateful for these moments of joy."
-- Michelle Chunn, Sacramento, California

kuhio98

03-18-2013, 01:45 PM

Help Find Missing Pets
There is nothing worse than losing a pet. The next time you see a sign on a telephone pole or even an ad on Facebook, take down the details and pass them along to others. The owners might not know you did it, but you'll feel good at least knowing you helped reunite a lost pet with its owner.

kuhio98

03-19-2013, 01:31 PM

Traveling is always a challenge because my 7-year-old son has Asperger's syndrome. At the end of one stressful trip we had a three-hour delay at the airport. When we finally boarded we discovered that we were in the last row, next to the engine and with no window. I could see a meltdown coming on. I was on the brink of tears myself, so I desperately approached two women several rows up and offered them $20 to trade seats. They graciously refused the cash and said, "Of course we'll switch -- no problem at all." I don't think they'll ever understand how much I appreciated their kindness.
-- Tracy, Fredonia, New York

cassiesmom

03-19-2013, 01:51 PM

NILES, Mich. -- It was 1953 and then-Pvt. Bob Rodgers had just arrived at Fort Campbell, Ky., for basic training when he sat down to write a letter to his wife after the post's power went out.

Sixty years later, that letter finally turned up, when the U.S. Postal Service gave it back to Rodgers, who's now living in southwestern Michigan.

In the June 13, 1953, letter, the 20-year-old told his wife, Jean, about the routines of life in boot camp. "All you do is march, KP, shine boots, shine boots and shine more boots and brass and more brass," he wrote.

On March 7, New Carslisle, Ind., Postmaster Connie Tomaszewski hand-delivered the letter to Rodgers, now 79. She did so the same day it arrived at her office, she told the South Bend Tribune.

Rodgers was bemused by the return of the letter.

"I asked if they had found the remains of the horse and rider and got the letter out of the saddle bag," he said, smiling. "She just shook her head."

Tomaszewski said it's hard to even guess what might have happened to the letter over six decades.

"There are a million possibilities. ... It could have sat at Fort Campbell," she said. "The important part of it is it did get delivered."

Mary Dando, spokeswoman for the Greater Indiana District of the U.S. Postal Service, said the letter may have actually been delivered, then ended up at a flea market or antique store where a collector latched onto it.

In such cases, people sometimes put them back in the mail for reasons unknown, Dando said.

Rodgers said even if his wife didn't get the letter, it wasn't a big deal.

"She didn't miss it, and I didn't miss it, because I wrote her about every day," he said.

Jean Rodgers died of cancer eight years ago.

The letter bears a Fort Campbell postmark and the date June 15, 1953. It also features two 3-cent stamps.

Asked what her reaction would have been to the letter's final arrival had she still been alive to receive it, he said, "She'd have got a kick out of that."

kuhio98

03-22-2013, 11:20 AM

Cop Shuts Down Busy Highway to Save Dog’s Life

http://firsttoknow.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/02/cujo-the-dog-saved-by-officer_558.jpg

These are the kinds of stories that restore your faith in humanity.

A La Porte, TX officer shut down traffic on a busy freeway in a successful effort to save a lost dog’s life. Cujo the rat terrier had escaped his owner on Monday, February 11 and wound up stranded on a busy highway with a bad hip that causes him to limp.

When police officer Kyle Jones saw the tiny pooch while driving in the opposite direction on the freeway, he knew the dog was in a dire situation and could end up as road kill unless he did something. So he turned his car around, turned his lights on and halted all traffic to retrieve the dog and get him out of harm’s way.

“He kind of looked at me and said, ‘Man, I’m glad you’re here.’ He let me pick him right up. Stuck him in the back seat of the patrol car,” officer Jones said of the incident.

Luckily Cujo had an identification tag on his collar, which helped an animal control officer reunite him with his worried owners Monday evening.

“He was all wet,” owner Jeremy Zapalac said. “He was soaked [from the rain]. We got him in, wrapped [and] dried him up and he just slept in his bed all day.”

kuhio98

03-23-2013, 11:00 AM

It’s hard to preach positivity when you think about the state of our economy or the rising cost of gas (don’t even get me started)! We like to spend our time commending people who make a positive impact on the world. I am inspired by fifteen year-old Hannah Taylor from Canada. At age 8, she started the Ladybug Foundation to help the homeless and “connect even more hearts in caring for each other.” Today, Hannah’s Ladybug Foundation supports over 50 shelters, missions, soup kitchens and food banks across Canada. The most remarkable aspect of Hannah is her humble nature. As she told me, she hopes “to be remembered as an ordinary human being who believes in the power of caring.”
Lady’s Home Journal 2011

kuhio98

03-24-2013, 11:12 AM

Surgery on Sunday

When an increasing number of his patients couldn't pay for their life-changing surgeries, Dr. Andrew Moore decided he wasn't going to just stand by or send them away without doing anything.

So he found a way to make the procedures completely free of charge.

The Lexington, Kentucky-based plastic surgeon initially started waiving his fees for some patients, but soon found that wasn't reaching far enough. He grew disheartened every time a patient told him he couldn't afford to have a melanoma removed because he had no insurance. "It was so frustrating," says Moore, 63. "How was I going to take care of them?"
"We figured out the things we needed to do to make this work," says Moore. "It makes a difference in individual lives."

In 2005 the doctor launched Surgery on Sunday, a nonprofit group of more than 400 volunteer surgeons, nurses and medical professionals who perform free gall bladder removals, orthopedic repairs and other outpatient procedures in a donated surgical facility in Lexington.

To date, Moore's group has performed about 4,500 surgeries – and has a waiting list of more than 500. The program has also spawned offshoots in Louisville and three other Lexington hospitals, with the hope to expand nationwide.

Raising funds through grants and donations to cover malpractice insurance and medical supplies, Moore's band of medical good Samaritans has changed the lives of people like Michael Weyls, who lived in pain and terror after being diagnosed with a cancerous lesion he couldn't afford to have removed.

A doctor he knew referred him to Surgery on Sunday; Moore performed three surgeries and rebuilt Weyls's nose. "It could've killed me, and Dr. Moore worked a miracle," says Weyls. "I thank God for this man."

kuhio98

03-25-2013, 09:17 AM

Because Robin Hood Is Real
An anonymous blackjack player, Robin Hood 702, recently played real-life Robin Hood to 37-year-old Jeff Martinez, of Las Vegas, and his family. Martinez is battling stage IV cancer and, despite working 40 hours a week while undergoing treatment, recently lost his home. The generous gambler heard a local news report on the family's struggles and anted up for a year's worth of rent, car payments, and groceries.

kuhio98

03-26-2013, 10:52 AM

Brought Little Kitty Home

This July, I had to rush to the neighbourhood drugstore to pick up some medicines for my Dad. As I parked my bicycle outside the store, I spotted a tiny little kitten; bleeding from the neck and all soaked in the rain. Without a second thought, I just lifted her up and put her in a basket to bring her home. After we cleaned up her bruises, we put a little anti-bacterial ointment to soothe it down. One could not help but notice the gratitude in her little, sparkling eyes. Motivated with the expression of gratitude; we went to sterilise a dropper with Dettol solution, washed it with warm water and then fed her with luke warm milk, drop by drop. Oh, it was a sight. She lapped it up all and fell asleep in the ball of cotton we had wrapped around her. We decided to name her 'Sparkle' and keep her with us till she chose to stay. Her bruises healed up in no time at all. A week ago she delivered 3 adorable kittens and turned into a MOM, herself. So, friends that was my little story. Try doing something similar and I'm sure you'll love it. God Bless & Love to All

kuhio98

03-27-2013, 03:48 PM

Car from a Co-worker

I had been driving a 18 year-old Yukon to work ever since my 12 year-old Explorer gave up a year before. I could barely afford to put gasoline in the monster, and was constantly worried about it breaking down. One day, a co-worker who had recently come into a fairly large amount of money, walked into my office, and placed a packet of money on my desk. It was 5,000 dollars! I used the money to put a down payment on a good, dependable car. No one in my life has ever done something like that for me! She has always been a caring and thoughtful person, but never in my wildest dreams would I have thought she would have done that for me. Just goes to show that there are still people in this world who care.

kuhio98

03-28-2013, 09:17 AM

Phred would be so proud!

Essex Junction Domino’s Pizza & Fire Department to Promote Fire Safety

ESSEX JUNCTION, Vt. - Domino's in Essex Junction is partnering with the Essex Fire Department.

A press release says anyone who orders pizza between 5 and 7 p.m. could have their pizza delivered by a fire truck.

"When you change your clocks for daylight saving time or plan your spring cleaning, it's a great time of year to remember to change the batteries in your smoke alarms," said Sam Jackson, general manager of Domino's Pizza in Essex Junction. "Functioning smoke alarms save lives, but many people forget to maintain the batteries. We are excited to be working with the local fire department to promote good fire safety precautions."

If firefighters find that your smoke alarms are working, your pizza is free.

If they don't work, the fire department will replace the batteries before leaving your home.

kuhio98

03-29-2013, 09:12 AM

The Cervantes Family Gives Birthday Joy to Homeless Kids

When Amy Cervantes and her husband John wanted to teach their three kids about giving back to the community, they found a way to do it that ended up helping thousands.

Inspiration struck when their oldest son Alex turned 3 and the family was celebrating with a small party at the park. Cervantes, 40, looked at the stack of presents and Thomas the Tank Engine cake and thought about kids who weren't able to celebrate the day they were born.

She came up with a simple, but powerful idea – they would throw a birthday party for a homeless child in a shelter.

http://img2-2.timeinc.net/people/i/2013/news/130408/cervantes-300.jpg

"After seeing our own son, it just kind of struck us on that day," Cervantes says of her eldest, now 10. "Realizing how blessed he was to be surrounded by and filled with the sense of care and love from others on the day. It just struck us, made us think about kids who don't get to experience that."

Starting with a luau-themed party for kids at a homeless shelter, Amy, John, 40, a financial adviser, and their three boys Alex, Adam, 8, and Eli, 5, have since feted more than 10,000 needy kids through their nonprofit Bright Blessings. Relying on donations and volunteers, they hold monthly birthday bashes for groups of children, with face-painting, cupcakes and gifts like footballs and board games.

"It never gets old," Cervantes says. "It's a little piece of childhood that many of them are missing because of their life circumstances and that really comes out in their laughter and smiles."

Since their first party in 2005, the Cervantes family – based in Matthews, N.C. – and a small army of regular volunteers throw parties for homeless kids throughout a four-county region in North Carolina. The program has expanded beyond just the area shelters to include the transient homeless – kids who may sleep with their families in their car, at a hotel or even under a bridge.

Bright Blessings works with the school system (and 16 other agencies) to make sure elementary school students can celebrate in their classrooms with cupcakes sent in anonymously to school. Older kids get a backpack full of presents and a bag with a blanket, pillow, and toiletries.
The Family's Far-Reaching Impact
"They have impacted countless families just here at our site alone," says Kenya Henderson, director of the YWCA's Families Together Program. "I think it's a stress reliever for our families, because while they're in the program they're trying to gain stability ... and it's hard for a mom to not acknowledge a birthday. Knowing their kids will get a gift, it meets a great need and it's a huge burden off of the parents. I just see lots of happy children, they burst through the doors, they are genuinely excited to be there."

Alexis Odugba, who lives with her mom in Charlotte's YWCA shelter, celebrated turning 14 in February with pizza and gifts of perfumes and lotions. "I got to blow out a candle, and people sang 'Happy Birthday,' " she says. "I felt very special."

Moments like that help the volunteers understand the true meaning of giving, says Cervantes.

Says Amy, "We had a 10-year-old volunteer helping a 7-year-old boy who was one of the guests of honor. We sang 'Happy Birthday' and the volunteer told the little boy to blow out the candle on his cupcake and make a wish. The boy didn't know what to do. He'd never blown out a candle on a cake before. After he did it he looked up smiling and said, 'Can I do it again?'"

And an added bonus for Cervantes is that her initial goal to teach her kids to give back has grown more than she ever anticipated.

"They all get it," she says of her three boys. "It really is a fabric of our family and they are so involved. They shop with me for the gifts and supplies and snacks and they help pick things out. We all go to the parties together."

Son Alex agrees.

"When I get there the kids light up when we're unloading gifts," he says. "When they hear the [birthday] song, they just get so excited, their faces light up. It's really nice and I feel pretty blessed. They might get a party once or twice in a four year span, but I get it every year."

It's a party that parents like Jasmine Billey, 25, a single mother of three toddlers, says has changed her family's lives. She and her kids have been living in a shelter since an injury kept her out of work as a nurses aid caused her to lose her home.

"It meant a lot because this year I wasn't able to do anything for Christmas for the kids," she says. "And when their birthdays came a month later I still couldn't do anything. Although they're one and don't know, I know, so for them to be able to celebrate it just meant a lot."

kuhio98

03-30-2013, 10:19 AM

Meet the Great Dane Who Raised a Deer
http://img2-3.timeinc.net/people/i/2013/news/130408/dog-600.jpg

For three days in June 2008, Isobel Springett heard the fawn crying.

Apparently abandoned by its mother, the deer was weak and shivering when Springett placed it on a dog bed with her Great Dane Kate.

"She tucked her head under the dog's elbow," says Springett, 54, a former animal control officer. And Kate took the deer to heart. "Her whole demeanor changed," says Springett. "I knew she was a good dog, but I didn't expect her to mother the fawn."

The deer her family named Pippin trailed Kate until returning to the wild weeks later. "But every morning she'd show up, tail wagging, looking for Kate and a bottle." The bond continued, even when Pippin didn't need mothering. When she was a teen, "Pippin and Kate started to play like two deer, leaping and running into each other."

Years on, she now visits with her own fawns. The wild offspring keep a distance, but not Pippin. "They still love to rub noses," says Springett of the deer and her dog, now 11. "There's a strong connection, but they have no idea it's a weird one."

kuhio98

03-31-2013, 10:05 AM

Good Samaritan saves newborn's life along Macomb County roadway

MACOMB COUNTY, Mich. - A Macomb County man is being credited for saving the life of a newborn after he was flagged down by a hysterical father near Garfield and 22 Mile Roads in Macomb Township March 16.

21-year-old Ryan Cornelissen said he was driving down the road, on his way to the bank, when he was flagged down by a frantic driver.

On the 9-1-1 tapes Cornelissen can be heard telling the dispatcher, "A guy stopped me, I think something’s wrong with his wife. He doesn’t speak very good English. He stopped me on the side of the road."

Cornelissen said, "The mom was sitting in the front seat, she had a blanket and all I saw was the top of the baby's head."

It turns out the man and his wife were on the way to the hospital to have a baby. They didn't make it in time and the woman gave birth in their car. The new dad flagged Cornelissen down after the couple discovered the baby wasn't breathing.

Cornelissen said, "The mom was sitting in the front seat, she had a blanket and all I saw was the top of the baby's head."

The 9-1-1 dispatcher walked Cornelissen through how to give the infant CPR.

"Oh, yes! The baby is whimpering," Cornelissen said after several minutes of performing CPR. "He's breathing!"

Cornelissen said, "I remember the baby's face. I will never forget."

The baby is doing fine but will stay in the hospital for several weeks.

Cornelissen is a Macomb County Community College student who wants to become a police officer. He may be waiting for the badge, but he is already protecting and serving.

kuhio98

04-01-2013, 09:19 AM

The Angelic Dog Next Door
She'd certainly touched my life in a way no animal ever had.
By Sara Whalen, Middletown, New York

My 18-month-old son, Adam, called from the front porch. "Look, Mama! Doggie." I dropped what I was doing and stuck my head out the door. Brandy, our next-door neighbor's 11-year-old Golden Retriever, was over again. "Scat!" I said, scooping up Adam and brushing the dog hair off his T-shirt and shorts.

Brandy's owner had died about a month earlier. The woman's family emptied the house, and a real estate agent stuck a For Sale sign in the front yard. But the family had overlooked the old Golden. For weeks she'd been sniffing around the neighborhood, living on scraps and handouts.

It wasn't that I disliked dogs or anything like that. I just didn't think about them much. I never had a dog growing up and never thought to get one.

Brandy loped off and I stayed out on the porch with Adam. The phone rang. I ducked inside to take the call. When I came back out, Adam was gone. I scoured the yard, front and back, then the basketball court and public pool down the block. No trace of him. My worry built to panic. I ran home and called the police, then my husband. Please, Lord, keep Adam safe until we find him.

Police combed the neighborhood. Amid the sirens and commotion of voices, I heard another sound: a dog barking. "It's coming from the woods," one of my neighbors said. We followed the barking to a wooded cliff overlooking a creek. There we found my son, flush up against the trunk of a tree just inches away from the edge of the cliff, fast asleep. Brandy had pressed herself against him. I picked Adam up and leaned down to pat Brandy. She sank down on her side, panting. She must have been holding Adam there for hours!

I thanked the police and brought a safe and sound Adam back to our house. Brandy too. She hesitated a moment on our doorstep, no doubt remembering the times I'd shooed her away. "Come on, girl," I said. "This is your home now." Brandy stepped in, and once she saw she was really welcome, she eased herself onto an old throw rug in the hallway, as if she knew that spot was now hers. She closed her eyes. Her breathing deepened. Her whiskers twitched as she slept. She'd done an incredible thing and I wondered if she knew it. She might have saved my son's life. She'd certainly touched mine in a way no animal ever had. What a shame a dog like Brandy was abandoned. Were there more out there like her?

I learned about other homeless Goldens and took them in, and found homes for many more. It's become a kind of calling for me. Those with disabilities—the old, the blind, the sick—have a special place in my heart. A place I'd never known I had until Brandy opened it.

kuhio98

04-02-2013, 09:17 AM

Carpool passenger leaves money behind; driver searches for owner

What would you do if you found money in the back seat of your car? A Woodbridge woman is lucky that the driver who found her money was Reginald Day.

Day carpooled or "slugged" home from work the other day, and a passenger left behind hundreds of dollars. But rather than pocket the cash, Day and his wife, Angela, started looking for the rightful owner.

So he called ABC7 and NewsChannel 8. A viewer saw our story and contacted Gloria Smith.

"I said, 'Oh my God, that's my money.' God is taking care of his children," Smith says. "I had borrowed it for my mortgage. I was short."

Not only did the couple give her the money back. They gave her a ride back home to Woodbridge Thursday night. And say they've found a new friend.

Since 1991, Day has been able to use the HOV lanes during rush hour by "slugging" or picking up passengers at designated stops.

Tuesday, his 22-year routine took an unusual turn. Right after he dropped a woman off at the Horner Road commuter lot in Woodbridge, he made a surprising discovery in the back seat.

"We found a white envelope with some money in it," Day recalled. "It has approximately $617."

Day picked up the passenger at the corner of D and 7 streets Southwest in D.C., located near the L'Enfant Plaza Metro station, around 5 p.m. Tuesday.

"She was probably 5'2'' to 5'4'' in her early 40s, late 30s..and she was wearing a brown jacket," he explained.

He says the money belongs to her since she was his only passenger this week.

"Times are hard for everybody, and I hate to think of the fact that somebody might be missing out with their rent money or car payment money," he says.

Day says he's had people leave behind cell phones and other small items before, but this is a first.

kuhio98

04-03-2013, 09:19 AM

Redmond coffee stand customers still pay it forward - $5 gift keeps getting passed on through Easter Sunday

REDMOND, Ore. - In Redmond, Three Peaks Coffee stand is a usual stop for many. But over the last three days now -- the latest Easter Sunday -- the shop has not only offered customers their usual drinks, but a chance to pay it forward.

"I got here at 6 (Friday morning) and my very first customer pulled up, and she randomly just gave me five extra dollars to pay it forward to the next customer," said Three Peaks barista Ashley McNeill said Saturday.

"Really, she was just anticipating one person get their free drink -- and all day, every single person just paid it forward,"she said.

McNeill said every customer she had Friday passed on the money. She was so inspired, she left a note for her co-worker to make sure the act would continue into the next day.

And it did.

When she came in for her afternoon shift Saturday, the five dollar bills were still there on the counter.

McNeill said customers continued to pass on the money all day Saturday -- and one customer even added $2 to the cause.

And then, we're told, the same thing continued throughout Easter Sunday's hours, so the coffee stand will be keeping up on Monday morning.

"It feels so good to be a part of something that's contributing to others," McNeill said. "Because its so easy to get stuck in your ways, and just do your own thing for yourself."

Fellow Three Creeks barista Sheri Lin McGarry agreed.

"Everyone is really happy to go along with it," said McGarry. "You know, they are excited to pay it forward. It makes them feel like they're a part of something bigger."

The shop says they will continue to pass the money on until someone takes the gift. But for now, they are happy to help carry out such an inspiring act of kindness.

"I think it brightens everyone's day just a little bit, to know there's still so many good people out there," McNeill said.

"That's what it's all about," added McGarry. "It has to start somewhere, and if it can start here and spread to other areas and other places, then we've done something good."

kuhio98

04-04-2013, 10:11 AM

Rebecca Constantino Brings Books to Disadvantaged Schools

Back in 1999, Rebecca Constantino was doing research for her Ph.D. about what happens in schools when kids have access to luxury. That's when she saw boxes of brand new books stacked up in the hallway of a school in Brentwood, an affluent section of Los Angeles.

"I asked the librarian what she was doing with the books," says Constantino, 49, a Reno native who now lives in L.A.. "She said, 'Well, we just don't have room. I'm throwing them away.' I said, 'Really? Can I have them?' She said, 'Sure.' "

So Constantino packed up all the books and drove them to an elementary school in Compton, an underprivileged section of the city about 15 miles away where schools were shuttering their libraries, unable to afford new books.

"A few days later, someone from Brentwood called me and said, 'I hear you collect books,' " she says. "I told her, 'I don't really but you could bring them to me if you'd like.' The next day I took them to another school." After that she began getting calls from other schools and parents. "My car could fit about 4,500 books," says Constantino, "I was really cramming them in there!"

Fourteen years later, Constantino has donated more than 1.3 million books through the non-profit she eventually created, called Access Books. She's also helped to refurbish more than 200 libraries. "In California, there is absolutely no state funding solely designated for school libraries," says Constantino, "But access to books changes a kid's life."

The schools she has helped agree. "When these kids are given books, they light up, they beam," says Chris Stehr, principal of Vine Street Elementary School, where Contantino has supplied books and refurbished the library. "For a lot of low socio-economic communities, books are a luxury. They view these books as treasures."

With the help of volunteers and donors, Constantino spends her Saturday afternoons making deliveries and renovating run-down school libraries. "It only takes a day," says Constantino, "We paint and give each library a rocking chair, a reading rug and a couch."

An adjunct professor at the University of California-Irvine and UCLA, Constantino says the kids she serves are truly grateful. "People think that kids aren't reading and they aren't interested in books," she says, "but they love books. They're so excited to get them."

And they need them. One young boy, who was being raised by his grandmother while his parents were imprisoned, requested books on Martin Luther King. His grandmother later told Constantino that the books were keeping him off the streets. "Now he's up in his bed reading," the grandmother told her. "He's up all night. Reading and reading."

So Constantino asked the little boy what he liked about the books. "He looked up at me and said, 'Oh, Miss Becky, they take me to a world I've never known," she says.

"It's the best thing anyone's ever said to me."

kuhio98

04-06-2013, 01:32 PM

Hearing-impaired boy lives every kid's dream: becoming a superhero

New York (CNN) -- Five-year-old Anthony Smith didn't think superheroes wore hearing aids, until he became one.

His mother, Christina D'Allesandro, says the epic journey began in May, when her superhero-fanatic son, who is deaf in one ear and partially deaf in the other, refused to wear his blue hearing aid because "superheroes don't wear hearing aids" either.

Desperate, she decided to consult the experts. She found a general e-mail address on the Marvel Comics website and sent a message "into the ethers," asking if there were any hearing-impaired superheroes.

A few weeks later, the mother of two was shocked to get an overwhelming response from Marvel, including comic book art that honored her son.

"When he first saw the comic book cover, he said, 'Oh my God, it's me,' " she told CNN. "He was very excited."

"We decided to make him an honorary Avenger," a member of the Marvel Comics superhero crime-fighting team, said Bill Rosemann, a Marvel editor.

Two artists, Manny Mederos and Nelson Ribeiro, sent the D'Allesandro family comic book covers featuring their very own versions of honorary Avenger Blue Ear, inspired by Anthony, whose blue earpiece gives him the power to hear a pin drop from the other side of a state.

One cover features a younger Anthony and his buddy Hawkeye ready to fight crime. The other shows an older version of Blue Ear perched on a rooftop, tapping into his superpower and listening to a faraway call for help.

On Tuesday, the young New Hampshire boy is being welcomed as a special guest at an event at the Center for Hearing and Communication clinic in New York City, where he will get to meet a fellow crime-fighting partner in the Marvel universe, Iron Man.

"The reason why it was so easy for us to respond to this is because our characters, which were invented around the '60s, all have real challenges." Rosemann said.

He talked about how all the characters "became superheroes despite of -- or because of -- the challenges they face."

Under his elastic Spidey skin is a skinny Peter Parker, who constantly gets picked on at school, Rosemann said. As a boy, superhero Daredevil was blinded in an accident that also gave him a radar sense. And Iron Man first created armor to fix his heart, and he then developed the armor into his famous suit.

"We link challenges with their superpowers," Rosemann said.

"Our mantra is what (Marvel Comics chief) Stan Lee said: With great power there must come great responsibility. Our guys thought, 'If I have the ability to draw, I am going to use it to help someone like Anthony feel comfortable about his hearing aid.' "

Rosemann and his team collaborated with Phonak, the maker of Anthony's hearing aid, and came up with a poster to be distributed in doctors' offices across the country in an effort to destigmatize kids with hearing aids. The poster, to be unveiled at Tuesday's special event, features none other than fearless Iron Man, whose message is that kids who use hearing aids are just like him because "they are using technology to be their best self."

"It will be an Iron Man and Blue Ear team-up," Rosemann said about the event.

Closer to home, all the attention has brought excitement and meaning for Anthony and his mother.

"In this house, we are looking forward to meeting Iron Man," D'Allesandro said. "He is a big Avengers fan."

The experience has given Anthony the confidence and the ability to talk about his disability, she said.

"He goes up to kids and says, 'Hey, I have a little ear and a blue ear. Do you want to play?' "

People have reached out to her, and she says her family is grateful that this experience has connected her and her son to a wonderful network of families with special needs children.

When asked if there is a comic book series on the horizon featuring Blue Ear, Rosemann said, "There is nothing planned right now, but with so many people responding to Blue Ear, you never know what's next ..."

"People should just stay tuned."

kuhio98

04-08-2013, 11:21 AM

Purple Heart makes long trip back to family

TYLER, TX - If you just happened to pass by a little gathering on the square in downtown Tyler Tuesday afternoon, there's no way you could know just how important it was, or how much work it took to make it happen.

But at the center of that gathering, a Purple Heart medal is finally home, after a trip from more than 1500 miles away.

Kris Wilson of Edom had given up on finding her long-lost uncle, Robert Bates, who died on board the U.S.S. Arizona at Pearl Harbor. Her family had tried to fill that hole in its history for 20 years.

What they couldn't know is that earlier this year in Bakersfield, California, someone found Robert's purple heart, basically in the street.

That medal found its way to a high school history class, taught by Ken Hooper.

"When they brought it in, I showed it to the students, and they attacked the computers," Hooper said.

Hooper's students knew how important the medal was, but were stonewalled by, of all things, a 70-year-old typo.

"The official Pearl Harbor web site, says Tobert Bates, not Robert Bates," Hooper said.

Hooper and his students kept working, and finally connected Robert to his niece in East Texas, who couldn't believe it when she got the phone call.

"That part of our history was almost lost for good," Wilson said. "His great-nieces and nephews, his memory will live on."

And they'll have that medal to help. Hooper made the trip from California to personally deliver it to the family. And he's got a great story to tell his students when he gets home.

"Teachers get paid in strange ways, this was payment in full," Hooper said. "To see her reaction, I knew that we did the right thing."

Thanks to the work done by Mr. Hooper's class, the Bates family also found more of their family in Athens, TX.

kuhio98

04-09-2013, 02:28 PM

Helping Hand

My friend and I were driving when we saw a man who had his electric wheelchair stuck on some ice on the sidewalk. We decided to pull over, get out of the car, and help him out! It felt great! Now I am always on the look out to find someone to help.

gini

04-09-2013, 02:45 PM

I just love this thread. Thank you!!

kuhio98

04-10-2013, 11:55 AM

I just love this thread. Thank you!!

I'm so glad!

It is really helping my depression to search the internet/news for positive stories.

kuhio98

04-10-2013, 11:57 AM

Because Saving Homes Saves Neighborhoods

Through her organization, Empowering and Strengthening Ohio's People, Inez Killingsworth and her team have helped save more than 16,000 homes from foreclosure, ensuring that whole neighborhoods continue to thrive.

kuhio98

04-11-2013, 06:46 PM

More Than a Ring

When I was 19, in 2001, I was both excited and anxious about starting at the U.S. Naval Academy. Parents often attend Induction Day, but my mom couldn't afford the plane ticket. Before I left she hugged me and handed me an envelope; then I boarded the plane alone.

After takeoff I opened Mom's letter and read how proud she was of me. "Maita [her pet name for me], you are bound for greatness," she wrote. My mother had sacrificed so much throughout my childhood, and thanks to her love I felt prepared to take on any challenge.

To my surprise there was also an antique ring in the envelope. The ring had been passed down to my mom by her own stepmother when she began her journey as a woman. It's platinum with a square face and a diamond in the middle. As a young adult, I knew this gift represented my mom's recognition that I was growing up.

I've carried my mother's unconditional love and strength in my heart and on my finger through four years at the Academy and two combat tours in Iraq as a Marine officer. The ring reminds me of the sacrifices my mom made for her children. I think of that as I serve to keep this country safe and look forward to the day when I can pass this heirloom along to a daughter of my own.

-- Maia, Al Asad Air Base, Iraq

kuhio98

04-12-2013, 12:04 PM

To the Rescue: Saving Abandoned Mutts in Mexico
Alison Sawyer Current went on a Mexican vacation and wound up with a suntan, a second home, and a new calling: saving abandoned mutts. (From Ladies’ Home Journal 2010)
http://images.meredith.com/lhj/images/2010/02/l_101514616.jpg

Alison Sawyer Current is used to finding buckets of puppies on her front doorstep in the morning. Sometimes older dogs, so thin their ribs are showing, are tied up outside, and sick ones, too ill to move, are left lying under the bushes in her garden.

As a lifetime lover of animals, Sawyer Current, 56, is the operator of the unofficial humane society of Isla Mujeres, Mexico, where she is known affectionately as Mujer de los Perros, the "Dog Lady."

Sawyer Current, a novelist and potter, and her husband, Jeff Current, first came to the tranquil island, a 25-minute ferry ride from Cancun, on a house-swapping vacation. They loved it so much they built their own place there in 2000. But it was hard to ignore the many stray dogs.

"We were always finding abandoned puppies," says Sawyer Current. "It's not the norm here to spay or neuter animals." When there are too many strays on the island, official dogcatchers round them up and electrocute them. "It broke my heart to see it."

In 2001 the couple had a fence and some pens built in their backyard, effectively turning their home into a rescue center. "If you love animals and live in Mexico, it's very hard not to get involved," Sawyer Current says.

Word soon spread around the five-mile-long island that the Yanqui was caring for unwanted dogs. "I see the buckets of puppies on our doorstep as a big improvement," says Sawyer Current, who may have as many as 20 puppies and 40 dogs in her house and yard at any time. "When they dump the dogs with us, it means the animals aren't being left to starve."

Sawyer Current eventually formed her own rescue organization, which she named Isla Animals. She doesn't have any formal veterinary training. She has picked up a lot from visiting American vets and techs who have volunteered for Isla Animals, though, and has sat up many a night coaxing a severely malnourished puppy to eat.

American and Canadian tourists often drop by to walk the dogs on the beach, sometimes taking home one or two they've fallen in love with. Isla Animals has recently teamed up with five shelters -- in Colorado, Florida, Minnesota, New York, and British Columbia -- that have agreed to help find permanent homes for the strays.

As a result of her work on Isla Mujeres, Sawyer Current received the 2005 Doris Day Animal Foundation's Kindred Spirit Award. And in 2007 she was invited to be a participant in the first-ever Forum on Small Animal Overpopulation, in Mexico City.

While Isla Animals does get some donations from tourists and visitors to its Web site, islaanimals.org, much of the money needed to run the center comes from Sawyer Current's pocket. She admits there's some sacrifice, but for her it's worth it. "I've wanted a new barbecue grill for at least three years, but every time I think about it we end up using that money to care for another dog," she says. "The dogs and puppies are our first priority." http://islaanimals.org/

kuhio98

04-13-2013, 02:21 PM

Field of Dreams

I grew up in Massachusetts, and live for the Boston Red Sox. I even have a team tattoo. My husband, Adam, loves that he can ask "How'd the Sox do?" and I can always give him the recap. Sometimes he asks from very far away: He is in the Army, and in our 13-year marriage he's been deployed seven times.

I should be used to it by now, but the holidays are still hard for me. In 2007 Adam was in Iraq. He called Christmas morning to hear our son, Addison, opening his presents. I put on a brave face for Addison, but it still tore me apart that Adam wasn't with us.

A few days later a manila envelope arrived with my name on it. I opened it and pulled out a tiny baggy and thought, "What the heck is this?" Then I read the letter that came with it. Adam had arranged to have dirt from the Sox infield sent to me. Amazing! I own a piece of Fenway.

That simple act from thousands of miles away made me realize how much Adam really understands me: He knows that dirt from Fenway Park means more to me than any fancy clothes or jewelry ever could. I cherish that dirt, but this Christmas I'm getting an even better gift: Adam will be home -- and that's really all I want.

-- Erin, Pooler, Georgia

kuhio98

04-14-2013, 01:51 PM

Anonymous kidney donor honored

Jeff Mitchell and Mary Holand had an indescribable bond before they had even met.
“I felt like I already knew her,” Mitchell said.
Two months ago, Jeff gave Mary a hug. He had already given her so much more, a kidney.
“He very special to me,” Holand said. “I’m excited, I call him my angel.”
Sentara General Hospital in Norfolk only sees the likes of Mitchell once a year at the most, someone who decides to anonymously give a kidney to a person in need.
“It’s like I have another family now,” Mitchell said.
Tuesday Mitchell was honored at Sentara’s living kidney donor celebration. Mitchell went up and spoke about what inspired him to donate.
He had no connection to the cause, he just saw the need and took action for someone who needed help.
Holand has heard the story before, but that doesn’t stop her from crying every time.
“I couldn’t meet no nicer person, I don’t believe,” Holand said.
Holand was on dialysis, and sometimes struggled to find the motivation to go. Weeks after the surgery she felt renewed.
“Now basically I can go where I want to go and basically do what I want to do, and that means a lot to me,” Holand said.
Mitchell doesn’t have another kidney to give to someone. ”It’s a one time shot,” he jokes.
But if he could donate again, and change someone’s life like he changed Holand’s, he would.
An unbreakable friendship, created by one kidney, and countless hugs.

kuhio98

04-15-2013, 12:56 PM

Because a Tornado Was No Match for This Town

"In 2009 a tornado hit my home," says reader T. Sanford Giemza. "I had only been living in Thomasville, Georgia, for two years, so I wasn't really sure who I'd turn to for help. But the town sprang into action. Businesses donated household supplies, people I didn't know donated sheets for my kids to sleep on, strangers from our church cooked us dinner for three straight weeks. I'll always be so thankful.”

kuhio98

04-16-2013, 12:28 PM

Putting Neighbor's Newspaper on the Porch

I was getting in my car about six months ago and I saw our neighbor struggling to get his newspaper from his driveway. He has a deformed back and cannot walk without difficulty. The next morning I decided to put his newspaper on his porch so he wouldn't have to go so far to retrieve it. Then the next thing I knew my husband started doing this routine for me, without even asking me! Together we've been doing this for six months now and our neighbor is really grateful.

kuhio98

04-17-2013, 06:19 PM

A Second Chance

The Prison Tails program matches unadoptable dogs with convicted criminals. Meet one graduate who became a hero.
Sara Conroy was looking to adopt a big, active dog -- one that would run five miles a day with her and be gentle and friendly with her kids. But when the Granger, Indiana, substitute teacher saw a cute candidate on petfinder.com, she didn't expect she'd be springing him from a state prison. Kosmo, a Siberian husky mix, had just graduated from Prison Tails, a program where convicts train rescue dogs that have been deemed unadoptable. Kosmo had wound up with that label because he was big, untrained, and a mutt, a bad combo for would-be adoptive families. The overcrowded shelter he'd been in had given him a death sentence -- but Kosmo got a reprieve from a rescue organization called Mixed Up Mutts, which shipped him off to the local penitentiary to learn some manners.

The founders of Mixed Up Mutts, Sarah Stevens, a nurse, and her husband, Cris, a firefighter, created Prison Tails back in 2004, when they realized that some of their rescued dogs were being returned due to behavior problems. They needed to figure out a way to train the animals before placing them with families. But who would whip them into shape? Then they happened to see a TV show that featured a prison-based dog-training program. "We've got prisons right in our area," Sarah said. "I don't know why we couldn't do that." So the group approached the nearby Westville Correctional Facility, in Westville, Indiana, and Prison Tails was born.

Out of the approximately 3,400 inmates at Westville, only 32 make the cut to become dog handlers. Candidates are drawn from the medium- and minimum-security populations and must have a high school diploma or equivalent, good prison conduct, and no background of domestic violence or sexual offenses. Once accepted, handlers have to complete rigorous homework on dog training, write reports, make presentations, and give their dog 15 to 20 minutes of training three to five times a day. On off-hours they are responsible for grooming and feeding the dogs, who live with them. At the end of four to six weeks, the animals must pass an American Kennel Club obedience test and then learn additional etiquette. Handlers get paid $1.25 a day and the program has been very popular, prison officials say.

"Some of these guys have been in here for 20 or 30 years and haven't touched a dog since they arrived," says Sharon Hawk, a prison director who oversees Prison Tails. "Now they live with their 'own' dog who gives them unconditional love and makes them feel productive. Having the animals around also helps improve morale."

The program is more than just a mood booster, though -- it teaches inmates a trade. After they've successfully completed the program, participants become certified animal trainers through the Department of Labor. When they're released from prison they can get jobs in pet stores, veterinary clinics, or doggie daycare centers. "It's exciting to see a dog that's been deemed unadoptable or untrainable become a productive member of society, along with the offender," says Prison Tails program director Regan Dietz, who, with Cris Stevens, teaches the prisoners how to train the animals. "We're giving both the dogs and the handlers a second chance."

Kosmo was three weeks out of Westville when, just after midnight, his new owner, Conroy, 39, woke up to hear him growling. Kosmo sprang from where he'd been sleeping beside her bed and raced into the kitchen. Alone in the house with her 8-year-old daughter, Emilia, and 21-year-old stepdaughter, Amy -- her husband, Tim, was on a business trip -- Conroy had a flash of fear. But the big dog returned to the bedroom shortly afterward and all was quiet. Conroy assumed it had just been Amy grabbing a late-night snack, and she went back to sleep.

In fact, Kosmo had chased off a burglar. When Conroy entered the kitchen the next morning, she noticed that the sliding glass door was open. Her wedding and engagement rings, which she'd taken off and left on the counter while cooking dinner, were both gone. "I don't want to think what could have happened if the burglar had gotten further than the kitchen," Conroy says. "Emilia and I were on the first floor. Without a doubt, Kosmo saved us."

Conroy admits she was uneasy at first when she discovered her potential adoptive dog was being trained at Westville. "I had never been to a prison and there were maximum-security prisoners there. I didn't know what to expect." What she found was love at first sight, she says -- and, as it turns out, peace of mind. In the end, she realized that she really appreciated the fact that Kosmo had been trained by an inmate. "I like that he was being taught by someone who really needed to learn about love and trust," Conroy says. "Kosmo is an irreplaceable part of our family, and it makes me feel good to know that his training was a positive experience for everyone involved."

recycler

04-17-2013, 10:41 PM

kuhio98

04-18-2013, 01:05 PM

How great of you! I bet he is very happy to have you as neighbors!

Thank you, but please understand all of these stories are not about me. I'm not bragging about what a nice person I am :)
I'm collecting happy, positive stories out of the news and off the internet and just sharing them here. If the article includes the name of the person who posted it, I include it. But, most of the time, the originator is not referenced.

I'm hoping these give us all ideas of how we can help others in small or large ways. It takes so little to make a difference in a life -- whether it be a person or a pet. :love:

kuhio98

04-18-2013, 01:05 PM

Recently I was laid up for several days with the flu. I'm a working mother of four kids who doesn't have time to blink, let alone nap. After hearing that I wasn't feeling well, my neighbor came over and completely cleaned my house! She also did my laundry, made dinner for my family, and even baked peanut butter cookies for my kids. The fact that she found the energy (and the heart) to help me was really lovely.
-- Jodi, Pleasant Prairie, Wisconsin

robinh

04-18-2013, 06:45 PM

I really appreciate the fact that you post these stories. They make me smile knowing there are people out there still being "nice" to one another.

kuhio98

04-19-2013, 09:06 AM

Comfort Dogs Help Those Grieving in Boston

http://img2.timeinc.net/people/i/2013/pets/news/130429/comfort-dogs-600.jpg

As Boston struggles to recover from the bombing that occurred during the city's marathon on Monday, a group of furry friends is lending a paw to help with the healing process.

Comfort dogs trained by the Lutheran Church Charities have been deployed to the Massachusetts city to aid those affected by the tragedy. Three golden retrievers were flown in from the group's home base in Addison, Ill., to join two more retrievers who were already on the East Coast following the December shooting in Newtown, Conn.

"People talk to the dogs – they're like furry counselors," Tim Hetzner, president of Lutheran Church Charities, told TODAY.com. "It's a chance to help bring some relief to people that are shaken up because of the bombings." The pooches are set to remain in Boston through the end of the week, with plans to visit the area's hospitals, as well.

Each of the organization's 67 retrievers has undergone almost a year of service training, beginning at 6 weeks of age.

"They bring a calming effect to people," Hetzner added, "and help them process the various emotions that they go through in times like this."

kuhio98

04-20-2013, 09:07 AM

Police Officer's Act of Kindness Makes Little Girl's Day

http://img2-2.timeinc.net/people/i/2013/news/130429/michael-kohr-300.jpg

The world can always use more heroes. And in Oxnard, Calif., no one deserves that title this week quite like Officer Michael Kohr.

Responding to a report of child's stolen bike on Monday, Officer Kohr went above and beyond the call of duty – not just by lending a hand but by fixing the problem then and there for Nina Sanchez and her daughter Bella.

"On my way to take my daughter Bella on a bike ride, to our dismay we realized her cherished Minnie Mouse bike that Santa brought her had been stolen, along with our jogging stroller. To say we were heartbroken is an understatement," Sanchez wrote in a Facebook post that has gone viral.

"Through many tears and reassuring hugs I managed to call in a police report. This afternoon I received a call from Officer Kohr that he was on his way with a brand new Princess bike."

The policeman not only delivered the new bike but taught Bella how to ride it, added Sanchez, giving mom and daughter both a thrill.

"I can not fully express how grateful I am," Sanchez wrote. "He has left such an impression in our hearts, and am thoroughly impressed with his generosity. Thank you once again Officer Kohr."

The post has been liked almost half a million times, and the Oxnard Police Department is among those who are extremely proud of Officer Kohr's actions.

"We don't get emails/messages like this directly from community members often," the department wrote in reply to the photo Sanchez posted. "Thank you, Nina Sanchez for sharing! And, thank you Officer Michael Kohr for taking exceptional service to heart and going above and beyond!"

kuhio98

04-21-2013, 09:22 AM

Because a Cloth Bag Can Save a Life

After hearing about poor living conditions in Malawi, Holly Petitt and her husband knew they had to help. So they started Africa Bags, a nonprofit that provides people in Malawi with the skills and tools they need to make cloth beach bags, backpacks, and shopping bags. Petitt has sold more than 10,000 of the bags here in the United States, with 100 percent of the profits going back to the seven villages in Malawi that participate. Get yours at africabags.org.

kuhio98

04-22-2013, 09:03 AM

Gabe the dog rescued after falling into uncovered manhole in Olathe

Police, firefighters and several civilians sought to rescue the dog, named Gabe, after he fell into an uncovered manhole full of rushing water while being walked by his owner around 6 p.m.

Police said the manhole cover was dislodged during the recent storms.

Officers called in a special unit to lower a camera into the sewer to try and find Gabe. While he was located around 8:45 p.m., rescuers weren't able to get him out of the manhole for another hour.

More than a dozen people, including several firefighters and police officers, checked several manholes in the area as part of the search.

Other than being cold and wet, Gabe does not appear to be seriously injured.

kuhio98

04-23-2013, 11:28 AM

Airline Reunites Boy With Deceased Dad's 'Daddy Shirt'

http://l2.yimg.com/bt/api/res/1.2/I_cH8sk36Hs8AKP9mURpCA--/YXBwaWQ9eW5ld3M7Y2g9MzYwO2NyPTE7Y3c9NjQwO2R4PTA7ZH k9MDtmaT11bGNyb3A7aD0zNTU7cT04NTt3PTYzMA--/http://l.yimg.com/os/590/2013/04/22/wday-boy-shirt-130418-wg-jpg_112729.jpg

A 7-year-old boy from Casselton, N.D., who lost his dad also lost his most prized possession -- his father's shirt -- on a March 27 Delta flight from Fargo to San Diego.

Cole Holzer's dad died two years ago when he fell hanging Christmas lights, ABC affiliate WDAY reported. The well-worn Nike shirt that goes with Cole everywhere was the one his dad, Bryan, was wearing when he died.

"Ever since he will lay out and spray his dad's cologne on it and cuddle up with it and sing the daddy song to go to bed," Tonya Holzer, Cole's mom, told the station.

But in the rush to leave the plane when it landed, the shirt was left behind. The family didn't realize it until they were driving away from the airport.

"I started to cry a little bit," Cole told the station.

A letter written to the airline by a family friend who was instrumental in the recovery of the shirt describes how Delta employees went above and beyond to get Cole's dad's shirt back, even digging through the garbage to find it. A copy of the letter was obtained by ABC News.

Kelly Cruchet's letter details the phone call to the Delta 800 number and how that employee called all over the San Diego airport looking for the shirt. The plane the Holzers had been on had just left San Diego for Minneapolis. Eventually, Cruchet got in touch with Delta's Lost & Found at the San Diego airport. Vicki Katseanes, another Delta employee, said she would check with the cleaning crew.

In the meantime, Cruchet sent out emails and posted on Facebook, hoping to find someone who would meet the plane in Minneapolis and see if the shirt was still onboard. Her request was seen by a Delta pilot, Mike McLean, who called her and said he would try to contact ground control and see if they could get in touch with the gate.

"I then got the heartbreaking call from Vicki that the cleaning crew never found it, I thanked her and we ended the call," Cruchet's letter said. "A short time later she called back and said she had been in contact with Alfredo, a Delta ramp supervisor. They wanted to confirm their names to confirm their flight and rows and said they were going to start looking through garbage!"

Thirty minutes later, the call came: They found the daddy shirt.

Cole and his mom went back to the airport to meet Vicki and get the shirt. "They cried all the way back to the airport," the letter said. It was then they were able to start their family vacation.

So what does Delta have to say? Spokesperson Michael Thomas told ABC News, "Efforts made to reunite this very special shirt with this customer and his family is another fantastic example of Delta people going above and beyond for our customers and truly speaks to the culture of our dedicated employees."

"We all miss Bryan so much," Cruchet wrote, "and I so wish Cole had his daddy here to watch him play flag football and baseball and basketball and wrestling – but we all know he is watching them from up above (and as Cole tells my son and all his buddies, 'my dad plays basketball on team heaven!'). I want to thank all involved today for what they did for this little boy they had never met – as a friend stated, 'Delta allowed a daddy to still be there for his little boy'…even if he can't be with him on earth. You all went so far above and beyond and the statement I made to Vicki goes to all of you: YOU ARE MY FAVORITE PEOPLE I HAVE NEVER MET!”

Taz_Zoee

04-23-2013, 03:19 PM

Wow, that one ^^ brought on the tears. So sweet.

kuhio98

04-24-2013, 09:09 AM

After years of searching, man reunites with beloved pet

BUTTE, Mont. - For the first time in a half a decade, Mike Taylor sees his bird Love Love

"I've been kind of looking for him this whole time," Taylor said.

The 25 year-old macaw he'd owned for years was stolen from his home in Great Falls, he said. Taylor spent more than five years searching.

"I've always kind of looked on Craigslist and everything," he said, about his efforts to find Love Love.

Then last week, Taylor's friend Steve Campbell told him something that gave him hope.

"I said, 'No I know that's your bird," Campell recounted. He said he saw Love Love at Montana's Parrot & Exotic Bird Sanctuary (MPEBS) in Butte.

Taylor immediately called them up.

"He started to describe various things that only he would have known," said MPEBS founder Lori McAlexander.

From one blind eye, to a funny growing beak and a backwards toe, to loving the game "peek-a-boo-" McAlexander said Taylor gave a spot-on description of the bird she'd been caring for. She knew it was Taylor's macaw.

Turns out, she thought Love Love was girl and named Scarlett- from the person who surrendered the bird to the sanctuary.

Now, Scarlett is back to Love Love- and can finally go back home.

"Hangs upside down already, let me grab his beak, does his peeky-boo, likes to tuck his head," said Taylor, about how fast Love Love picked up his old tricks again.

Taylor said it's been a long time, but he could tell the bird recognized Taylor right away.

"Very heart touching," Taylor said. "He's to himself again already, he really is. I mean, he [didn't] forget."

kuhio98

04-25-2013, 09:17 AM

‘Random act of pizza’: Chicago Tribune buys lunch for Boston Globe newsroom

In what's being called a "random act of pizza" in the wake of last week's deadly bombings at the Boston Marathon, staffers at the Chicago Tribune ordered lunch on Monday for the Boston Globe.

"We can only imagine what an exhausting and heartbreaking week it's been for you and your city," the Tribune staff wrote in a letter addressed to the Boston Globe newsroom. "But do know your colleagues here in Chicago and across the country stand in awe of your tenacious coverage. You make us all proud to be journalists."

"We can't buy you lost sleep, so at least let us pick up lunch," the letter accompanying the 60 pizzas, salad and soda read.

A Chicago Tribune staffer told Yahoo News that the newsroom pooled funds on Friday for the order from Regina Pizzeria in Boston's South Station.

Hungry Globe staffers appreciated the gesture.

cassiesmom

04-25-2013, 10:47 AM

Boston boat owner: Give cash to victims, not me

(NEWSER) – The Watertown man whose boat was destroyed after Dzhokhar Tsarnaev was found hiding in it is touched that people are raising funds to buy him a new one—but he wants them to save their money for bomb victims. "It makes me feel wonderful that people are thinking like that," but "I don't want that really," David Henneberry tells WCVB. "I would wish that they donate it to the One Fund Boston. They lost limbs. I lost a boat."

Read more: http://www.newstalk1130.com/articles/national-news-104668/boston-boat-owner-give-cash-to-11220149/#ixzz2RUTlDTya

kuhio98

04-26-2013, 09:15 AM

New swan arrives at Bay Indies

VENICE, Fla. - The lonely male swan at Bay Indies Mobile Home Park is lonely no more.

After weeks of fundraising, residents at the park purchased a new female swan for $1,000 from a seller in Wisconsin. The effort was in response to the death of the previous female. Residents say the swan was killed by a coyote or fox. The male was left by itself, until Monday afternoon.

The new swan arrived at Sarasota-Bradenton International Airport around 4pm. It traveled on board a Delta flight. Gerri Monnier, a Bay Indies resident who led the effort to buy the new swan, was there to pick it up.

"We wanted to hurry this up. A lot of our residents are snowbirds. They are headed back up north and they wanted to see the swan," she said.

In its wooden crate, the swan was placed in the back of an SUV by a Delta employee with a forklift. When the swan arrived at Bay Indies, some of its feathers were ruffled after a long day of traveling. The swan jumped out of its crate, and chased a bystander down the road before it eventually jumped in the water. The male and female immediately noticed each other. As they approached, the swans bumped chests and made a heart-shape with their necks and beaks. It was love at first sight. Dozens of Bay Indies residents watched the two interact for the first time.

"It is wonderful. We have had one lonely swan, so it's wonderful to see the two of them together," said resident Joan Bodenlos.

"It's just marvelous," said resident Carol Sanders.

The hope is for the new female to provide safety and companionship for the male. Many of the residents are hoping the two will have some "little swans" in the future.

Now comes the difficult task of naming the pair. Residents at the mobile home park will vote. Right now, some of the choices are, Bay & Indie, Adam & Eve, and Lucy & Desi.
http://bloximages.newyork1.vip.townnews.com/mysuncoast.com/content/tncms/assets/v3/editorial/3/ca/3ca9487e-abb9-11e2-bd43-0019bb30f31a/5175ead07cd3b.image.jpg

lizbud

04-26-2013, 11:15 AM

I wanted to see the swans & found local news video coverage of them together.:)

http://www.mysuncoast.com/videos/7_south_newsroom/update-new-swan-arrives-at-bay-indies/html_78d3b264-88c3-5a0b-94b4-9b4b0b0dafe4.html

kuhio98

04-26-2013, 12:29 PM

kuhio98

04-27-2013, 09:16 AM

Back in the Saddle

Riding horses has always been a big part of my life. Ironically, the man I married was allergic to them. After riding I'd have to take off my clothes in the basement, then dash upstairs to shower.

My daughter, Kaylin, was also allergic to horses as a small child but, like me, she loved them. Luckily her allergies cleared up enough that she could ride comfortably. It was something we really enjoyed together.

In 2005, after 17 years of marriage, my husband and I decided to get a divorce. Shortly before our final court date I learned I had stage III breast cancer. I was 38 years old, divorced, and fighting for my life.

Over the next two years I had a double mastectomy, 11 other surgeries for infections, 16 rounds of chemotherapy, and six weeks of daily radiation. When you're getting chemo your white blood cell count is low and you don't heal normally. But I insisted on riding with my daughter. On one of our rides I got thrown from my horse, and I hung on so hard I ripped all the skin off my hands. In agony I looked at Kaylin and said, "I can't do this," and I wasn't just talking about riding.

Then for Christmas 2006, Kaylin -- who was 12 -- did something that said "You are going to do this, Mom." She called my parents and siblings to ask them to chip in for a special gift. When I came downstairs Christmas morning, there was a beautiful Western saddle sitting under the tree. I was blown away.

Now that I'm in complete remission, my life and passions have been restored in many ways. And about a year ago I was finally able to take that beautiful saddle, put it on our family horse, and ride again.

-- Lauren, Highlands Ranch, Colorado

kuhio98

04-27-2013, 11:07 AM

A nice story that gini wanted me to share. There are really many more nice, thoughtful, helpful people in the world than bad. So, let's start giving them more press time! :)

FULLERTON, Calif. (KABC) -- Robyn Giranda's treasured diamond bracelet is back where it belongs thanks to a good Samaritan with a big heart.
Nine months ago, Giranda, her son and his friends had gone off-roading at the sand dunes near Pismo Beach when her $20,000 bracelet disappeared. Devastated, she filed a report with a park ranger, but assumed it was gone for good.
"Nobody was ever going to be able to find it, and if they did, they weren't going to turn it in," Giranda said she thought at the time.
Months later on a holiday weekend, retired firefighter Joe Mingham spotted something in the sand. When he realized it was a bracelet, he took it to a jeweler to have it checked out.
"They said, 'Joe, there's somebody out there is crying and missing their bracelet.'" Giranda said.
Mingham set out to find the owner, going from police to the state parks department and finally the park ranger who remembered the tearful woman who reported losing her bracelet.
The two met up two weeks ago in Modesto so Mingham could turn it over.
"Every time I talk to him, I just tell him how wonderful he is and truly awesome and awe-inspiring. I don't know what I did to deserve to be so lucky," Giranda said.
Giranda calls Mingham her angel and said it's in his blood to be hero.
(Copyright ©2013 KABC-TV/DT. All Rights Reserved.)

kuhio98

04-28-2013, 09:22 AM

Student, four-legged best friend to graduate college

UNIVERSITY CENTER, MI (WNEM) - Delta College is holding its annual commencement ceremony on Friday, and two unique individuals will cross the stage and get a special recognition of their accomplishments.

A highlight of the ceremony will be the acknowledgment of Alan M. Reno and his service dog, Roxie.

Reno, who has cerebral palsy, was paired with Roxie in 2011. Reno earned an Associate of Arts and is graduating as a member of Phi Theta Kappa with high honors.

Roxie has accompanied Reno through 62 credit hours of instruction at Delta and will travel across the stage with Reno on Friday evening to receive recognition for her supporting role in his achievement.

Roxie is a 3-year-old black lab-golden retriever mix. She can open doors with a pull rope or by pressing a door switch. She will retrieve anything that is dropped, can turn lights on and off, retrieve a beverage from the refrigerator and assist with removing clothes.

Roxie was born into a litter of eight pups. Five of those canines went on to become working dogs, including one that works at Comerica Park and another that is a seeing-eye dog in Chile. Roxie was professionally trained at PAWS® with a Cause, located near Grand Rapids.

Reno and Roxie currently live in Midland. Reno plans to transfer to a four-year school, possibly Saginaw Valley State University, to earn a degree in business. From there he plans to attend law school to become a disability rights attorney. According to Reno's family, Roxie has been and will continue to be at his side, everywhere he goes.
WNEM.COM
http://wnem.images.worldnow.com/images/22088999_BG1.jpg

kuhio98

04-29-2013, 09:19 AM

Man gives 100 free meals to strangers

LAS VEGAS (FOX5) - It's National Pay It Forward Day, a movement in which everyone is encouraged to perform a random act of kindness for a stranger. The hope is they'll pass that kindness along to someone else. Las Vegas resident Marcus Mitchell dedicated his life to paying it forward and gave 100 free meals to strangers Thursday.

"You do something kind for a stranger without expecting anything in return, with the understanding that one day you'll go off, pay it forward to someone else, you'll remember this kind act," Mitchell said as he handed out free meal coupons to people in front of the Miracle Mile Shops. He used his own money to buy 100 meals at Fresh Grill and Bar and gave all of them away to total strangers.

"I'm just trying to spread some kindness," said Mitchell, who has dedicated his life to performing random acts of kindness around Las Vegas. It's part of a promise he made to his wife before she died from stomach cancer four years ago. Since then, he's spent half of every dollar he makes on making others smile. That's about $40,000 total in gift cards, hotel rooms, food, concert tickets and more items all given away to people Mitchell doesn't know.

It's not always easy convincing folks on the strip that there is such a thing as a free lunch. Several people ignored Mitchell when he asked if they wanted a free meal. Others simply declined his offer. Rejection doesn't discourage Mitchell, who says if just one person passes the kindness along, it's worth the effort.

"It's pretty rare in this county, good to see someone out here doing something for someone else rather than doing it for themselves," said free meal recipient Sean Dobbs.

"I'm going to give this to somebody that I see that would need a meal," said another recipient, Theresa Talbot.

Mitchell handed out more than 100 coupons for free meals, but fewer than half of the recipients redeemed them.

(KVVU Broadcasting Corporation)

kuhio98

04-30-2013, 10:01 AM

Wheelchair Swing Allows Siblings To Enjoy Outdoors

FORT COLLINS, Colo. (CBS4)- A brother and sister living with cerebral palsy will soon be able to enjoy the warm spring weather.

Wheelchairs prevent 11-year-old twins Libby and James from using ordinary swings found at parks and on playground equipment.

Students in the Construction Management Program at Colorado State University set out to change that. They designed, built and installed a customized playground for them in their backyard.

Construction on the giant swingset won’t be complete for a few more weeks but Libby said she can hardly wait to test out the ropes.

“Because we can go outside and swing and play with my brother,” said Libby.

“It’s a great opportunity to apply skills but more importantly make a difference in these kids’ lives,” said CSU Student Kyle Snow.

Five CSU students worked on building the playground as part of the CM Cares programs. They will also build an elevated sandbox for the siblings.
http://cbsdenver.files.wordpress.com/2013/04/wheelchair-swing.jpg?w=450

cassiesmom

05-01-2013, 12:39 AM

(Reuters) - A trade group representing makers of artificial limbs on Tuesday promised to provide prosthetics free of cost to the estimated 20 to 25 victims of the Boston Marathon bombings who underwent amputations.

The American Orthotic and Prosthetic Association offered initial services and prosthetics not covered by insurance for patients injured in the blasts, which tore the lower limbs off some spectators near the finish line of the race on April 15.

Costs for a below-knee device average $8,000 to $12,000 each and $40,000 to $60,000 for above-knee prosthetics, said Greig Martino, a prosthetist treating bombing victims.

Three people died and 264 were injured in the blasts, which police said resulted from two homemade bombs in pressure cookers that a pair of ethnic Chechen brothers left near the race's finish line. One of the suspects died in a shootout with police and the other has been charged with crimes that could result in the death penalty if he were convicted.

The association's offer, announced on a conference call with reporters under the name Coalition to Walk and Run Again, will only cover a portion of the expected costs for amputees. Victims who lost both legs face estimated medical bills of $450,000 over the next five years, said Tom Fise, executive director of the association, citing a Department of Defense and Veterans Affairs study.

The association estimates that at least half the Boston Marathon amputees lack enough insurance to cover their prosthetic costs as some policies provide as little as $1,000 per device or only provide one artificial limb. Many prosthetics need replacing every five to seven years.

"The last thing that someone should have to worry about when they lose ... a leg is to have adequate insurance coverage for a prosthetic device," said Kendra Calhoun, president of the Amputee Coalition, an organization supporting the estimated 2 million amputees in the United States.

Other efforts are under way to help victims of the largest mass-casualty attack on U.S. soil since the attacks of September 11, 2001. The One Fund, a relief group set up to provide aid to victims, has brought in some $27.7 million in donations that it promised to pay out to victims.

Members of the American Orthotic and Prosthetic Association, including prosthetists and manufacturers, will provide the evaluation needed to design devices and treat the bombing victims, at least one of whom is a child.

"Many of these patients even today don't know what their insurance has in store for them, nor do we, so the program is about making sure the decisions to restore mobility to these patients are made as independent as we can from any considerations of what the insurance limitations may be," Fise said.

kuhio98

05-01-2013, 10:49 AM

BECAUSE THESE BRACELETS COULD BUILD A SCHOOL

Ladies’ Home Journal Editor-in-Chief Sally Lee often wears these gorgeous bracelets in her office. When we asked where we could get them, we were surprised to find that they’re handmade by Samburu tribeswomen in northern Kenya. And they’re not just colorful arm candy: 100% of the profits go to the Thorn Tree Project, which builds schools and funds scholarships in the poorest regions in Africa. www.thorntreeproject.org
http://www.thorntreeproject.org/static/cache/2e/a1/2ea1e67531385de7b7050b9ad4e071a9.jpg

kuhio98

05-02-2013, 10:35 AM

Pet oxygen masks donated to fire crews
Donation made by Emma Zen Foundation

SAN DIEGO - Local firefighters and first responders now have the necessary equipment to help save pets thanks to the efforts of a nonprofit group.

No one can forget the scene in Ocean Beach last December when firefighters had a four-year-old dog named Spyder hooked up to an oxygen mask and administering CPR.

Numerous rescues like this have taken place throughout San Diego County, but now crews are better prepared for any future incidents.

"It's going to standardize the equipment that we use and there won't be a delay in trying to figure out how to put an adult mask or something that works on a human on a pet," San Diego Fire-Rescue Capt. Harold Lemire told 10News.

The pet oxygen mask kit has three different sized masks, and its unique shape and rubber seal gives pets in an emergency the best chance for survival.

"These actually close the joules on the pet and deliver the oxygen directly to the pet's nostrils so it simulates proper CPR," said Debra Jo Chiapuzio, president of the Emma Zen Foundation.

Firefighters are also given proper training on not only how to use the masks but also the best way to check for vitals and administer CPR. The masks also work on birds, cats, dogs and pigs.

"Yes, any normal sized household pets, the most interesting rescue I've seen with the mask is a hamster," said Chiapuzio.

Each kit costs $75 and the nonprofit holds several fundraisers throughout the year to purchase the kits.

So far, Fire Station 28 in San Diego is the first to receive them, but they are hoping to get the kits to every station in the county by the end of the year.

"When you can say to a family, 'We saved your pet,' everything else doesn't matter. That family is so happy and appreciative. They thank you; that gives the fire fighters such a great feeling, it makes them just as excited as if they had saved a human," said Lemire.

kuhio98

05-04-2013, 01:29 PM

BECAUSE SCREENING SAVES LIVES

When genetic testing showed she had a 90% chance of getting breast cancer someday, Marissa Levesque got a preventative double mastectomy. After her surgery she couldn’t stop thinking about all the high-risk women who can’t afford the expensive tests – and those lives would be at risk. So she started Pink-Surance which provides funding which provides funding to screen for mutations of the BRCA1 and BRCA2 genes that can cause breast and ovarian cancer. Learn more at www.pink-surance.com

kuhio98

05-05-2013, 09:55 PM

Hundreds of beds donated for families in need

TUALATIN, OR (KPTV) - Hundreds of new beds will help give people in need a good night's sleep throughout the Portland metro area.

Sealy Mattress Manufacturing is donating 360 mattresses to agencies including Community Warehouse, The Salvation Army, the Good Neighbor Center and Human Solutions shelters.

More than 160 brand new beds arrived at the Tualatin Community Warehouse, 8380 S.W. Nyberg St., Wednesday.

The beds range in sizes from twin to queen and will be ready for families when the agency opens Thursday morning.

Community Warehouse serves as a furniture bank for the region, offering essential household items to 6,000 people each year.

"This is huge for us," said Tom Elston, program manager at Community Warehouse. "The most requested item is always beds, and one of the hardest things is looking at our empty mattress section in the morning, knowing 10 families will be visiting that day in need of beds. This will help tremendously."

kuhio98

05-06-2013, 11:32 AM

Because Flowers Could Help Cure Breast Cancer

Teleflora will donate 15 percent of the proceeds from sales of its Pink Hope bouquet to the Breast Cancer Research Foundation, which has raised more than $270 million since 1993.

kuhio98

05-07-2013, 08:55 PM

Coin Operators

These groups will make every last cent count.

Common Cents Penny Harvest
Schoolchildren contribute their pennies to help support community organizations. Kids even get to choose which groups receive their contribution. commoncents.org

Central Asia Institute's Pennies for Peace
The group uses your spare change to build schools for children in Afghanistan and Pakistan -- particularly for girls, who have limited opportunity to get an education. penniesforpeace.org

Penny Lovers of America
To celebrate its 25th anniversary, the organization is kicking off the National Penny Recycling Campaign; the money it collects funds college scholarships for disadvantaged kids. pennylovers.org

Originally published in Ladies' Home Journal, April 2009

Catty1

05-07-2013, 10:07 PM

This is just FANTASTIC!!!! :D

[QUOTE=cassiesmom;2468440](Reuters) - A trade group representing makers of artificial limbs on Tuesday promised to provide prosthetics free of cost to the estimated 20 to 25 victims of the Boston Marathon bombings who underwent amputations.

The American Orthotic and Prosthetic Association offered initial services and prosthetics not covered by insurance for patients injured in the blasts, which tore the lower limbs off some spectators near the finish line of the race on April 15.

Costs for a below-knee device average $8,000 to $12,000 each and $40,000 to $60,000 for above-knee prosthetics, said Greig Martino, a prosthetist treating bombing victims.

cassiesmom

05-07-2013, 11:25 PM

Here's a link http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/05/07/kevin-spacey-rescues-dog-_n_3230726.html?utm_hp_ref=good-news

Kevin Spacey adopted a dog from the North Shore Animal League ... :D
And named her Boston, in honor of the city :D :D

kuhio98

05-08-2013, 09:59 AM

A story I found on the net (not sure of the website).

She was Lost and Sick

He stood in the middle of the street and called me over in a heavy accent. A lady in a car had that here's-the-map-but-I'm-lost look. We three conferred and then I got in the lady's car and guided her to her hotel. She was in town for a week of medical treatments and had driven 13 hours. It was a beautiful summer evening and I was able to walk home, smiling the whole way.

kuhio98

05-09-2013, 10:56 AM

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

05-10-2013, 03:44 PM

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

05-11-2013, 11:49 AM

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.

http://cbsnewyork.files.wordpress.com/2013/05/misty.jpg?w=450

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

cassiesmom

05-11-2013, 12:57 PM

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

05-12-2013, 12:33 PM

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

05-13-2013, 10:38 AM

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

05-14-2013, 11:14 AM

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

kuhio98

05-15-2013, 11:15 AM

Swim Across America: Tampa Bay swims for cancer research

Tampa, Florida - "It really is about touching lives in different ways then just getting on top of an Olympic podium and receiving an Olympic gold medal."

Former three-time Olympic champion Brooke Bennett is gearing up, putting on her swimsuit again as she prepares to swim for cancer research. Brooke is joining 200 other volunteers on May 18 at Clearwater Beach to Swim Across America, the national non-profit organization dedicated to raising money for cancer research, prevention and treatment.

"Last year's initial event was terrific. We had more than 100 swimmers, we raised $100,000 for Moffitt Cancer Center Research and this year we are expecting to have more than 200 swimmers and hopefully, double that amount," said Swimmer Recruiter Craig Cordell.

You don't have to be a professional swimmer to join the race. Jim Sirignano, for example, swims for a purpose that's very close to his heart.

"My brother Paul was diagnosed with his second cancer Ocular Melanoma. After five years it metastasized to his liver and he passed away three years ago," said Jim.

Swimming in his brother's honor for the past nine years and now his sister Joann, who is undergoing chemotherapy, he says Swim Across America is a finish line away to help find the cure for a deadly disease.

"We're making a difference, because we know this money is going directly to their research and we know that without their research and care that we're not going to get closer to a cure."

For more information about Swim Across America and this Saturday's event details, visit their website at www.swimacrossamerica.org

kuhio98

05-16-2013, 10:54 AM

Anderson officer rescues dog found nursing kitten

ANDERSON, SC (FOX Carolina) - An Anderson animal control officer rescued an unlikely pair after she found a dog nursing a young kitten along a creek.

An Anderson animal control officer rescued a dog on Monday, who was found nursing a kitten.

Officer Michelle Smith was dispatched to North Pointe Creek behind Home Depot in Anderson on Monday after a caller said she heard a dog barking in the area since Saturday.

To her surprise, Smith found the dog nursing a kitten at the bottom of a steep embankment along a deep ravine.

Smith rescued the small female dog and her adoptive kitten, taking them to Anderson County P.AW.S. where they have spent the past day together.

"This is one example of why I love my job," Smith said in her report.

Smith said the dog is taking care of her adopted baby, keeping the kitten clean and well fed.

Animal control hopes the dog's owner will come forward and agree to adopt the pair together.
http://whns.images.worldnow.com/images/22248906_BG1.jpg

kuhio98

05-17-2013, 01:16 PM

Students cut hair to raise money for cancer research
Hair will be made into wigs

CUMBERLAND, Maine —Dozens of students, teachers and other volunteers at Greely High School in Cumberland are chopping off their hair for a good cause.
In what the school has dubbed "The Pantene Beautiful Lengths Ponytail-Cutting Event," volunteer hairdressers from around Cumberland County spent Tuesday afternoon cutting hair that will then be donated to an organization that turns it into wigs.
Those wigs will then be distributed to women who have lost hair due to cancer treatment.

"I love doing this. I've done it two times already. This is my third time," said a student Meredith Clark.

The event is sponsored by the American Cancer Society.

"I think it says that our students really care and we feel whatever little bit you can do to help, you don't need to be personally touched by cancer to make a difference," said teacher Katie Dexter.

kuhio98

05-18-2013, 09:16 AM

Because Comic Relief Really Works

The Big Apple Circus's Clown Care program brings cheer to thousands of sick kids. The team does their "rounds" in 16 pediatric hospitals around the country, making nearly 250,000 visits a year.

kuhio98

05-19-2013, 09:13 AM

Indianapolis waitress gets $446 tip

INDIANAPOLIS - CeCe Bruce has received a couple of large tips in her life, but nothing like the one she got Wednesday morning.

CeCe works at the Steak 'n Shake restaurant at Keystone and 54th Street.

She said, "I was having a hard time at another table, but kept smiling and going on," and that's when one of her regular customers did something that shocked her.

When CeCe picked up the credit card receipt, "at first I thought, '$46?' And I said, 'Miss Jo, that's really generous!'"

But Miss Jo had actually left her a far bigger tip.

"When I looked again, I said 'Oh my gosh Miss Jo, I'm not taking that!' And she said, 'Yes, you're taking it' and I said no and she said 'You need to take it'," CeCe said.

The bill was $5.97, the tip $446.

"I didn't think I was worth $400 but, you know, she feels I am," she laughed.

CeCe, who's going to school part-time at Martin University, said the tip couldn't have come at a better time.

"Pay bills, pay bills right on time, that's what I'm definitely going to do," CeCe said.

She wasn't the only one at the restaurant wearing an extra big smile.

Manager Lindsay Banack said, "You've seen how everyone was pepped up a bit...it just makes me feel good about humanity."

As for Miss Jo? CeCe barely got the chance to say thank you.

"She's a really sweet lady and she didn't want any gracious gratitude. She signed the receipt and walked out the door," CeCe said, adding, "Miss Jo, if you're watching, I love you and thank you very much!"

kuhio98

05-20-2013, 09:17 AM

http://24.media.tumblr.com/fb87a9c8db96d27c0a4de490eb6251ba/tumblr_mmzzbxRNFd1roqv59o1_500.png

kuhio98

05-21-2013, 10:56 AM

Because Earth Day Is Every Day

Coming to a local garden center near you: Some of the country's largest nurseries are using recycled butter tubs instead of brand-new black plastic planters this spring as part of a new initiative from TerraCycle, a company that creates fun new products from recycled packaging. Learn more (and find out how you can get involved) at terracycle.net.

kuhio98

05-22-2013, 09:07 AM

Teacher Saves Several Students During Oklahoma Tornado by Lying on Top of Them

To be a teacher is already to be a hero, but during Monday's monstrous tornado in the suburbs of Oklahoma City, Rhonda Crosswhite put her life directly on the line after first seeing that several of her students had taken refuge only moments before the twister devastated their school.

"I was in a [bathroom] stall with some kids and it just started coming down, so I laid on top of them," the sixth-grade teacher at Plaza Towers Elementary in Moore, Okla., told Savannah Guthrie on Tuesday's Today show. "One of my little boys just kept saying, 'I love you, I love you, please don't die with me.' But we're okay. We made it out."

All of the children who were with her are now safe, there was one minor injury – a cut to the head, said Crosswhite – and she herself emerged with only some scrapes on her feet, which she called "irrelevant, considering what could have happened."

"I never thought I was going to die," she said. "The whole time I just kept screaming to them, 'Quit worrying, we're fine, we're fine.' And I'm very loud, so I just hoped they could hear me, because I could hear them screaming. One girl, she's in my homeroom, was sobbing, and I was like, 'We're going to be fine, we're going to be fine, I'm protecting you.' And then I said a few prayers. 'God please take care of my kids.' And we're fine."

Recalling the tornado and its 200-m.p.h. winds, Crosswhite said, "I don't remember what it sounded like, honestly. It was like a freight train, but I don't remember much about it,'' she said about the sound of the tornado. "It felt like someone was beating me up from behind. The stuff was just coming down on my back. I thought I was fine, [but] I have cuts everywhere that I didn't even realize I had."

After the interview, Damian Britton, one of Crosswhite's charges during the ordeal, had something to give her. A great big hug.

"I told you we were going to be okay," she told him, as he murmured "Thank you" and the two dissolved into tears.

GlobalGiving is raising funds for emergency supplies for victims, as well as longer-term relief and rebuilding efforts. Donate online or text GIVE OK to 80088 to donate $10 to GlobalGiving's Oklahoma Tornado Relief Fund. Message and data rates may apply. Terms: mgive.org/t

kuhio98

05-22-2013, 08:25 PM

Animal Rescue Photos from Oklahoma

http://img2-1.timeinc.net/people/i/2013/pets/news/130603/tornado-1-600.jpg
June Simson and cat Sammi

Amid the death and destruction facing families left displaced by the tornado that struck several suburbs of Oklahoma on Monday, a handful of residents have been fortunate to return to the sites of their homes and come face-to-face with their furry friends.

Earlier in the week, Barbara Garcia was reunited with her missing dog during an on-camera interview, in which a member of the CBS News crew spotted her pup struggling to escape the debris.

Garcia's story is just one of many touching reunions, such as that of June Simson (above). Upon returning to the remains of her home, she discovered her cat, Sammi, covered in dirt but alive, standing atop the rubble.

http://img2.timeinc.net/people/i/2013/pets/news/130603/tornado-3-600.jpg
Jessica Wilkinson and Alli Christian (left) share a sweet embrace with Bella

Jessica Wilkinson (right), whose Norman, Okla., home was left almost completely leveled, visited the scene and found a welcome surprise: dog Bella, who was returned to her by Alli Christian (left).

http://img2.timeinc.net/people/i/2013/pets/news/130603/tornado-5-600.jpg
Christine Phillips takes a lunch break with Henry

In Moore, a community of 41,000 that saw some of the tornado's worst devastation, Henry the guinea pig received a well-deserved meal from Christine Phillips.

http://img2.timeinc.net/people/i/2013/pets/news/130603/tornado-4-600.jpg
Maeghan Hadley does her best to keep this kitten in bright spirits

Members of the 1 Day Ranch pet rescue in Shawnee, Okla., did their part to aid further furry reunions by tending to the animals being rescued from the wreckage, like this pint-sized kitten in the hands of Maeghan Hadley.

http://img2.timeinc.net/people/i/2013/pets/news/130603/tornado-2-300.jpg
There's no chance of these two being separated again

Over in Oklahoma City, a young boy kept a firm grip on his beloved pooch.

How you can help:
Displaced Oklahoma residents in search of their missing pets can also visit the Moore Oklahoma Tornado Lost and Found Animals Facebook page, where contributors have been posting photos of recovered animals.

GlobalGiving is raising funds for emergency supplies for victims, as well as longer-term relief and rebuilding efforts. Donate online or text GIVE OK to 80088 to donate $10 to GlobalGiving's Oklahoma Tornado Relief Fund. Message and data rates may apply. Terms: mgive.org/t

kuhio98

05-24-2013, 09:07 AM

DELAND -- Don Sugg has no time for pity parties.

His motto is simple: think positive. It's kept him alive for nearly a century.

Ask him for his secret for his longevity, and you'll get a simple answer.

“If you want to get old fast, sit down on the back side of your lap and do nothing,” Sugg said.

Sugg does little sitting.

In just the past couple of years he's jumped from airplanes -- as in plural.

He's also tried his hand at hang-gliding. And he's not about to stop now.

http://www.cfnews13.com/content/news/articles/cfn/2013/5/21/deland_man_prepares_/_jcr_content/contentpar/articleBody/image.img.jpg/1369225670272.jpg

Sugg plans to take to the skies at Skydive DeLand on Saturday, May 25. The 98-year-old man, who's losing his hearing and eyesight, will prove once again he is not losing his ability to help local charities raise cash.

This latest jump is to raise money for the Neighborhood Center of West Volusia for feeding and housing homeless families.

Susan Clark is the executive director of the center. She said Sugg was just dropping some kitchen items off when he saw a need.

"Don Sugg is a fundraising machine. He was prepared, again, fully prepared," Clark said. "He had an agenda, he had the plan and he had the heart to begin this fundraising event.”

While Clark appreciates the publicity Sugg's jump brings to her organization, Sugg said he gets even more.

“It picks this old man up," Sugg said. "To think that I've done something so simple that anybody could do, but they don't do it. I feel as if I'm merely paying back a small portion as to what was given to me throughout my life by other people in this country."

Sugg's jump is planned between 10 a.m. and 1 p.m.

There will be plenty of ways for you to help donate to the Neighborhood Center of West Florida at Skydive DeLand, located at the DeLand Municipal Airport.

Sugg’s Charity: http://www.neighborhoodcenterwv.org/

cassiesmom

05-24-2013, 03:23 PM

I heard on the news that Oklahoma City Animal Care and Control is accepting pets who were separated from their people during the tornado. They will stay there for 30 days and hopefully be reunited with their people. PAWS Chicago is sending a team down to Oklahoma City Animal Care and Control. They are going to bring home some of the dogs and cats who were already there, to make more room for pets affected by the tornado. That way, Oklahoma City has more space, and these dogs and cats will have an opportunity to be adopted by people in the Chicago area :) PAWS Chicago is no-kill. They will be admitted to PAWS Chicago when they get back, and should be ready to meet potential adopters early next week.

kuhio98

05-25-2013, 09:12 AM

http://25.media.tumblr.com/eec8588ba5fc000523a472e9bc8b9f39/tumblr_mmx88pWX6X1roqv59o1_500.png

kuhio98

05-26-2013, 10:44 AM

Clean Up

We live in the country and many people just roll down the windows of their vehicles and throw out their trash. My son and I noticed that approximately 200 feet of our elderly neighbors yard was quite littered. So, we gathered our trash bags and cleaned up his yard without being asked.

kuhio98

05-27-2013, 09:10 AM

http://25.media.tumblr.com/6b1f2674b272ec38bcaade593a0d7e07/tumblr_mlubewoaaQ1roqv59o1_500.png

lizbud

05-27-2013, 09:51 AM

http://25.media.tumblr.com/6b1f2674b272ec38bcaade593a0d7e07/tumblr_mlubewoaaQ1roqv59o1_500.png

Awwwww :love:

lizbud

05-27-2013, 09:51 AM

http://25.media.tumblr.com/6b1f2674b272ec38bcaade593a0d7e07/tumblr_mlubewoaaQ1roqv59o1_500.png

Awwwww :love: :love:

kuhio98

05-28-2013, 09:09 AM

BECAUSE BEING NICE IS GOOD FOR YOUR HEALTH

More motivation to get out there and do something good: A recent study found that people who volunteer actually live longer than people who don’t.

kuhio98

05-29-2013, 09:17 AM

Metro students save pennies to buy new playground

NASHVILLE, TN - A Nashville school that couldn't afford a new playground finally got a new one Thursday after saving thousands of pennies.
For at least the last five years, the playground at Lakeview Elementary Design Center was in such poor shape, it made even the principal depressed.
Nine-hundred kids had nothing to do.

"It just was really sad, watching the kids play just chasing each other around," said Dr. Robin Shumate, principal at Lakeview.
The old playground had been on campus since the school opened in 1967. Its equipment was so outdated, most of it had to be removed because it wasn't up to code.
And to make matters worse, the school couldn't get funding to build a new one.

"We tried grants. We tried all different things, but just didn't get any feedback from things like that. So we had to do it ourselves," Shumate said.
The school decided to nickel and dime their way to an upgrade, literally.

"We had penny drives, we had nickels and dimes, we had days for dollars and days for quarters," Shumate said.
It took passion, planning, a lot of patience and teamwork - the principal even took a pie to the face for donations - but three years since they started saving, students finally ran onto their two new playgrounds Thursday.

"Just turning the corner to come to school, it really just tugs at my heart strings," Shumate said.
The school raised nearly $42,000, including about $12,000 in additional donations. They said that money will go toward buying a new swingset.

kuhio98

05-31-2013, 11:11 AM

Do Good Gifts

Cooking Set for Kids

Give your budding chefs all the tools they need to cook up a storm with this fun kitchen kit.

Proceeds from each set benefit St. Jude Children's Research Hospital and contain artwork from patients at the hospital and recipes from St. Jude's head chef.

Buy it now at stjude.org, $20 http://images.meredith.com/lhj/images/2012/10/ss_St-Jude-Childrens-Cooking-Tools-Set.jpg

kuhio98

06-01-2013, 11:53 AM

Because Cake Can Make a Difference

Tracy Quisenberry started Icing Smiles to provide custom-designed cakes to kids who are critically ill. She connects professional and non-pro bakers with families across the country in hopes that the treats will give children a moment of joy and excitement during a difficult time.

kuhio98

06-02-2013, 01:47 PM

Donated Birthday to Abandoned Animals

My daughter, Bella decided that she would rather have animals fed than receive gifts for herself on her birthday. So she asked for dog food, chewies, or cash to purchase dog items for her 10th birthday. She dedicated this to Gateway Pet Guardians, who feed the homeless animals on the streets every morning.

kuhio98

06-03-2013, 12:46 PM

Handmade Scarf
This bold, colorful scarf is skillfully hand woven by female artisans from India. It's a stylish gift that gives back.

A portion of every sale goes back to the women who make the scarves, providing them access to a market they would not normally be able to reach.

Buy it now at globalgoodspartners.org, $35
http://images.meredith.com/lhj/images/2012/10/ss_Details.jpg

kuhio98

06-04-2013, 12:15 PM

Heroic neighbor saves Kansas City family from fire

A Kansas City family is safe after a very heroic deed by their neighbor.

Thursday night, Joe Cassidy noticed a fire had sparked in the basement of his neighbor's house near 75th and State Line. He also noticed several lights were turned on near the top floor of the home.

The Sollars family was inside, but upstairs, and hadn't noticed the fire.

Cassidy banged on their door, then dashed up two flights of stairs to rescue 6-year-old Tess from the family’s finished attic. Seconds later, he says smoke filled the entire house.

Jonathan Sollars said by the time he ran downstairs to see how bad the damage was, his lungs were filled with black smoke.

He tried to rush back upstairs to find his children, but was having trouble breathing.

However, Cassidy had already sprung into action. He guided one son out to the door, consulted with the oldest daughter to find out how many people were inside and scooped up the youngest daughter and carried her safely into the front yard.

"You don't think about your life or anything like that. You just think, I've got to get them out," Cassidy said. "Anybody would have done it. I just noticed it first."

Before Thursday’s fire, the Sollars family and Cassidy hardly knew one another. Now they’re becoming close friends.

"God bless him," Jonathan Sollars said. "I'll always be indebted to him."

There were five family members in the house during the fire, and the Sollars credit Cassidy for making sure everyone got out safe.

kuhio98

06-05-2013, 11:37 AM

http://24.media.tumblr.com/a701d891fdb1c810cf2fb0e0c7fb13cd/tumblr_ml8205x0xb1roqv59o1_500.png

kuhio98

06-06-2013, 12:56 PM

Leave the Best Parking Spot

When you are going to a grocery or other store, don't take the best spot. Leave it for someone who needs it more than you do. A little extra walking is good for you too!

kuhio98

06-07-2013, 08:27 PM

Dog Rescues Newborn Baby Left in Thailand Trash Dump

Pui knew something wasn't right.

When the dog spotted a white plastic bag lying in a trash dump in Thailand's Tha Rua district, he took it in his mouth, brought it to the patio of his home and barked as loud as he could.

His owner's 12-year-old niece came to see what the fuss was about, and discovered a newborn baby girl – still alive – inside of the bag, reports The Bangkok Post.

Pui's owner, Gumnerd Thongmak, and his niece, Sudarat, rushed the infant to Tha Rua Hospital, where doctors determined the baby was premature, weighing just 4 lbs. The infant has since been transferred to another hospital, and area officials are looking for her mother.

Meanwhile, Pui's good deed hasn't gone unnoticed. On Monday, he received a leather collar and a medal from the Tha Rua district Red Cross chapter as a sign of gratitude, and The Miracle of Life Foundation gave Gumnerd a $300 reward. But the heroics should come as no surprise to those who know Pui, a neighborhood watchdog of sorts: The district chief told The Bangkok Post that the pooch is regularly seen sniffing around the community.

http://img2-1.timeinc.net/people/i/2013/pets/news/130617/pui-600.jpg

kuhio98

06-08-2013, 11:50 AM

FEED 10 Bag

You can never have too many stylish totes -- and this durable, flexible bag comes with an added bonus.

The purchase of the bag provides 10 school meals to children in need. That should put a smile on your face while you shop!

Buy it now at feedprojects.com, $25
http://images.meredith.com/lhj/images/2012/10/ss_FBAGDUST10-1.jpg

kuhio98

06-09-2013, 03:41 PM

Military hero matched with Fidelco guide dog

BLOOMFIELD, CT (WFSB) - Blinded military hero and paralympic medalist, Brad Snyder of Maryland, is the new owner of a Fidelco guide dog.

A year and a half ago, an explosive device took the 29 year-old's sight in Afghanistan. Although the transition has been difficult, the match of a Fidelco guide dog will help aid the change.

Lt. Snyder is looking forward to establishing a bond with the right dog.

"I think humans adapt to dogs as much as dogs adapt to humans," said Lt. Snyder. "You really establish a very unique relationship with the guide dog."

At Fidelco's headquarters in Bloomfield, Snyder met and worked with several potential guide dogs to find the best match to take home.

The right match is important in this relationship.

"They will spend literally three weeks locked at the hip learning how to work together as a partnership team," said Eliot Russman, Fidelco Guide Dog Foundations CEO.

This partnership will help Lt. Snyder be the person he was before the accident.

"I was very autonomous, very independent," said Lt. Snyder. "I really want to get back to that as much as possible and a guide dog is an amazing way to do that."
http://wfsb.images.worldnow.com/images/22522578_BG1.jpg

kuhio98

06-10-2013, 07:17 PM

From Brittany:

This is really little, but it made my day. I am an 18 year old and lately I have been hearing more and more stories on the news about "how awful today's teenagers are." Its always sad to hear what people say about the category of humans that you fit into.

I went to pick up some supplies for school one afternoon and I simply held the door open for a frail-looking elderly woman. To my delight she was extremely grateful and said things like "thank you so much!", and "you teenagers are so sweet these days." She quickly put a big smile on my face and I told some friends at school. They thought it was really neat.
Isn't it wonderful how sometimes, the littlest things can touch you in the perfect way? It's just a thought, but to me an act of kindness is a gift to you, as well as the person you give it to.

kuhio98

06-11-2013, 12:21 PM

http://25.media.tumblr.com/919fbfa2183576dc9b2e2d0805d43613/tumblr_mjo5z0M4ZZ1roqv59o1_500.png

kuhio98

06-12-2013, 11:43 AM

A Marine Experiences Kindness
Kimberly R. Haagenson posted this touching story about her son, who joined the Marines in October 2010:

Zeb, 22, is back home now, attending college and "slowly domesticating himself," in the words of his mother. Part of that process is, obviously, the need for a washer and dryer. Jeb found a beautiful, front-loading washer/dryer set on E-bay, and was very excited to get it for an amazing $200. He was very excited, thrilled to have the set, and even pleased that the guy who sold it to him was such a nice person.

But then it got even better.

When Zeb arrived home, he has an e-mail from the seller: "Your Paypal has been refunded your $200. Thank you for serving our Country!"

What a perfect example of Kindness!

kuhio98

06-14-2013, 01:45 PM

RANCHO MIRAGE, Calif. - A local high school will be sending every graduating senior to college next year. The senior class at Marywood Palm Valley School is sending all 24 students of the 2013 graduating class to a four-year university this fall.

Students will be attending colleges across the United States from USC to Vassar College in New York. Every student we talked to is ready excited for the next step of their life.

"Going out into a bigger environment, to where it's really just you and you are really able to explore who you are," said Ivan Kovalenko who will attend USC in the fall.

"Every face will be new. Every person will have a different personality or background that I'm not used to. The diversity will be a lot greater," said Daniel Stewart who will continue his education at UC Berkeley.

The 24 students were offered 3.5 million dollars in scholarship money combined.

kuhio98

06-16-2013, 10:54 AM

From John: Flowers for Mom

When I was a young boy about 8 years old, my younger sisters and I got the idea to buy something for my mother for Mother's day. Money was hard to come by. We went around to the neighbors and asked for pop bottles. Back then, soda pop was sold in bottles, and they were washed and refilled. There was a deposit on the bottles of $.02. per bottle We were able to get three cartons, just 18 bottles, making a refund of $.36. I also had three cents saved.

So with a grand total of $.39 we walked uptown (about a mile) to where we knew a florist was located. When we went inside, someone asked what we wanted. We told them we wanted to buy flowers for Mothers Day. I reached into my pocket and pulled out our whole stash of cash, asking if that would be enough.

Another gentleman, who I am sure was the owner, came over, looked us over, and said "just a minute". He went in back and came out with a geranium plant with gold foil wrapping around the pot. He took my three dimes, a nickle, and four pennies, and said, "Thank you very much." I had no idea that the cost was about four times as much. And we went proudly home carrying a flower plant for Mom.

kuhio98

06-18-2013, 01:14 PM

Important Life Lessons

During my second month of nursing school, our professor gave us a pop quiz. I was a conscientious student and had breezed through the questions, until I read the last one: "What is the first name of the woman who cleans the school?" Surely this was some kind of joke. I had seen the cleaning woman several times. She was tall, dark-haired and in her 50s, but how would I know her name? I handed in my paper leaving the last question blank. Before class ended, one student asked if the last question would count toward our quiz grade. "Absolutely," said the professor. "In your careers you will meet many people. All are significant. They deserve your attention and care, even if all you do is smile and say 'hello.'" I've never forgotten that lesson. I also learned her name was Dorothy.

kuhio98

06-19-2013, 09:08 AM

A Final Offering to a Furry Friend
An unforgettable true story of a grieving dog's gift to her buddy in heaven.
By Theresa Olive

Several years ago, our family rented a house that had a basement apartment under ours. The young couple who lived below us were quiet and unobtrusive. Their dog, however, was not.

Cody was a typical black lab; a big, tail thumping extrovert. He loved to greet us by planting his huge paws on our chest. Our dog Tasha, an English Setter mix, was a kindred spirit. Because she shared the yard with Cody, they soon became fast friends.

We often saw a blur of black and white fur as they raced neck and neck toward some hapless bird that had just landed in their territory. The only time I saw any conflict between the two dogs was when we fed Tasha. Cody would bound up, expecting to share in Tasha’s bounty. However, Tasha would bare her teeth and growl menacingly.

Cody would change his strategy, dropping to his belly and inching slowly toward Tasha’s dish. But this ingratiating behavior did not impress Tasha. The closer Cody got, the more Tasha snarled and snapped. Finally, Cody would slink away with his tail between his legs—until next mealtime, that is. Then Cody, ever the optimist, would replay the scene, with the same disappointing conclusion.

One day my husband Jeff came home visibly upset. He had just found Cody lying by the side of the road, killed by a speeding truck. Tasha sniffed at Cody’s glossy black fur and whined. Over the next few weeks, Tasha was listless, her tail drooping. She obviously missed her old friend.

At the same time, Tasha’s food dish disappeared. We replaced it with another, only to have that one vanish as well. There followed a steady succession of bowls, aluminum plates, even an old coffee can. They all disappeared. Finally, the mystery was solved when our neighbor knocked on our door, her arms loaded with the missing dishes, some still half-full of dog food.

"Are these yours?" she asked. When Jeff and I nodded, she explained, "I saw Tasha headed toward the road, so I shooed her back. Then I noticed all these dishes in a pile."

Puzzled, I asked, "Where were they?"

"Well, you know," she answered thoughtfully, "it was right by the place where Cody died. Isn’t that odd? Surely Tasha couldn’t..." Her voice trailed off in confusion.

Jeff and I exchanged glances. Could Tasha have been enticing her old friend back by offering him the one thing she withheld from him when he was alive? Even today, retelling the story gives me goose bumps. It raises questions about animals’ intelligence and emotions.

It also reminds me not to wait to show love to those around me. I need to share whatever blessings I’ve received with others—before it’s too late.

kuhio98

06-20-2013, 09:09 AM

Organic Sock Bundles
Stay cozy and help someone in need with this cute bundle of socks. Each pack has three pairs of organic cotton socks to keep your loved ones warm all winter long. Men's and women's styles are available.

Each purchase benefits the Empowerment Plan, which provides comfort to the homeless in the form of warm winter jackets and coats.

Buy it now wearpact.com, $25
http://images.meredith.com/lhj/images/2012/10/ss_quilt-crew-PACT-organic-cotton-women-socks.jpg

kuhio98

06-21-2013, 09:26 AM

Kendall Plank knew her 12-year-old friend JB Glennon was nervous about getting a bone marrow transplant at Texas Children's Hospital in Houston.
http://img2-3.timeinc.net/people/i/2013/news/130701/kendall-plank-300.jpg

She also knew her friend was a huge University of Texas fan.

One day when he stepped away from his room, she and her mom, Susan, decked it out with University of Texas memorabilia – quilts, blankets, games, towels and more.

"When JB saw his room he said, 'This is so awesome! Thank you very much!' and gave me a big hug," recalls Kendall, now 17, of Houston.

"He told me that it meant the world to him that somebody actually cared enough about him to do this," she says.

Inspired by JB's jubilant reaction, Kendall told her mother, "We gotta do this for all these kids that are here."

Nearly six years later, the Dec My Room http://decmyroom.org/ program, which largely relies on volunteers and donations, has taken over hundreds of children's hospital rooms across the country with themes ranging from Hello Kitty to Hollywood.

"It's just taken off," says Susan Plank.

On a recent afternoon, Joshua Lopez, 11, of Downey, Calif., is at Inpatient Acute Rehabilitation Unit at Children's Hospital Los Angeles when an entourage of volunteers descends with handpainted signs, balloons, and Los Angeles Lakers memorabilia (including a signed size 17 basketball shoe from Pau Gasol, his favorite player) to decorate the room of the ailing fan.

One member of the entourage is Dec My Room Director Jenny Hull whose daughter, Josie, 11, spent most of her young life in hospital rooms after undergoing a grueling 23-hour separation surgery on Aug. 5, 2002.

Jenny says Josie helped pick out the decorations.

"I love decorating the rooms and helping the children," says Josie.

A few minutes later, doctors and nurses yell "Surprise!" as Joshua enters the room.

"This made me really happy," says Joshua, who is struggling with juvenile dermatomyositis.

Next door is Brieanna Smith, 14, of Los Angeles, who is also being treated for juvenile dermatomyositis.

Her room was recently made-over with chinese lanterns, Hello Kitty balloons and blankets. She also received DVDs of the Twilight movie.

"I was really surprised when they did this to my room," says Smith. "It's made my room more homey."

Her mother, Alicia Cole, agrees. "She was so excited that day when they made over her room," says Cole, 45. "She said, 'Mom – look at my room! Look at my room!' "

She said when her daughter first found out she might be at the hospital for four months, she was depressed. But the makeover made a big difference in her state of mind.

"This lifts the kids' spirits," Cole says.

kuhio98

06-22-2013, 09:16 AM

Local woman helps nurse hummingbird back to life
By Tom Plahutnik

FRANKENMUTH, MI (WNEM) - WNEM.com was alerted to a nice story out of Frankenmuth where a local woman helped get a hummingbird back in the air after being trapped in a garage.

It happened Thursday morning to Jim and Kathy Haney when the bird flew into their garage and couldn't find its way out. Jim Haney tells the rest below:

This little bird flew into our garage and couldn't find his way out. After sitting on a wire all night, it appeared that he didn't have the energy to fly away even when we touched him gently. Julianne Haney carefully pried his little feet off the wire and carried him to our feeder where he drank his fill and flew away. Everyone is happy.

Kathy Haney filled in an extra detail and said Julie stood on the roof of her car in the garage to gently get the bird off the wire, as he had a really tight grip on it.

All's well that ends well, right?
http://wnem.images.worldnow.com/images/22646043_BG3.jpg

kuhio98

06-23-2013, 09:17 AM

Passerby who happens to be daughter of baseball's Joe Torre catches falling baby

New York (CNN) -- A 1-year-old boy who plummeted two stories from a fire escape in Brooklyn on Wednesday was saved when a quick-thinking passerby saw the child and caught him as he fell, according to police.

The woman who caught the baby is Cristina Torre, daughter of famed Major League Baseball manager and former National League All-Star catcher Joe Torre.

The boy crawled through the window of a second-story apartment after pushing aside a piece of cardboard that blocked an opening beside the apartment's air conditioning unit, according to NYPD Detective James Duffy.

He then climbed onto the fire escape and fell onto the awning of a frozen yogurt shop directly below the apartment and bounced off, Duffy said.

That was when 44-year-old Cristina Torre, who happened to be passing by, saw the situation and positioned herself beneath the awning in time to catch the child, Duffy said.

Joe Torre released a statement Wednesday night saying, "I am very proud of my daughter Cristina's actions today during an incident in Brooklyn involving a small child. Fortunately for that child she was in the right place at the right time to lend a hand."

The boy's parents were charged with child endangerment, Duffy said. Three other children, aged 2, 3 and 5, were taken into the custody of Child Protective Services.

phesina

06-23-2013, 10:17 AM

phesina

06-23-2013, 10:18 AM

kuhio98

06-24-2013, 09:16 AM

An Alaskan malamute with a nose for mischief finds a new mission in life: paying daily visits to an ailing neighbor.

By Ron Berler, New York, New York

Casey wasn’t the most popular dog in her owner Carol Baird’s neighborhood of Dalton, Georgia. A huge, burly Alaskan malamute, she had a heart of gold but a nose for trouble.

She’d slip out the Baird family’s back door and trot down the street without a care. Most people gave her a wide berth. That was hardly surprising. From a distance, Casey looked a lot like a wolf.

She behaved like one too, or at least had an appetite like one. Neighbors often stormed over to complain. “Your dog got out again, and ate all of our dog’s food!” or “Casey’s turned over our garbage!”

So when a man rapped on Carol’s door, said he lived three blocks away and then asked for her dog’s name, Carol braced herself. What did Casey do this time?

“We have a sliding-glass door that we usually keep open in the summer,” the man began, “and every day for the last several weeks your dog has wandered off the street and come uninvited into my house.”

That dog, Carol thought. “I’m so sorry,” she said. “I don’t know why Casey gets herself into such mischief. A lot of it’s our fault. We have to start watching her more closely. But honestly, she means no harm...”

“No, you don’t understand,” the man interrupted. “I came over to thank you.”

The man must have seen the confusion on Carol’s face. No neighbor had ever said anything positive about Casey before. They usually wanted to know who would fill up the two-foot hole she’d energetically dug in their backyard.

But not this neighbor. He explained that his father, who had Alzheimer’s, lived with him and his wife and needed constant monitoring. The father rarely moved from his easy chair in front of the TV in the living room and was often agitated. Caring for him had exhausted the man and his wife.

“I couldn’t remember the last time we had two hours to ourselves,” the man said. “And then, one day, your dog showed up.”

Casey wandered into the house through the sliding door and made straight for the man’s father. “She sat right beside him, like she had planned to visit him all along,” the neighbor said, his voice filled with wonder.

He saw his father turn to Casey and begin to pet her. He stroked her and stroked her, and fell peacefully asleep. “He slept two full hours,” the neighbor said. “It was the biggest midday reprieve my wife and I have had in years.”

Casey returned the next day, and every day after that, as if she had an appointment to keep. Each time was the same. She’d pad to the old man’s chair and sit by his side, letting him pet her till he dozed off.

“To my wife and me,” the neighbor said, “Casey was a gift from heaven. That’s why I’ve come to see you today. Is Casey here?”

“Yes, she is,” Carol said. “Casey!”

The big malamute trotted up, looking at the neighbor with searching eyes. The neighbor gave a gentle pat. “You must have known, didn’t you?” the neighbor said to Casey. “That’s why you just stopped coming a couple of days ago.”

“Known what?” Carol asked.

“My father died in his sleep the night after Casey’s last visit. She knew her job was over.”

kuhio98

06-25-2013, 09:16 AM

Bare??? Bear????? :confused:

http://25.media.tumblr.com/a46e038777a819ab78e00e89e1d143b4/tumblr_mic9sltfpK1roqv59o1_500.png

kuhio98

06-26-2013, 09:55 AM

Boy swims 1/2 mile to rescue family
http://www.upnorthlive.com/uploadedImages/wpbn/News/Stories/CRYSTAL%20LAKE%20RESCUE%20picture.jpg?w=204&h=153&aspect=nostretch
BENZIE COUNT, Michigan -- Quick thinking by a 14-year-old Benzie County boy may have saved the lives of his family after their boat capsized on Crystal Lake Sunday.

Logan Snyder said when the boat overturned and his family went in the water, he made sure they were okay and went into action.

“I reached under [the boat] and got more life jackets and I swam to shore after that,” said Logan.

That's when Logan's journey to shore began.

“I was swimming backwards and I took a 30-40 second break and I kept on swimming and stopped about four times. Then I got to shore, finally, and I looked around and I found a person and I was like ‘I need help big time. My family is out there,’” said Logan.

After drifting down the lake and swimming for more than half a mile, Logan found Bill and Laurie Harris.

“They needed help. We're the only ones along here that were actually home,” said Laurie Harris who helped rescue the stranded boaters.

Bill took his boat out to rescue Logan's family, nine month old Aubriana and her 28 year-old mother Krista and 29 year-old father Jeff.

“My husband said he took on water with our boat coming in, so it was pretty rough,” said Laurie.

When the family got to shore they were greeted with towels after spending nearly one hour in the water.

“When they came in the mother was definitely crying. I think they were kind of in shock not realizing, believing what had happened. The baby was crying but as soon as they checked her out… she was fine and then she was happy as can be and the mom was just very relieved,” said Laurie.

“I started crying,” said Krista Witherell, rescued boater and mother of nine month Aubriana. “My baby is going to be okay. Logan is okay. We're all okay.”

As the weather warms up and people take to the water, authorities say it's important to always remember to wear a life jacket. If something goes wrong you can buy time for emergency responders to rescue you.

kuhio98

06-26-2013, 02:10 PM

From People Magazine:

Like any other dog, Oscar Madison loves to run and chase his canine pals at the park. But unlike other dogs, Oscar wheely gets around.

In place of his hind legs, Oscar makes his way around with the help of a wheelchair, and happily joins his fellow four-legged friends in a boundless display of endearing energy at a New York City park.

With his drooling grin and flopping ears, it's hard to imagine this precious pup was ever abandoned, and then put on death row by animal services. But NY Pet-I-Care, Inc. found Oscar a happy home, and now, "he can run as fast as any other dog," says his owner on Facebook.

By the looks of it, his two-wheel drive probably makes him the one to beat at the dog run!

<iframe width="640" height="360" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/P1W1bhE-A6k?feature=player_embedded" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

kuhio98

06-27-2013, 10:26 AM

Kiehl's Crème de Corps
This luxe body lotion is a treat for the skin -- and for the eyes, with packaging designed by artist Kenny Scharf.

Plus, 100% of the proceeds benefit RxArt, a nonprofit that fosters expression with art programs for children in pediatric hospitals.

Buy it now at kiehls.com, $30
http://images.meredith.com/lhj/images/2012/10/ss_10_KS_Hol_Group_Shot_010_FNL_LIGHT-CORRECTED.jpg

kuhio98

06-28-2013, 03:27 PM

http://25.media.tumblr.com/a6055023ee0cbd5a509a1d84a817a0ef/tumblr_mhs5n39V481roqv59o1_500.png

kuhio98

06-29-2013, 12:23 PM

Police officer rescues fledgling owl from roadway

SAGINAW, MI (WNEM) - A local citizen is drawing attention to the act of kindness shown by a local law enforcement officer after he rescued a young owl in peril.

Sandy Miner, a volunteer with the Wild Life Support Team, stopped by the Saginaw police station to express her gratitude for Sgt. Mark Scott's rescue of a screech owl.

Miner said that two nights ago, Scott was working in the southeast side of the city when he came across a fledgling owl in the roadway. He scooted the owl away from the road so that it wouldn't become road kill, only to come back and find it in the roadway again the next night.

Scott then contacted 911, who reached out to Miner's organization and sent her out to help the bird.
http://wnem.images.worldnow.com/images/22694466_BG1.jpg

"I think it's important for people to understand that police officers are compassionate too," said Minor. "Sgt. Scott didn't have to stop. This owl would have died if Sgt. Scott had not come to the rescue. It hasn't been eating and that's why it couldn't fly away."

The Wild Life Support Team has been in operation for 33 years and has a facility to house and help the animals they rescue - but it is not open to the public. The group does not rescue mammals. Miner said she specializes in the rescue of big birds and is state and federally certified to do so.

kuhio98

06-30-2013, 12:18 PM

The Golden Hat: Talking Back to Autism Book
This touching book was a passion project for Kate Winslet and her friend, Margret Ericsdottir, whose son is living with nonverbal autism. The book features candid portraits of celebrities and their answers to the question, "What is important to you to express?"

Proceeds from the book go to building innovative living campuses for people with autism and raising public awareness of their talents and intellectual capabilities.

Buy it now at shop.goldenhatfoundation.org, $30
http://images.meredith.com/lhj/images/2012/10/ss_17_large.jpg

kuhio98

07-01-2013, 01:35 PM

WILDLIFE SUPERVISOR ART YERIAN, 42
Olga the Otter's brave savior

Just past noon on New Year's Eve day, staffer Art Yerian was making his rounds at the Homosassa Springs State Wildlife Park on Florida's Gulf Coast when he noticed something amiss in the alligator pond. There, where 17 of the carnivorous amphibians are kept, "I could see bubbles," says Yerian, "like a little submarine." Scanning an adjacent pen, Yerian quickly realized what had happened. Olga, an 8-year-old sea otter, had pried loose a grate in her enclosure and paddled through a 6-ft. barrier into the gator pond. As a crowd of visitors gathered, Yerian grabbed a net and ladder, hopped a 4-ft. fence (catching a shoelace and crashing onto his back) and waded into the knee-deep pond. "There was no way I was going to let Olga get munched in front of 3,000 people—not to mention kids," says Yerian, the father of two. Struggling for footing on the slippery bottom, he used the ladder to sweep the water for Olga and to keep the alligators at bay. But in churning the water, Yerian got the attention of a 15-ft. gator, which rushed him, mouth wide open for the kill. Scrambling to safety, Yerian asked for a long pole to ward off further attack. "Since he came after me," he explains, "I was going to go after him so he wouldn't charge again." Finally steering Olga back onshore, Yerian scooped her into his net, to the cheers of the crowd, and hauled her to safety. How to explain the risk he'd been willing to take for an otter? That's easy, says colleague Susan Lowe: "He treats every one of the animals like it's his own."

Karen

07-01-2013, 04:06 PM

Awww, cool! Yay for the otter friend!

cassiesmom

07-01-2013, 04:58 PM

Love this!
http://news.cnet.com/8301-17938_105-57591226-1/disabled-duck-gets-new-3d-printed-foot/

kuhio98

07-02-2013, 10:33 AM

Deputies: Rescue dog stayed in ravine with missing woman until found

CABARRUS COUNTY, NC (WBTV) - Rescuers in Cabarrus County say they found a missing woman lying in a ravine Wednesday morning with a dog that had apparently remained at her side through the entire ordeal.

Dorothy Schnabel, an Alzheimer's patient, was located lying in the water in a ravine not far from her home and taken to the hospital, according to the Cabarrus County Sheriff's Office.

With her was her faithful dog Duchess, a brown Doberman who was herself, a rescued dog. Apparently Duchess stayed by her all night.

http://wbtv.images.worldnow.com/images/22693943_BG1.jpg

Deputies from the Cabarrus County Sheriff's Office, the Sheriff's Office Special Vehicle Response Team (SVT), the Fire Marshal's Office, the Cabarrus County Land Search team consisting of members from the following fire departments: Allen, Mt. Mitchell, Northeast, Mt. Pleasant and Harrisburg were all part of the effort.

One major contributor to the success of the search was the North Carolina Highway Patrol's helicopter, the Sheriff's Office said. There is no way to determine how much longer this search could have continued and what the outcome would have been for Mrs. Schnabel if not for their assistance.

kuhio98

07-03-2013, 11:28 AM

Because This Is What Friends Are For

One morning I found an envelope on my desk at work with $100 tucked into an unsigned card. I was hosting guests for the weekend and was totally broke, so it was truly a blessing. When I found out that my friend and coworker Elaine had left me the money, I was in tears.
-- Judy McGraw, Pineville, West Virginia

kuhio98

07-04-2013, 09:37 AM

Play It Forward

Three years ago I was looking on Craigslist for a used piano so my 7-year-old son could learn how to play. I found a lovely Victorian piano and called the owner, with whom I really connected over the phone. She decided right then that she was going to give it to me for free because I wanted it for all the right reasons. As if that wasn't enough, she also shipped it to me -- at her own expense! Needless to say I was extremely touched by her kindness and will always be grateful.
-- Fran, Milton, Massachusetts

kuhio98

07-05-2013, 11:30 AM

Crossing Guard

On my walk to work I occasionally see a blind woman walking with her guide dog. One rainy morning I noticed the woman standing at the curb, trying to get her dog to cross the street. But the dog wouldn't budge because there was a big puddle. The woman seemed confused and frustrated. Then a man came over to her and said, "Hello, ma'am. Your dog doesn't want to cross because there's a puddle. Take my hand and I'll help you cross the street and keep your feet dry." I actually teared up. It made my day to see such a kind gesture.
Kate, Dumont, New Jersey

kuhio98

07-06-2013, 12:28 PM

SCHOOLTEACHER GEOFF HALEY, 50
His dog trapped in a drain, a loyal owner digs him out

Their daily walks near home in Medomsley, England, were a relaxing ritual for schoolteacher Geoff Haley and his mixed-breed Lakeland-Border terriers Billy and Ben. But on the afternoon of May 3, Ben suddenly darted into the woods. "I thought he might be chasing a rabbit," says Haley. But when Ben didn't return after several hours, adds Haley, "I knew he had met with some kind of trouble."

Haley's best guess was that Ben had disappeared into a long-disused 18-in. drainpipe that had so fascinated the dog that Haley had blocked it repeatedly with .wire fencing. But sure enough, the fencing was gone. Investigating, Haley discovered the pipe had recently been connected to the drainage lines of a new subdivision. When he and a friend, John Bell, began lifting manhole covers from a newly built road directly over the pipe, their worst fears were confirmed. "I listened at the drain," recalls Bell, 61, "and I could hear Ben yapping."

Firemen tried to dislodge the dog with a high-powered stream of water, but that didn't work. Finally, Haley, along with wife Bobbie, 50, daughter Helen, 24, and a group of volunteers, took matters into their own hands. "I couldn't wait," says Haley. "I didn't know how much air Ben had, and any rain would have drowned him." Throughout the night they dug up more than a foot of tarmac and concrete, then broke through the pipe itself. Friends lowered Haley headfirst into the pipe but he still couldn't free the dog—and the hole was caving in. It wasn't until 8 a.m. when a construction crew arrived for work that the hole was widened and Ben was freed. "He was stuck in goo like the cork in a wine bottle," recalls Haley. "It took a massive heave to get him out."

With no more damage than a dirty coat, Ben, after a brief turn in the family shower, was soon wagging his tail but offering no word on what had prompted his excursion. "He's a bit of a daft dog," says Haley affectionately. "What possessed him that day is a mystery."

kuhio98

07-07-2013, 01:03 PM

Reusable Water Bottle

This limited edition, BPA-free plastic water bottle is not only Earth-conscious, it also helps to end the clean-water crisis.

Ten dollars from every bottle purchased goes toward Water.org's efforts to supply clean water for people around the world.

Buy it now at water.org, $25
http://images.meredith.com/lhj/images/2011/11/ss_S12_Waterorg_Blue-v22.jpg

kuhio98

07-09-2013, 01:00 PM

Pocket Change

Whenever I have loose change in my pocket and am riding the bus, I leave my loose change with the bus driver to give to anyone who might try to get on the bus later and is short on bus fare. Such an easy way to help!

kuhio98

07-10-2013, 12:53 PM

From People Magazine Heroes Among Us:

CROSSING GUARD JILL COOK, 66
Taking a hit to save a child

As usual, Jill Cook's post at North Crystal Lake Drive and Lowry Avenue in Lakeland, Fla., was busy on the morning of Aug. 16. With Cook's guidance, 7-year-old Amber Stringer had just stepped onto the curb, with her big brother Tony, 10, lagging close behind. But before he could reach the safety of the sidewalk, a pickup truck, out of nowhere, came speeding toward him. Instinctively, Cook pushed Tony out of the way. But she had no time to save herself, and the truck struck her with terrible force. "She flew up, landed on the hood, hit the windshield, and when the truck stopped it threw her off," says Christine Stringer, Amber and Tony's mother, who saw what happened from her nearby backyard and rushed to Cook's side. "I thought she was dead." Cook remained conscious but recalls little of the impact. "The only thought I had was, 'Are the kids okay?' " she says. The pain was excruciating, and small wonder. She'd broken her pelvis, right knee, hip, tibia and fibula and five ribs. (Police say driver Chester Lepriol, 28, was doing about 46 mph in a 15-mph zone; charged with criminal reckless driving, he pleaded not guilty.) A retired nurse and widowed mother of six, Cook is staying with her daughter Jennifer, also a nurse, and faces months of rehab. "She may have a limp, but all her fractures should heal," says her surgeon Dr. George Letson.

The grateful Stringers visit Cook often. "There's a special bond," says Christine, 34. Adds Amber: "I love her very much." Cook downplays her heroism and hopes her story serves as a lesson. "That's my whole goal—for people to be more cautious," she says. "Obey those flashing lights. Don't put on makeup while driving. Don't read the newspaper. Please be careful."

kuhio98

07-11-2013, 11:53 AM

Because Giving Back Is Good Luck

When Cynthia Stafford won $112 million in the California lottery, she couldn't wait to start paying it forward. Her involvement in the children's outreach programs at the Geffen Playhouse in Los Angeles has helped bring the joys of theater to thousands of underprivileged kids.

kuhio98

07-12-2013, 11:53 AM

From CNN

DEAL ISLAND, Md. (WMAR) -- A 46-year-old man swam for more than 5 hours in order to get help for his family that had been ejected from their boat near Deal Island.

At about 7:00 p.m., the boat that John Riggs, 70, was driving with 4 others onboard was swamped by waves during a storm about 3 miles off shore. The 16 foot Carolina Skiff was swamped by waves inside the vessel and over the stern.

When the boat took on water all occupants put on their life jackets. The water in the boat caused it to partially sink and roll over, sending everyone into the water. All five held onto the boat.

At about 7:30 p.m., John Franklin Riggs, 46, decided to swim for help and finally reached the shore at about 1:00 a.m., and knocked on the door of the closest home for help.

Emergency personnel were able to locate the vessel at about 3:00 a.m. All subjects were treated at the scene.

The occupants of the boat are family members and range in age from 70 to 3-years-old. Life jackets and a quick response by multiple jurisdictions are being credited for the safe rescue of all involved.

cassiesmom

07-12-2013, 01:57 PM

I love stories like this ...

'Are you kidding?' Last request leads to $500 tip for waitress
By Michelle Manchir

Tribune reporter

8:08 AM CDT, July 12, 2013

Vanessa Goldschmidt said it had been a slow night at the pod of tables she was in charge of serving at Pequod's Pizza in Lincoln Park on Thursday.

The night quickly became a memorable one when, after cashing out one $45 tab, she was handed a $500 tip.

She was the latest unsuspecting restaurant server to experience Aaron Collins' last wish.

The Collins family began distributing $500 tips last year after the 30-year-old committed suicide in his hometown of Lexington, Ky.

The last line of the will that his brother Seth Collins, 33, found on Aaron's desktop computer made clear what he wanted: "Leave an awesome tip (and I don't mean 25 percent. I mean $500 on a (expletive) pizza) for a waiter or waitress."

In Chicago, the gesture unfolded at the pizzeria after Seth Collins had taken the last bite of his tomato and basil deep dish, and Goldschmidt, 34, was ready to cash him out.

"Actually hang on just a second," Collins said, launching into a story about his brother's untimely death and last request.

He handed her a stack of $20 bills along with a printed postcard he made featuring Aaron's name and photo.

"I'm like shaking right now. Are you kidding?" Goldschmidt said, lunging toward Collins for a hug. "Oh, my gosh. I'm shaking right now. That's amazing."

It was the 56th time since Aaron Collins' July 7, 2012, death that Seth Collins fulfilled the request from his brother's will.

Seth Collins had posted a video online of what happened when they made the first surprise tip in Kentucky last year. It inspired a wave of donations, and Collins made it his goal to take the experience out of Kentucky and give extravagant tips in all 50 states before Christmas, thus bringing him to Illinois this week.

He set up a nonprofit in Kentucky that he said holds about $60,000 from donors all over the world. To memorialize his brother, Collins said, he wants all the money to go toward gratuities for waiters and waitresses at local restaurants, many of whom are recommended by Facebook users who are following Collins' journey.

Sometimes Collins' parents and sisters attend the big-tip dinners with him, but he's going alone on this road trip, hoping his '99 Altima will keep up with him for 17,000 miles, he said. He has raised $5,600 so far to fund the trip through an Indiegogo campaign online.

Aaron Collins, who constructed homes in Kentucky and fixed computers, was a man who struggled in his life, said his mother, Tina Rae Collins. She wasn't in Chicago this week but said she has attended the tippings 15 to 20 times.

After his death, the family reacted to all the requests they found in his will. One example: They gave the $70 Aaron left behind to homeless people.

The $500 tip request made sense to the family. Taking friends out to dinner and leaving big tips behind was something Aaron Collins did often, his brother said. He got a kick from picking up a big tab at meals, and other random acts of kindness, Seth Collins said.

At family celebrations out, "he would reach down in his own pocket if he didn't think we had left enough," said Tina Rae Collins.

For her, distributing the tips is a way to find comfort in her loss.

"As sad as I am, I can't help but be happy and excited when I see what that little seed that Aaron planted has produced," she said in a phone interview.

"I read a lot of things about grief, about the loss of a child. Pretty much everybody says the only thing that they want is to hear their child's name spoken. They want to know their child meant something. … I don't have to worry about that."

On Thursday night, Goldschmidt, of Chicago, said the money would probably be used for her rent and other bills. She works full time at the pizzeria, relying heavily on tips, she said.

"It was just like another Thursday night, coming into work, hoping for the best. It's a slow night," Goldschmidt said after receiving the cash. "I'm just taken aback. It's such an amazing gesture."

Milwaukee, St. Paul and Des Moines are the next cities on Collins' list to visit.

"It'll never get old," Seth Collins said.

kuhio98

07-13-2013, 11:48 AM

From CNN:

Dog saves Cranberry Township man
Foster dog comes to aid after Chuck Weintraub suffers heart block

CRANBERRY TOWNSHIP, Pa. —A Cranberry Township man who made a commitment to saving dogs said he never realized how one of those dogs would end up saving him.

Photos: Chloe the dog to the rescue A Cranberry Township man who made a commitment to saving dogs never realized how one of those dogs would end up saving his life.

Chuck Weintraub suffered a heart block while he was cutting grass at his home on Peace Street. He wasn't getting oxygen to his brain and passed out, and that's when his foster dog, Chloe, came to his aid.

"I was out cutting the grass. I don't remember anything except cutting the front yard, and the next thing I know, it was three days later," he said.

Weintraub works at the Western Pennsylvania Humane Society, where he met Chloe. The dog had only been with him for six weeks.

"Chloe was extremely sick when she came -- traumatized, couldn't be around people, just curled up from the world," he said.

But when Weintraub collapsed, Chloe went across the street and alerted neighbor Michael Brock. "I ran around to get a leash to collar the dog and she let me get close enough, which she normally doesn't, and she backed off in an increment of 15 or 20 feet," said Brock.

Brock said the dog backed off at least five more times, leading him to the back yard. "All the dogs backed away instead of greeting me like they normally do, and I was trying to pet them and I saw the bottom of Chuck's shoes," he said.

Neighbor Charleen Deneen, a registered nurse, administered CPR. "I had my windows still open and heard the concern in everyone's voice, and when I heard, 'Call 911,' I thought, 'OK, I have to go up the hill,'" she said.

Many people came to the rescue, but Chloe surprised Weintraub in the most unexpected way.

"And now, what you see, she's an interesting and inquisitive little girl," he said, adding that he's considering adopting her.

Considering???? Sounds like a no brainer to me.

kuhio98

07-15-2013, 10:00 AM

From CNN:

Teens chase kidnapping suspect on bikes, save 5-year-old girl

Two teenage boys are being hailed as heroes after they chased a car carrying a kidnapped girl -- on their bicycles.

Five-year-old Jocelyn Rojas was playing in her front yard in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, when she vanished Thursday afternoon. Authorities believe she was abducted by a man who lured her by offering ice cream.

For two hours, neighbors and police scoured the area and asked if anyone had seen her.

Temar Boggs, 15, and his friend took off on their bicycles to search.

About a half-mile away, they spotted Jocelyn in a sedan. But the driver was elusive.

"Every time we'd go down the street, he'd turn back around, and then ... we'll follow him," Temar told CNN affiliate WGAL.

The two teens chased the alleged kidnapper on their bikes for 15 heart-pounding minutes. The driver apparently knew he was being followed and gave up.

"He stopped at the end of the hill and let her out, and she ran to me and said that she needed her mom," Temar said.

Jocelyn's relatives and neighbors took turns hugging Temar.

"He's our hero. There is just no words to say," Jocelyn's grandmother Tracey Clay said.

Police are looking for the suspect, described as a white male between 50 and 70 years old. He was driving a reddish-purple or maroon car with round taillights, WGAL reported. The man was wearing green shoes, green pants and a red-and-white striped shirt. He walked with a limp.

Although the suspect remains at large, Temar feels good about finding Jocelyn.

"I just feel like I did something very accomplishing today," the teen said.

The girl's family couldn't agree more.

cassiesmom

07-15-2013, 03:14 PM

:love: :love: I heard about this on the radio, way to go Palos Heights FPD and the people who called them!

(From the Chicago Tribune)

Three Palos Heights firefighters this week rescued a mother duck and her ducklings who snarled traffic while trying to cross Harlem Avenue before eight of the brood fell through a grated sewer cover as rush hour commuters watched in horror.

The firefighters were called to the scene Thursday evening after bystanders saw the duck and her 10 ducklings step off the curb to cross Harlem near Illinois Highway 83, causing drivers to slam their brakes to allow the flock to pass, said Bryan Mueller, a firefighter with the Palos Heights Fire Protection District.

Their plight worsened as the ducklings, walking single file behind their mother, began to disappear, one-by-one falling through a sewer cover on Harlem. By the time the mother realized some of her brood was missing, eight of them had fallen about six feet into a storm water runoff pipe underneath the grate, Mueller said.

While the bystanders attempted to herd the remaining two ducklings and their mother out of the street and back to the sidewalk, a bystander called the police for help. Two squad cars arrived and attempted to control the southbound traffic, which was beginning to snarl, but neither officer knew how to get the ducklings out of the rain sewer.

The Palos Heights Fire Protection District was called and Mueller said that as they boarded the engine, the chief handed them a large fishing net explaining that they would probably need it for the rescue. "The net was actually purchased just for this type of rescue," Mueller said.

Mueller said he pried open the large sewer cover and spotted the ducklings swimming in circles in the water left from last week's storms. The ducklings, however, were not close enough to bring up by hand.

"This is where the net came in," Mueller said. "We just started scooping them out."

Meanwhile, drivers in the southbound lanes who were unable to move began to become irate, said one witness who works at the Palos Animal Hospital at the corner of Route 83 and Harlem. At one point, the mother duck began to frantically swoop down at the firefighters because she thought they were trying to harm her ducklings, Mueller said.

Two veterinary technicians from Palos Animal Hospital who came out to watch the rescue brought a large plastic kennel to aid the firefighters, Mueller said.

After about 45 minutes, the eight baby ducklings were safely placed into the crate and carried across Harlem where the firefighters found a secluded spot to let them out. Within minutes they were reunited with their mother who had followed them.

Firefighters Matt Gruca and Bryan Mueller and Lt. Adam Casper remained for about an hour to make sure the brood did not try to return to Harlem Avenue.

kuhio98

07-16-2013, 10:48 AM

All involved agree, sand dune rescue 'a miracle'
http://l2.yimg.com/bt/api/res/1.2/gapUvgmVsTFgbPvm4ViFRw--/YXBwaWQ9eW5ld3M7Zmk9ZmlsbDtoPTQyMTtweG9mZj01MDtweW 9mZj0wO3E9ODU7dz03NDk-/http://media.zenfs.com/en_us/News/ap_webfeeds/f836e0e9abb0a817370f6a7067005254.jpg

CHICAGO (AP) — One minute, 6-year-old Nathan Woessner was scampering up a massive dune in northern Indiana with his dad and a friend. He was gone the next, without a warning or sound.

More than three hours later, rescuers pulled Nathan out from under 11 feet of sand on Friday. He showed no signs of life: He was cold to the touch, had no pulse and wasn't breathing. His limp body was put into the back of a pickup truck, which started toward a waiting ambulance.

The plan was to take him to the hospital rather than the coroner's office, even if he was dead, in order to "give the family and rescue workers hope," La Porte (Ind.) County Chief Deputy Coroner Mark Huffman said Monday.

As the truck bounced over the dune, a medic noticed something astonishing: The boy took a breath. Then, the cut on his head started bleeding. The jolt apparently shocked Nathan's body back to life, Huffman said. Nathan was rushed to the hospital and was crying in the emergency room when Huffman arrived a few minutes later.

"Man, I tell you that was such a great feeling," Huffman said. "This is not something that I as the chief deputy coroner get to report that often. It's an absolute miracle this child survived."

Nathan, of Sterling, Ill., remains in critical condition at the University of Chicago Medicine Comer Children's Hospital, but he is expected to recover and be released in 10 to 14 days, Dr. Tracy Koogler said Monday. Of greatest concern is his lungs, as the amount of sand he breathed in could lead to asthma-like symptoms, she said.

Don Reul, Nathan's grandfather, was getting ready for bed after a long day of tooling around on motorcycles in New York state with his wife and another couple when the phone rang. On the other end was the "hysterical" voice of his daughter, Faith Woessner.

In this July 12, 2013 file photo, Michigan City police and firefighters dig with shovels to r …"She said, 'Dad, Dad, we can't find him, he's under the sand," said Reul, a minister from Galva, Ill.

But he understood little else, and by the time he hung up, he believed that his grandson had fallen on the beach at Indiana Dunes National Seashore and had been pulled into Lake Michigan.

"I said Nathan has died, he's drowned," Reul told his wife.

The Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore, running for about 25 miles along the southern shore of Lake Michigan, is a popular vacation spot that has long attracted families, hikers and birdwatchers. The dune Nathan fell feet-first into is one of the tallest, the 123-foot-tall Mount Baldy.

Nathan's 8-year-old friend rushed to where his dad and Nathan's dad were, and told them Nathan had vanished. Reul said that by the time Nathan's father found the hole, he could hear his son, but not see him.

The two men frantically dug sand from the spot where Nathan had fallen, but stopped after it was about four feet deep, Reul said, realizing they may have driven Nathan "deeper and deeper." Faith Woessner, meanwhile, was begging people to help them dig.

Michigan City, Ind., firefighters soon arrived and excavating companies brought backhoes and other heavy equipment to try to catch up with the boy, who was still sinking into the sand. According to media reports, the first responders pushed a rod down into the sand in the hopes of finding the boy.

In this July 12, 2013, photo rescue workers with heavy equipment working to free 6-year-old Nathan W …Hours passed without a sign of Nathan. Huffman, the coroner arrived, which Reul said must have been a sure sign that the rescuers feared the worst: It wouldn't be a rescue.

Then, volunteer firefighter Ryan Miller, the vice president of an excavating company, spotted the outline of what looked like a rotten tree about 11 feet down — maybe more — and pushed the rod until it stopped at the boy. Michigan City firefighter Brad Kreighbaum reached down and "felt what he believed to be Nathan's head," Miller said.

It was just in time, as there was no air pocket surrounding Nathan.

"He was fully encapsulated in sand," Miller said, noting it took about five firefighters to pull him out.

Once the family heard the boy was bleeding, Reul said, "Hope began to bubble up... that Nathan's not gone."

He was airlifted to the University of Chicago Medicine Comer Children's Hospital from an Indiana hospital Friday night.

"I expected him to arrive much sicker than he did," said Koogler, medical director of the pediatric intensive care unit.

In this July 12, 2013, photo rescue workers with a stretcher carrying 6-year-old Nathan Woessner aft …Nathan was sedated so doctors could remove as much of the sand in his lungs as possible. She said Monday doctors don't see any more sand particles, but believe some is still in there.

Doctors also said early neurological tests didn't reveal any brain damage; Nathan can move his arms, legs, fingers and toes. Koogler also said Nathan's eyes appear to be fine, adding he must have had closed them while buried in the sand.

She said the biggest concern remains the boy's lungs, telling reporters Monday that Nathan could develop asthma-like symptoms in the months to come, but that the injury to his lungs was "not nearly as severe as I expected it to be."

Koogler said if Nathan continues to recover at the same rate, he would likely be taken off the ventilator by the end of the week and released from the hospital in 10-14 days, but may need another month in a rehab facility.

In six months, she said, 'I'm hoping that he's going to be acting like a normal 6- to 7-year-old, riding a bicycle, doing what a normal 6- or 7-year-old does."

Reul said that before he and his wife heard anything about his grandson, he experienced sharp, stabbing pains in his chest. Reul was not ready to say Monday that those pains happened at approximately the time his grandson fell into the sinkhole.

But he was sure of what happened after: "It is a miracle."

kuhio98

07-17-2013, 10:31 AM

Mark by Avon M.Powerment Gift Set

For the glamorous ladies on your gift list, this gem-crusted compact mirror and gorgeous lipstick make a perfect present.

When you purchase this set, 100% of the proceeds go to Mark's m.powerment program which raises awareness about domestic violence.

Buy it now at shop.meetmark.com, $24
http://images.meredith.com/lhj/images/2012/10/ss_m-powerment-gift-set.jpg

kuhio98

07-18-2013, 09:19 AM

From Ladies Home Journal: Loving Dogs & Neighbors

I met a woman on assistance who was struggling to feed her two dogs, so we stepped in and have provided her with food and treats for both and will continue to do so as long as she needs it. She is a good owner, and loves them both dearly.

kuhio98

07-19-2013, 09:15 AM

PORTLAND, OR (KPTV) - A local mom is producing a line of T-shirts inspired by her little boy and his glasses.

Jessica Butler said her son Scott was born with a congenital cataract, and required surgery when he was just 4 weeks old. Since then, glasses and eye patches have been a part of his everyday life.

http://kptv.images.worldnow.com/images/22870319_BG2.jpg

And so have the questions from strangers. Many people ask whether the toddler's glasses are even real.

"With an infant in glasses, you get asked that every time you leave the house," Jessica Butler said. "People always think that they're just toys or fake, but they aren't, they're really prescription glasses."

It's all inspired a line of T-shirts and a company called Eye Power Kid's Wear. The goal is to make people of all ages, but especially children, feel good about their glasses. One of the most popular shirts says, "My glasses give me superpowers."

That particular shirt can even be ordered with a detachable cape.

Butler launched a Kickstarter.com page in May hoping to raise $3,000 to get the project off the ground. She ended up with nearly $5,000 in donations to launch her business.

She's hoping this project will inspire others, especially families who have to go through the patching process of a child with an eye disorder.

There's even a shirt for that. It says, "Will patch for cake," because sometimes you have to bribe children with a sweet treat to keep the patch on, Butler said.

"It's really hard some days," she said. "They cry and they fight it. Some days you go through five or six patches, so it's just kind of inspiring people to not give up."

For more information, go to eyepowerkidswear.com.

kuhio98

07-19-2013, 08:15 PM

BAKERSFIELD, Calif. - A Bakersfield girl in the hospital with cystic fibrosis has a simple birthday wish -- and you can help make it happen.

Emma Ritter,6, was diagnosed with cystic fibrosis when she was only 18 months old.

She currently is hospitalized at Children's Hospital Central California in Madera. Although this is her 14th time being hospitalized, things are looking up.

"This year I think has actually been our best year with this… we have gotten nothing but good news every time we have gone to the hospital," said her father, Matt Ritter.

Her birthday is on Monday, July 22 and she has one birthday wish -- 100 birthday cards.

"My wife just asked her what do you want for your birthday and she is all simply, I just want a hundred birthday cards," said her father.

Her family says they'd like the cards to be "special," including drawings for Emma or personal messages of hope.

If you'd like to help, you can mail a card to the following address:

Emma Ritter Room 506

c/o Children's Hospital Central California

9300 Children's Place

Madera, CA 93636

You can also e-mail a special birthday wish to the following address:

http://www.childrenscentralcal.org/StayingOvernight/Email_A_Friend.aspx?source=thankYou.aspx

kuhio98

07-20-2013, 09:14 AM

The owners of Blue Marble ice cream shops, in Brooklyn, New York, are expanding their business to Butare, Rwanda. Alexis Miesen and Jennie Dundas are building their first store there, which will be run (and co-owned) by Rwandan women.

kuhio98

07-21-2013, 10:47 AM

SECURITY TECHNICIAN GUY BURNETT, 27
He rescues two trapped babies from a roadside canal

Last June 13 was a brilliant Sunday in South Florida, and Claudia Cox, in the backseat of a friend's Mitsubishi, was going from Miami to Naples to visit her boyfriend Otasha Barrett with their year-old twin daughters, Kendia and Kenisha, strapped into car seats beside her. Heading west through the Everglades on 1-75, Cox, 23, a hospital lab assistant, was singing gospel tunes with her cousin Simone Hyatt, who was sitting in front with driver Tashana Brown. But just after 3 p.m. a front tire blew, and the car crashed through a fence, flipping over and landing upside down in an alligator-infested canal. "All I could think was 'I'm going to die,' " says Cox. "Then I thought, 'Please, God, don't let anything happen to my babies.' "

The answer to her prayers was Guy Burnett, who had been just minutes behind Cox, driving with his wife and two children. Burnett pulled over and saw that all three women were out of the car, but that Cox was standing in the water screaming, "My babies!" Then a serviceman for a security firm, Burnett dove into the murky canal and tried vainly to open the car doors. "It was like pea soup," he recalls. "I wouldn't have seen my hand if I'd held it in front of my face." Finally, finding an open window, he unlocked a door and freed Kenisha from her car seat and brought her to safety. That's when he heard Cox screaming, "There's two of them!" Diving back in, he found Kendia and brought her to the surface. But it seemed too late. "She was like a rag doll," Burnett says. Cox's friend Brown, a flight attendant with first aid training, began administering CPR. Then Burnett, who learned the technique as a lifeguard in high school, took over. "C'mon, baby, breathe!" he exhorted. After a couple of minutes, Kendia whimpered. "That progressed to a good cry," he says. "It was like music to my ears."

kuhio98

07-22-2013, 09:13 AM

An AWOL cockatiel is watched over from above until he turns himself in.

By Kim, Schenectady, New York

"Rocko! Get back here!” I heard Dad calling to our one-year-old cockatiel from the front porch. Dad whistled the special high-pitched tune he used to communicate with him. Normally Rocko whistled the song right back. Not this time. Rocko must have flown the coop! I thought, running to the porch.

“I was cleaning Rocko’s cage,” Dad said. “He got excited and flew out.”

I went into the yard and spied Rocko in a neighbor’s tree. Dad and I followed him from tree to tree, whistling. “He’s probably afraid it’s not us,” Dad said. Eventually we lost sight of Rocko’s gray and white feathers.

After driving around the neighborhood late into the night, we had to accept that Rocko was gone. I hoped angels flew with him, keeping him safe.

A week later a neighbor surprised us. “I just saw Rocko on the news,” she said. “During a segment on the police academy, he landed on a recruit’s hat!”

We raced over to the police academy. When we arrived Dad whistled his special song. Rocko perked his head up and whistled right back. What safer place for angels to have led him?

kuhio98

07-23-2013, 09:24 AM

Whistle Necklace

Giving back never looked so good. This necklace from Falling Whistles is the perfect conversation piece for awareness. It comes in different metals, so you can add it to any outfit -- becoming a whistle blower for peace.

One hundred percent of proceeds go toward helping war-affected kids in the Democratic Republic of Congo through rehabilitation programs and stateside advocacy.

Buy it now at store.fallingwhistles.com, $34
http://images.meredith.com/lhj/images/2011/11/ss_Falling-Whistles.jpg

kuhio98

07-24-2013, 09:17 AM

Tampa, Florida -- A mother will do most anything for her child and one Tampa woman proves that by getting her head shaved! But there's much more to Jasmine Barrios' buzz cut. She's making a difference for kids across the country, as well as her own son.

Her son Nester has been diagnosed with cancer. "Nester is 8. When he was 7, he was diagnosed with thyroid cancer," says Barrios. "Thyroid cancer in kids is not very common. There's a one in a million chance for a child in his group to get thyroid cancer, therefore the awareness for it isn't there."

On average, 46 mothers each weekday learn their child has cancer. Barrios is part of the group "46 Mommas," a group that raises money for childhood cancer research. That's also how she ended up with her new hairdo. She traveled to San Antonio to take part in the 'Shave for the Brave' fundraiser.

"It's fun, it's liberating. You feel free and I'm glad I did it and I'm glad I am one of the 46 mommas," said Barrios.

Nester is doing well and Barrios said he wants to be a soldier like his dad, "He wears the uniform proudly and he wears it correctly so he shows the Army pride. I told him he already is a soldier, he's just a soldier fighting cancer."

Barrios has raised several hundred dollars already this year for childhood cancer research and knows there is much more to be done.

"I feel like we could at least tell our story and let people know there are kids out there who are fighting. We're fortunate that so far Nester is doing phenomenal, but there are kids out there who are losing their battles and that's why we fight."

Collectively "46 Mommas" IS making a difference -- raising more than million dollars over the last three years.

kuhio98

07-25-2013, 09:25 AM

Bus driver who caught plunging Brooklyn child brushes off 'hero' talk
A veteran New York City bus driver on Tuesday played down any claims of heroism for snagging a 7-year-old girl who fell three stories from a Brooklyn apartment building a day earlier.

Steve St. Bernard, 52, says neighborhood children alerted him to the girl standing on top of a window air-conditioning unit, and he positioned himself underneath her.

"I asked God ... I said, 'Let me catch her, please. Don't let me miss,'" the 10-year veteran of the Metropolitan Transit Authority (MTA) told CNN. "I don't play baseball. I'm not a sportsman. I don't want to miss."

St. Bernard said the girl was up above him for an excruciating seven minutes before she fell into his arms.

The incident occurred Monday afternoon and was captured on amateur video, which soon surfaced online. It shows the girl, who neighbors said is a special-needs child, standing and apparently dancing on the air-conditioner, losing her balance and falling. One of at least two people standing on the sidewalk beneath her reaches out and catches her before she hits the ground.

"It felt like a ton of bricks ... like a whole bag of rocks on me," St. Bernard said. "We went down. She touched the floor but the impact wasn't on her. It was me and her going down. I guess I absorbed the blow."

Bernard and the girl were treated at a local hospital and released. Bernard hurt his arm and is now wearing a sling and can't go to work.

Neighbors and onlookers have since hailed the bus driver as a hero while police investigate the incident, authorities said.

The child apparently was able to get onto an exterior air-conditioning unit because the window guards were too small for the opening, said New York City Housing Authority spokeswoman Sheila Stainback. There are now child-proof bars in place and the air conditioner unit has been removed from the window.

The girl's mother told CNN affiliate WCBS that she thought her daughter was asleep and blamed the incident on the air conditioner, which she said was installed just a few days ago and was defective.

Deborah Reed, a witness who alerted the girl's mother that her child was standing on the air conditioner, was emotional about the whole ordeal.

"I am just so thankful that everything turned out well -- I really am," she said.

But most grateful was the girl's mother, who hugged and thanked St. Bernard on Tuesday.

Still, the bus driver is brushing aside the "hero" label.

"If you have kids or you love people, like me, it's something you jump into action real quickly," he said.

kuhio98

07-26-2013, 03:57 PM

CONCORD, NC (WBTV) - Barbee Farms in Concord only harvests about two-thirds of their crops. Farmers typically will only harvest what they can sell, leaving thousands of pounds of perfectly edible food out in the fields. That food might go to waste if it weren't for groups like The Society of Saint Andrew.

The group organizes volunteers to come and pick the second harvest or "glean" the fields. Last year they took more than 50,000 pounds of food and donated it to food banks and shelters.

"Usually food that's in the field in the morning is on somebody's plate by the night," said Jean Siers, the area coordinator for the agency.

Thursday morning, students from Charlotte's Freedom School were the volunteers picking and loading corn into bushel sacks. Despite the mud and wet conditions, the kids were able to pick more than 1,000 pounds of corn.

Siers says the food comes at no cost to them and is a great way to turn what would go to waste, into usable food for the hungry.

Farmers like Tommy Barbee say it's a win-win because they don't have to see food go un-used. "Nothing does me any more good than to see that crowd leave with food to be distributed among the community, said Barbee.

The Society of Saint Andrew is constantly looking for volunteers to glean area farms and transport the food to local agencies. For more information check out their website at http://www.endhunger.org/

cassiesmom

07-26-2013, 04:36 PM

This little guy was discharged from the hospital today. He's truly a miracle kid.

All involved agree, sand dune rescue 'a miracle'
http://l2.yimg.com/bt/api/res/1.2/gapUvgmVsTFgbPvm4ViFRw--/YXBwaWQ9eW5ld3M7Zmk9ZmlsbDtoPTQyMTtweG9mZj01MDtweW 9mZj0wO3E9ODU7dz03NDk-/http://media.zenfs.com/en_us/News/ap_webfeeds/f836e0e9abb0a817370f6a7067005254.jpg

CHICAGO (AP) — One minute, 6-year-old Nathan Woessner was scampering up a massive dune in northern Indiana with his dad and a friend. He was gone the next, without a warning or sound.

More than three hours later, rescuers pulled Nathan out from under 11 feet of sand on Friday. He showed no signs of life: He was cold to the touch, had no pulse and wasn't breathing. His limp body was put into the back of a pickup truck, which started toward a waiting ambulance.

The plan was to take him to the hospital rather than the coroner's office, even if he was dead, in order to "give the family and rescue workers hope," La Porte (Ind.) County Chief Deputy Coroner Mark Huffman said Monday.

As the truck bounced over the dune, a medic noticed something astonishing: The boy took a breath. Then, the cut on his head started bleeding. The jolt apparently shocked Nathan's body back to life, Huffman said. Nathan was rushed to the hospital and was crying in the emergency room when Huffman arrived a few minutes later.

"Man, I tell you that was such a great feeling," Huffman said. "This is not something that I as the chief deputy coroner get to report that often. It's an absolute miracle this child survived."

Nathan, of Sterling, Ill., remains in critical condition at the University of Chicago Medicine Comer Children's Hospital, but he is expected to recover and be released in 10 to 14 days, Dr. Tracy Koogler said Monday. Of greatest concern is his lungs, as the amount of sand he breathed in could lead to asthma-like symptoms, she said.

Don Reul, Nathan's grandfather, was getting ready for bed after a long day of tooling around on motorcycles in New York state with his wife and another couple when the phone rang. On the other end was the "hysterical" voice of his daughter, Faith Woessner.

In this July 12, 2013 file photo, Michigan City police and firefighters dig with shovels to r …"She said, 'Dad, Dad, we can't find him, he's under the sand," said Reul, a minister from Galva, Ill.

But he understood little else, and by the time he hung up, he believed that his grandson had fallen on the beach at Indiana Dunes National Seashore and had been pulled into Lake Michigan.

"I said Nathan has died, he's drowned," Reul told his wife.

The Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore, running for about 25 miles along the southern shore of Lake Michigan, is a popular vacation spot that has long attracted families, hikers and birdwatchers. The dune Nathan fell feet-first into is one of the tallest, the 123-foot-tall Mount Baldy.

Nathan's 8-year-old friend rushed to where his dad and Nathan's dad were, and told them Nathan had vanished. Reul said that by the time Nathan's father found the hole, he could hear his son, but not see him.

The two men frantically dug sand from the spot where Nathan had fallen, but stopped after it was about four feet deep, Reul said, realizing they may have driven Nathan "deeper and deeper." Faith Woessner, meanwhile, was begging people to help them dig.

Michigan City, Ind., firefighters soon arrived and excavating companies brought backhoes and other heavy equipment to try to catch up with the boy, who was still sinking into the sand. According to media reports, the first responders pushed a rod down into the sand in the hopes of finding the boy.

In this July 12, 2013, photo rescue workers with heavy equipment working to free 6-year-old Nathan W …Hours passed without a sign of Nathan. Huffman, the coroner arrived, which Reul said must have been a sure sign that the rescuers feared the worst: It wouldn't be a rescue.

Then, volunteer firefighter Ryan Miller, the vice president of an excavating company, spotted the outline of what looked like a rotten tree about 11 feet down — maybe more — and pushed the rod until it stopped at the boy. Michigan City firefighter Brad Kreighbaum reached down and "felt what he believed to be Nathan's head," Miller said.

It was just in time, as there was no air pocket surrounding Nathan.

"He was fully encapsulated in sand," Miller said, noting it took about five firefighters to pull him out.

Once the family heard the boy was bleeding, Reul said, "Hope began to bubble up... that Nathan's not gone."

He was airlifted to the University of Chicago Medicine Comer Children's Hospital from an Indiana hospital Friday night.

"I expected him to arrive much sicker than he did," said Koogler, medical director of the pediatric intensive care unit.

In this July 12, 2013, photo rescue workers with a stretcher carrying 6-year-old Nathan Woessner aft …Nathan was sedated so doctors could remove as much of the sand in his lungs as possible. She said Monday doctors don't see any more sand particles, but believe some is still in there.

Doctors also said early neurological tests didn't reveal any brain damage; Nathan can move his arms, legs, fingers and toes. Koogler also said Nathan's eyes appear to be fine, adding he must have had closed them while buried in the sand.

She said the biggest concern remains the boy's lungs, telling reporters Monday that Nathan could develop asthma-like symptoms in the months to come, but that the injury to his lungs was "not nearly as severe as I expected it to be."

Koogler said if Nathan continues to recover at the same rate, he would likely be taken off the ventilator by the end of the week and released from the hospital in 10-14 days, but may need another month in a rehab facility.

In six months, she said, 'I'm hoping that he's going to be acting like a normal 6- to 7-year-old, riding a bicycle, doing what a normal 6- or 7-year-old does."

Reul said that before he and his wife heard anything about his grandson, he experienced sharp, stabbing pains in his chest. Reul was not ready to say Monday that those pains happened at approximately the time his grandson fell into the sinkhole.

But he was sure of what happened after: "It is a miracle."

kuhio98

07-26-2013, 05:17 PM

This little guy was discharged from the hospital today. He's truly a miracle kid.

Definitely a miracle survival. If he was a cat, I'd say he used up all of his 9 lives!

Nathan, little buddy, I pray you have a long and happy life.

cassiesmom

07-26-2013, 05:28 PM

NFL Rookie Rescues Woman and Her Three Kids while Driving to Training Camp
JULY 26, 2013
Ryan Gorman, Daily Mail
An NFL rookie is being called a hero after pulling a family to safety from a burning car Tuesday. Jonathan ‘Tig’ Willard, an undrafted free agent rookie with the Tennessee Titans, and another man pulled a mother, her three children and their dog from their car as it burned on the side of a Tennessee highway Tuesday while driving to Titans training camp. ‘They’re my angels, they’re a Godsend, it was a miracle that they were there,’ Cheri Hubbard told Good Morning America.

kuhio98

07-28-2013, 02:07 PM

GENESEE COUNTY, MI (WNEM) - A Genesee County woman is counting her blessings after she lost her wedding ring in a waterfall – only to have it returned by an upstanding citizen.

"And I go, ‘you're kidding me, oh my God no, you're kidding me'," said LeLonnie Alexander on the moment she was reunited with her wedding ring.

She lost it during a vacation in northern Michigan while at a waterfall, and figured it was gone for good. "I slipped and fell down into the water and I'm waving my hands back and forth … and all of a sudden the ring flies off and I said, ‘I lost my ring.'"

After a long search in the water, Alexander lost all hope of finding it. She notified the campground area police department and posted about her lost ring on social media. Several days later, she received a phone call.

"I got a call and they asked me to describe my ring because they thought somebody had found it," said Alexander.

A boy all the way from Nashville, TN, heard about what had happened. When his family visited the waterfall while on vacation, he decided to search for the ring himself.

"He heard about the story and went into the water with his little snorkel and his mask," explained Alexander.

And he found the $4,000 ring.

This week his family returned it to Alexander. She says she can't thank the boy enough for his honesty. "I get goose bumps because that little boy deserves every bit of praise that he can get," gushed Alexander.

Now the ring holder says she's doing whatever she can to make sure she doesn't lose her ring ever again. "This baby's getting insured and resized," said Alexander.

Alexander did give the boy a $200 reward for returning her ring.

http://wnem.images.worldnow.com/images/22941535_BG1.jpg

kuhio98

07-29-2013, 03:47 PM

PORTLAND, OR (KPTV) - For his 50th birthday, Steve Marshall wanted to do something special, but a cruise in the Caribbean or a vacation in Hawaii wasn't exactly what he had in mind. "When the family started asking, 'What do you want to do for your 50th?' I prayed about it and said I don't have any interest in having a party for myself, but how awesome would it be if I could find a family and spend the day honoring them?"

Instead, Marshall wanted to make a difference for someone in need of a little help and care.

Marshall said his friend, a pastor at a church in north Portland, helped him find Kimberely Dixon.

Dixon lost her husband two years ago and her son died in a gang shooting last month. Her granddaughter passed away from a typically treatable illness a few weeks ago.

Marshall and dozens of family and friends turned out to fix up Dixon's home.

"I've probably got about 75 to 100 people here today and I've had generous donations from businesses all over the place," he said. "It's become a bit of a home remodel, something far beyond what I ever expected."

"He started kind of marking out what he wanted to do. I was like, 'That's what you want to do?'" Dixon said. "And he did a walk through the house and here we are today, celebrating his birthday in this unique and different way."

http://kptv.images.worldnow.com/images/22956139_BG2.jpg
Dixon, who has four children, said she hopes Marshall's decision will inspire people to make a difference in the lives of others, even if it's as simple as sharing a smile.

"To have somebody spearhead such joy is overwhelmingly amazing. And we as a family and hopefully as a community are so blessed by this effort," she said.

kuhio98

07-30-2013, 03:18 PM

ELEPHANT LOSES LEG TO LANDMINE, VETERINARIANS COME TO HER RESCUE

Mosha the elephant lost her front right leg when she stepped on a landmine near the Thai-Myanmar border. Veterinarians were able to create an artificial leg for Mosha, and they have made a new one each time there's a change in her weight.
http://kptv.images.worldnow.com/images/2157762_G.jpg

kuhio98

07-31-2013, 04:09 PM

Little libraries popping up in City yards

It’s a reading program like any other. It has thousands of people across the nation building libraries right in their front yard and it’s picking up steam in the Quad Cities.

At every corner there’s a story ready to be told. At the corner of 8th and Green Park Avenue there are several stories, ready to be read.

Jen Roth has taken her love for reading and implemented a national reading program in Colona, Illinois.
“I thought it was a great idea, just because I’ve have so many books at home and I know many other people do, nobody likes to throw away a book,” said Roth.

It’s called the Little Free Library. http://www.littlefreelibrary.org/

How it works is simple, all you have to do is grab a book of your choice then leave one for others to enjoy.
“It makes me feel so good to know that we are doing something for the community that people are wanting to be involved in,” said Roth.

In Rock Island, you can find one outside of Deb Vanspeybroeck’s house.

“I don’t have any deep philosophical thought about it, I just thought I love books, I like being neighborly. It just seemed like a good combination,” said Vanspeybroeck.

She’s sharing her passion with her neighbors, because like life there’s no dead end when it comes to reading.
“I hope we still have books in our culture for a long long time,” said Vanspeybroeck.

Some Little Free Libraries are even popping up in Iowa, with a few in Eldridge.
http://www.littlefreelibrary.org/uploads/4/8/2/9/4829328/_2186311_orig.jpg

kuhio98

08-01-2013, 12:39 PM

Sweet Vanilla Spa Candle

This hand-poured, eco-friendly candle is the perfect gift for a hostess or homebody. The candles are made by women from inner-city Chicago who are a part of Bright Endeavors, a program that offers them the chance to get job training and mentoring.

Buy it now at globalgirlfriend.com, $10
http://images.meredith.com/lhj/images/2012/10/ss_44598.jpg

cassiesmom

08-01-2013, 02:57 PM

CHICAGO (CBS) – A Chicago man said Sears is lucky he’s honest; otherwise, the retailer could have exposed hundreds of its former employees to identity theft.

WBBM Newsradio’s Regine Schlesinger reports, on Saturday, Hersey Mallory went to a liquidation sale at the Sears store in Chatham — which has since closed — and bought three file cabinets.

As he was loading them, he noticed something different about one of the cabinets.

“I couldn’t imagine why it would be so heavy,” he said.

When he opened the file cabinet, he found sensitive employment records — including bank information — for hundreds of fired and retired Sears employees.

“It shows their birth certificate, it shows their Social Security number, it shows how much they were being paid,” Mallory said. “In this day of identity theft, I’ve got all of these people’s whole Social Security numbers, whole addresses.”

He claimed he got the run-around when he called Sears, so he tried the human resources department.

“That was even worse, because we got some chick on there who started talking to me about ‘Well, I’m going to have to do an investigation,’” Mallory said. “I said ‘What are you talking about, doing an investigation? Come over here and get this stuff.’”

After going to the media, Mallory said Sears promised to pick up the records, and promised him a $100 gift certificate to thank him for his honesty.

Mallory said he didn’t want a reward, he did it because it was the right thing to do.

“It could have been somebody that I cared about, somebody that I knew. It just wouldn’t have been right,” he said.

kuhio98

08-02-2013, 02:03 PM

FIREFIGHTER TIM DENEEN, 41
Digging deep for Jessy

Just that morning, last May 13, Tim Deneen's squad in the Wichita (Kans.) Fire Dept. had taken a special class on making rescues in confined spaces. Then at 7 p.m. the call came in: 17-month-old Jessy Kraus had tumbled into a well being dug in the backyard of his family's new home in nearby Mulvane. By the time Deneen and his technical rescue team arrived at 7:30, nearly two dozen rescue workers and neighbors were on the scene, and a local chemical company had set up a video camera to lower into the well—but that was not enough. "I saw that picture of his hand and this little head," Deneen, the father of two young girls and a firefighter since 1991, says of the video image. "I knew we had to get him."

Rescuers used a backhoe to dig a 20-ft.-deep pit next to the nearly 17-ft. well, then dug 7 ft. across to Jessy, who, by then exhausted, had fallen asleep. Deneen wedged himself into the 2-ft.-wide opening and grabbed the boy by the foot. "I asked him if he liked Barney," says Deneen. "And he said, 'No! No!' " Fifteen minutes later—five hours after the ordeal began—Deneen wrested the toddler from the pit, much to the relief of the boy's parents, Jerry Kraus, 30, and Karen, 28, who have another son, Cody, 8. (Karen was in the kitchen making dinner, and Jerry was with Jessy watering trees in the backyard when the toddler, walking toward him, tumbled into the well.) After a night in the hospital for observation, the little boy was released in the morning with just a minor bruise on his forehead and scratches on his elbow. "Thankfully it was one of those nights when everything worked like clockwork," says Deneen. "I could feel God all around."

kuhio98

08-03-2013, 02:50 PM

Kindergartner sells lemonade to raise money to buy friend a diabetes alert dog

LEAVENWORTH, Kan. - A kindergartner spent Friday afternoon selling lemonade to raise money for a friend with diabetes.

Five-year-old Aidan Kendall hopes the proceeds from his lemonade stand will allow his friend, Jayce Berryman, to get a diabetes alert dog.

"I'm selling lemonade and donations for Jayce's dog that barks whenever his blood sugar is high or low," Aidan explained.

His mom, Shannon Kendall, said it was all Aidan's idea.

"At first I thought 'it's too cold, we can't do a lemonade stand right now, it's 30 degrees,' but you don't want to stop your child when they're so anxious to give," she said.

Jayce, who is also 5 years old, has type 1 diabetes. His mother, Lindsey Berryman, said she was touched by Aidan's efforts to raise money so they can get an alert dog.

"It leaves me speechless to know that we have friends that we haven't known that long, and that Jayce's friend at that who's in kindergarten, has a big enough heart to want to do something like this to help somebody else out," Berryman said.

For more information on how you can help, go to jaycesdiabeticalertdog.webs.com

kuhio98

08-05-2013, 04:56 PM

Michele Gannon Pampers Cancer-Stricken Women At Her Ocean Retreat

Michele Gannon knows what it's like to be sick and unable to care for yourself, let alone your children.

In 2009, while recovering from an ongoing, debilitating illness, her doctor put her on bed rest for several weeks.

"My kids would say, 'Are you better now? Now? Now?' " says Gannon, 45, of Interlaken. N.J. "When I did surface, I just saw my whole world, my well-oiled machine, was broken down and that led to depression."

"I said to myself, 'I wonder what a woman does when she has a long-term illness like cancer?' " she says.

She quickly discovered there weren't many places available for women to escape and relax, so later that year she and a friend, Maria McKeon, founded Mary's Place by the Sea, a retreat in Ocean Grove, N.J. where women with cancer can get everything from oncological massages to nutrition counseling during their stay.

"It's life changing," says Gannon, "because you learn in your own way not to get worried about the small things that you used to worry about and just put things into perspective."

Linda Brinkmann, 59, agrees.

"I walked in and I got the greatest sense of comfort and love and compassion that you could ever imagine," says Brinkmann, of Westfield, N.J., who has peritoneal cancer.

"For someone that's dealing with cancer and is scared to death," she says, "and needs someone just to hold them and love them and give them faith and hope, these women are incredible."

Volunteers, many of them cancer survivors themselves, help staff the retreat, which is housed in a three-story, six-bedroom Victorian house that faces a lake and is one block west of the ocean.

Beth Hahn choked up when describing her experiences at the home.
http://img2.timeinc.net/people/i/2013/news/130812/Michele-Gannon-2-600.jpg

"There is so much love in that place," says Hahn, 40, who was in the midst of chemotherapy for inflammatory breast cancer when she went the first time in May 2012.

"You have to go to truly understand how full of love it is," says Hahn, of Shippensburg, Pa.

But Gannon says she's the lucky one.

"I always say that I get more than I give," she says. "Every woman who comes in has so much courage."

kuhio98

08-06-2013, 02:40 PM

St. Petersburg, Florida - It's a win win situation, enjoy a sweet cupcake and help a local charity. For "Sweet by the Cake Company" owner Daniel Delgado it's something he loves to do.

Every month Daniel picks a local charity and creates a custom cupcake. He then sells their sweet dessert and donates fifty percent of his profits to that charity.

This months charity is the Celma Mastry Ovarian Cancer Foundation, the foundation helps with the financial needs of those battling the disease.

www.sweetstpetersburg.com

Sweet by the Cake Company
1100 4th Street N, Sweet 101, St. Petersburg

kuhio98

08-08-2013, 03:36 PM

LOS ANGELES (CBSLA.com) — A pet lover is being hailed as a puppy savior after she helped rescue four small canines from a homeless man who put the dogs in a sealed Tupperware container.

Annie Hart’s friend Samantha Haas called her on July 18th to tell her she encountered a homeless man in West Hollywood who put the dogs in the container. Hart, in turn, convinced the friend to block a bus with the homeless man on it until she could get there.

“I knew these puppies were in grave danger,” said Haas. “They were tiny, they didn’t have their mother, they were in an unventilated plastic bin … so I knew their breathing was definitely compromised.”

After two attempts to get on the bus, Hart convinced the driver to let her on the bus to rescue the pups.

“I was most concerned that they had enough air,” Hart says.

In her car, she and her husband literally chased the bus down Santa Monica Boulevard.

The four puppies are due to be adopted in the coming weeks.

The dogs are named after the X-Men Raven, Elliott, Logan and Luke, the runt.

“They’re little super heroes,” Hart says, “These little pups, they survived this grand adventure.”

Hart is executive director of an animal charity called the Bill Foundation. The group started in May 2000 and have rescued and placed over 2200 dogs since. They also have a live cam on the puppies.

She told KCAL9′s Suraya Fadel the bus driver didn’t know what to make of her at first.

Then she had to convince the homeless guy to give up the puppies.

“I convinced him to get off the bus with me,” says Hart.

He wanted to keep one but ultimately she convinced him that Luke would be better off in a home.

Hart also told Fadel she wanted to give a shout out to WagAware.com.

Part of the money they make from dog tags and other merchandise goes to animal rescues like the Bill Foundation.

“We rescue from our heart,” says Hart.

cassiesmom

08-09-2013, 12:16 AM

source: Yahoo Shine
Having your credit card declined can be awkward and humiliating. But it's an even worse experience if you're at the airport, rushing to make your flight, and when it comes time to dole out the mandatory fee to check a bag, the airline counter employee lets you know that your card won't go through. Confused, you step out of line to check your balance. You just know your card isn't maxed out and should be able to cover the expense.

Redditor brbmycatexploded recently experienced this exact situation at Tampa International Airport.

"Having my card declined was extremely embarrassing, even though I didn't know a single soul in that airport," the Reddit user, who asked to be identified by just his first name, Andy, told Yahoo! Shine.

His story has a happy ending, though. When he returned to the counter, a Good Samaritan had generously paid his baggage fee and left a note:

"Hey, I heard them say your card was declined. I know how it feels. Your bag fee's on me. Just pay it forward the next time you get a chance. Have a safe flight. :)"

On Wednesday, Andy posted a photo of the note on Reddit and wrote, "If you're reading this, thanks for making my day."

The kind deed didn't just have a financial impact. "Seriously, reading their note gave me goosebumps and gave me faith that there are still good people out there," Andy shared with Shine.

kuhio98

08-11-2013, 10:02 AM

Couple Find Forever Love Thanks to Seeing-Eye Dogs

This ain't no puppy love – though it literally started out as such.

It seems Claire Johnson, 50, and Mark Gaffey, 52, were destined to be together. The two, both visually impaired, were brought together when their seeing-eye dogs, Rodd and Venice, fell in love during a 2012 training course in Shrewsbury, England.

No matter how hard people tried to keep them apart, the pups would manage to "snuggle together under a table and give each other dog kisses," Today.com reports.

Soon, their infectious puppy love spread to their owners, who decided to give romance a shot once training was over. And much to Rodd and Venice's glee, Johnson and Gaffey will be tying the knot next spring.

"It's going to be as much [the dogs'] day as it is ours," Gaffey tells Today.com. "They're central to the whole thing because, at the end of the day, they brought us together."

She's serious: Rodd and Venice will walk down the aisle wearing harnesses covered in flowers, and Johnson and Gaffey's wedding cake will be decked out with bones and paw prints.

Here's wishing all four of them a happy life that's never too ruff!
http://img2-3.timeinc.net/people/i/2013/pets/news/130819/blind-love-600.jpg

kuhio98

08-13-2013, 05:19 PM

Something a little different ~ a sweet story in MP3 format. Please let me know if you can't access it and I'll see if I can find a different way to link it.

http://www.airsla.org/broadcasts/GoodHousekeeping110915.mp3

kuhio98

08-14-2013, 09:15 AM

COLLEGE STUDENT BARRETT BABER, 19
At a crash site inferno, his cool action saves lives

On the night of June 1, Barrett Baber, a sophomore at Ouachita Baptist University in Arkansas, had settled back in his seat on American Airlines Flight 1420, eagerly awaiting his arrival home in Little Rock after a two-week tour of Germany performing with 24 other members of his college choir. But as the plane approached the runway, it was jolted by winds from a violent thunderstorm. "I was sitting there, buckled up, and we were shaking," says Baber. "I thought, 'Here we go. We're coming down.' "

The plane, carrying 139 passengers and six crew members, touched down hard, then went into a gut-wrenching skid. "They turned those back-thrusters on full blast, but we kept going forward," he says. "Then the lights flashed off and on, and the stewardess screamed, 'Brace yourself!' " The plane careered toward the end of the runway and, just short of the Arkansas River, crashed into a metal support for approach beacons and split apart. "I looked out, and I could see flames outside the airplane," says Baber.

Escape wouldn't be easy. As fire began engulfing the plane, panicked passengers tugged at a jammed exit door. "I grabbed the door and pulled on it as hard as I could," says Baber. "It wasn't budging." But through the thickening smoke, he spied an 18-inch break in the fuselage. "I picked a stewardess up and pushed her through the hole," says Baber, who quickly did the same for three others. "Then it got really smoky," he says. "I couldn't breathe or see, and I got really scared." In spite of that and despite cuts on his legs and torso, Barrett squeezed his 6'4", 225-lb. frame headfirst through the crack and found himself outside the plane knee-deep in water near the river's edge. "I thought for a while I was the only survivor because I couldn't see anybody. All I could see, taste or breathe was black smoke," he says. "It was freezing cold and hailing something terrible."

After helping two more survivors out of the same hole in the fuselage, Baber joined three fellow passengers, including the flight attendant, in the cold water. "I got to the stewardess and started sobbing, just crying uncontrollably," he says. "She said, 'Come on, Barrett. Stay with me.' " He shook off his terror and helped guide others away from the fiery wreck.

In the end the crash of American Airlines Flight 1420 killed 11, injured 80 and changed Barrett Baber's life forever. "You hear it all the time, people saying that every day is a gift. But it really is, you know," he says. "I drive the speed limit. I spend more time with people. And relationships mean a lot more to me now." As they no doubt do to those whose lives he helped save. Says Luke Hollingsworth, Baber's friend and fellow passenger: "The Bible says to sacrifice your life for a friend is the greatest gift. But to do it for a stranger takes it a step farther. And that's what Barrett did."

lizbud

08-14-2013, 05:14 PM

Seeing humans rescuing animals (all kinds) in distress makes me think better of the human race.:)
p.s. Love seeing the baby elephant.

http://now.msn.com/animal-rescue-compilation-video-goes-viral

kuhio98

08-15-2013, 09:18 AM

TECHNICIAN WILLIE GANTT, 42
Carrying precious cargo from a raging house fire

Working on his tax returns in the wee hours of Feb. 28, Willie Gantt was startled by an urgent banging at the door of his Wichita, Kans., home. It was a breathless Sharanda Beard, 12, clutching a baby and shaking with fear as she blurted out that the house next door, where she was babysitting seven younger cousins and siblings, was on fire. Gantt, 42, barefoot and in boxer shorts, dashed out the door and "leaped over the fence," says his wife, Vera, 32. "He looked like a lion." Opening the door to the neighbor's house, "the fire knocked me to my knees," says Gantt, the father of three. Racing to the side of the house and crawling through the basement window that Sharanda had broken to escape, Gantt found the children and carried them to safety one by one. The fire, started by clothes near a space heater, gutted the house. "A few more minutes," says fire investigator Don Birmingham, "we'd be talking about eight fatalities."

kuhio98

08-16-2013, 09:14 AM

Jonathan Kitto Has Rescued 1,100 Greyhounds Over the Past 13 years

http://img2.timeinc.net/people/i/2013/news/130826/jonathan-kitto-600.jpg

Back in 1999, Jonathan Kitto and his partner, Alonso Saldivar, were running a commercial cleaning company and were growing weary of the grind.

"I came home one day and said, 'I need a dog,' " says Kitto, 58, who is also an Anglican priest.

The next day they went to a local pet supply store, which was having a greyhound meet and greet.

"Alonso was a little scared of dogs," he says. "But a few minutes later I looked over and a big greyhound was sitting in his lap."

Her name was Gigi. They adopted her and took her home.

"She was a wreck," he says. "She was scared of everything."

They called the rescue group for advice about Gigi's behavior.

"They said, 'You need to get another one,' " he recalls.

Mister Buck, who was up on the table about to be put down, soon joined their family. Three more dogs followed. Inspired, Kitto formed Gbark http://www.greyhoundbark.org/ , rescuing 1,100 retired greyhounds who were bred to be racers, some of whom were abused or neglected.

"We have some very unusual cases," says Kitto, who now lives in Bloomfield, Ind. "From one dog that was kept locked in a closet for two years to another who has a joint disease that leaves him barely able to walk."

But he always found them homes.

"I have never met anyone like him," says Kathy Murray, 47, who adopted Moose through his rescue. "Everything he does is for the dogs. He has a huge heart."

Kitto eventually shifted the focus of the rescue to being a "last stop" for unadoptable dogs. He's kept 60 greyhounds and mixed breed rescues who were about to be put down over the years.

"Some were elderly or sick or had a leg amputated," he says. "In some cases they'd bitten somebody. When we get them, that's their last stop. They stay with us forever."

To keep costs down, Kitto began making his own dog food, which led to him starting Mr. Buck's Genuinely Good Pet Food Company, http://www.mrbuckspetfood.com/ named in honor of his now deceased dog pal, Mr. Buck. Proceeds from the sale of the food go to support Kitto's rescue efforts and other rescue organizations.

Nicole Graves, foster coordinator for American Greyhound in Hobart, Ind., http://www.americangreyhound.org/ met Kitto a year ago and has since sent three unadoptable greyhounds his way.

"Gbark is a great home for dogs that need a special home," she says. "Jon has just dedicated his life to caring for these dogs. I would be lost without him."

But Kitto says he is the lucky one.

"It's a huge selfish pursuit," he says. "I'm sure some people don't quite get that but these dogs, starting with the first ones, were life changing."

phesina

08-16-2013, 01:46 PM

God bless Mr. Kitto and his partner and all the dogs they have saved.

:love::love::love::love::love::love::love::love:

cassiesmom

08-16-2013, 02:56 PM

God bless Mr. Kitto and his partner and all the dogs they have saved.

:love::love::love::love::love::love::love::love:

What a great story!

kuhio98

08-18-2013, 07:46 PM

Good Samaritan returns $4K in cash left in Walmart parking lot
'It's OK to do something right,' he said

ANTELOPE, Calif. (KCRA) —What would you do if you found thousands of dollars in cash at a Walmart parking lot?

It happened to Paul Williams. He was leaving work last Thursday at a Walmart in Antelope when he stumbled upon a wallet in a shopping cart. Inside the wallet was $4,000 in cash, a $1,000 check and multiple credit cards.

"I was surprised to see that much money and no ID, no phone number. But there was a check in there with a phone number, so at least I had something to go on," Williams told KCRA 3.

He looked for a manager, but couldn’t find one, and had to catch the bus home.

His wife, Debra, was shocked when he told her about what he found.

"All I could say was, 'Wow!' And then I told him, 'Baby, you know we got to do the right thing,'" she said.

He agreed.

"Nowadays, people are losing their homes, not being able to pay. I wouldn’t want to be responsible for someone trying to pay a mortgage and had to miss it," Williams said.

The money belonged to Lynn Andries, who said it was to pay off her second mortgage. She had been planning to go to the bank while running other errands, and was in a rush while shopping at Walmart.

"I was just sick. I thought there was no point to even go back to the store. Lori, my sister said, 'You have to,'" Andries said.

She came back about an hour later, but couldn’t find the wallet. While she was in the parking lot, however, two Walmart employees told her a call came into the store regarding the wallet.

It was Williams on the other end of the line. He verified that it was indeed the person whose name was on the check. Andries arranged to meet with Williams and his wife.

"I looked at her right in the eyes and I asked, 'Is the money still there?' She said, 'Every single penny.' I just started crying and hugging them," Andries said. "It was absolutely awesome."

Andries said it gives her faith in humanity, in kindness from strangers like Williams.

Williams said he couldn’t live with himself if he didn’t return the money to its rightful owner.

"This is just to show people that there are some good people in the world that do the right thing. And it’s OK to do something right," he said.

kuhio98

08-20-2013, 05:26 PM

How Troubled Teen Found a 'Forever Family' After 29 Foster Homes

There are cases of hellish abuse – and then there was Jed.

Born to severely mentally ill parents, he was found in rural Robeson County, N.C., at age 3, emaciated and chained to a bed, eating from a dog bowl on the floor. Child protective services tried to place him in foster homes – some good and others troubled – but the traumatized youngster stole, attacked his foster parents and ran away.

"One time Jed came to my office, crying and said, 'Won't I ever have a family? Won't anybody ever love me?' " says Denise Little, a social worker, who worked with Jed for years.

By the time he was 13, Jed had cycled through 29 families, including four who had initially wanted to adopt him. After his 14th birthday, therapists at the Alexander Youth Network (AYN), the Charlotte, N.C., treatment center where Jed had stayed on and off since he was 8, reluctantly concluded there was no more they could do for him and he was transferred to a mental institution.

When AYN volunteers Billy Maddalon, 46, a businessman who had himself spent two years at the facility during his own troubled youth, and his partner, Brooks Shelley, 46, heard Jed was being sent away, they knew they had to try to help him.

"It just felt like somebody had to save him," says Maddalon. "I said, 'We're the right people.' Even if 29 families thought the same thing, we're naive and optimistic. We believe in happy endings."

In October of 2008, after they were certified as foster parents, Jed came to live with Maddalon and Shelley.

"That first night we made spaghetti," Maddalon recalls. "He sat underneath the table and ate with his fingers. He didn't know how to bathe, couldn't write his name."

Despite finally living in a stable home, Jed often ran away.

"I was nervous. I didn't trust anyone," he says. "I didn’t think anyone would ever want me. Everybody had been saying I was a lost cause and I believed it."

But his parents didn't give up, formally adopting him two years after he came to live with them.

"One time he jumped on a train," says Shelley, "and we tracked him on the computer using the GPS on his phone. But when he ran away he would call around dinnertime and ask to come home."

Today, a high school junior at 19, Jed hopes to attend North Carolina State, Maddalon's alma mater.

"No matter how much I acted up, they said I wasn’t going anywhere," says Jed. "They gave me my first birthday party. It’s pretty straightforward. They care about me. I’m not going anywhere. This is my forever home."

kuhio98

08-21-2013, 10:59 AM

Chicago – USA

A teenage girl is safe at home thanks to the help of a stranger who didn’t hesitate to act when he saw the girl in trouble.

A 49-year-old North Center man was sitting on his front porch late Monday night when he says he saw a man pushing a beat-up Dodge van down the street with a young girl steering the wheel.

The man went over to help push the van. Once they steered it to a parking spot the Good Samaritan turned to go back home. That’s when he says the young girl jumped out of the van and ran to him, begging for help. She told him the man in the van had tried to rape her.

The Good Samaritan rushed her into his home before her alleged attacker even knew she was gone.

The man is now being called a hero. He didn’t want to be identified but he says he gives all the credit to the teenage girl.

23-year-old Richard Velasco left to go get gasoline for his van and when he returned a short time later, police were there to arrest him. He is being held on $300,000 bail charged with aggravated criminal sexual abuse and attempted criminal sexual assault.

The girl apparently told the man who helped her that she knew Velasco because he was a friend of her family. She said she thought she would be safe with him. The Good Samaritan had a chance to meet the girl’s mother at the police station.

He said she thanked him and said she was very grateful that he rescued her daughter.

kuhio98

08-22-2013, 09:13 AM

POLICEMAN ERICH KESSINGER, 29
The right call saves a life

It was supposed to be a birthday celebration—a night of barhopping just after the stroke of midnight Aug. 24, when Kristine Lurowist would officially turn 21. In honor of the occasion, the Penn State University senior consumed 21 shots of booze—one for each year. Fortunately, by the time Lurowist staggered out of her last State College saloon that night, officer Erich Kessinger was on routine duty nearby. "I watched her go from stumbling and staggering to being held up by a guy on each arm to the point where her legs started to drag," says Kessinger. When he approached to help, Lurowist's companions put up a stink. "They said, 'She's 21. We're legal. Get out of here, cop,' " he recalls. Over her friends' initial protests, he called an ambulance. By the time it arrived she was unconscious. When he learned later that night that her blood-alcohol level was an astonishing. 682—more than six times the legal limit for driving—"I never envisioned that she was going to pull through," he says. In fact, she survived only because she was placed on emergency dialysis. In a letter to the local Centre Daily Times, Lurowist thanked Kessinger and wrote, "I am doing fine and am eager to make up the class work missed and pursue my studies." More gratifying were her personal thanks; when Kessinger visited Lurowist the next day in the hospital, she greeted him as the man who saved her life. "It's not like I took a bullet," says Kessinger. "But for someone to say that, well, that makes a career."

kuhio98

08-23-2013, 09:10 AM

Man reunites with truck driver who saved his life (Indiana USA)

It was a night like any other along Interstate 65, as truck driver Adam Phillips followed the same route he takes every day. Instead, though, Phillips found himself face-to-face with a terrible car accident and a driver who needed help.

“Right about the time I got around the front of my truck, I could hear him screaming,” Phillips said.

Anthony Ingle’s car had hit a slick spot, spun off the road and slammed into a bridge. Ingle was trapped inside, pinned to the dashboard, as his car caught fire.
“I just kept thinking, ‘I’ve gotta get this kid out of here before it kills him,’” Phillips said.

It took Phillips and several other truck drivers, armed with fire extinguishers and a pry bar, to get Ingle out before the car went completely up in flames.
“I jumped up, grabbed him by the arm and yanked him out of the car,” Phillips said.

Phillips also gave Ingle his jacket, covering him with it as emergency crews arrived. He got back in his truck and drove away, leaving the jacket behind.
A week later, Fox59 spoke to Ingle in his hospital bed. He was hoping to find the owner of the jacket to thank him for his life-saving efforts.
The two got a chance to meet Monday, with Ingle handing over the jacket and thanking Phillips in person.
“I wouldn’t be here right now (without him),” Ingle said.

Phillips hopes other drivers will think about putting an emergency kit and fire extinguisher in their own car, so that if you happen upon an accident you have the tools to help, too. He doesn’t consider himself a hero, just someone who stepped up when it was needed.
“He alive, that’s all I care about,” Phillips said.

Ingle is out of the hospital and in rehabilitation. He’s hoping to get back to work soon.

kuhio98

08-24-2013, 10:08 AM

Owner Invents Suit to Keep Her Blind Dog from Running Into Things
https://i.chzbgr.com/maxW500/7733118976/hC677D3A6/

kuhio98

08-25-2013, 09:22 AM

How a Dog's Blood Saved a Poisoned Cat

There's no furry rivalry here. When New Zealand resident Kim Edwards realized her cat Rory had ingested rat poison last week, she turned to a risky paws-ibility to save her pet's life: dog blood.

After bringing Rory to her local veterinary clinic, Edwards was informed the cat needed an immediate blood transfusion to save its life. With not enough time to send a blood sample to the lab to determine Rory's blood type, Edwards called upon her friend Michelle Whitmore for help.

The vet retrieved blood from Whitmore's black Labrador retriever, Macy. The risk at hand: Giving Rory the wrong blood type would lead to instant death.

"People are going to think it sounds pretty dodgy – and it is – but hey, we've been successful and it's saved its life," tending vet Kate Heller tells The New Zealand Herald.

Following the procedure, Rory appears to have bounced back with no further damage and has yet to show any side effects.

"Rory is back to normal," Edwards confirmed, adding jokingly, "and we don't have a cat that barks or fetches the paper."
http://img2-2.timeinc.net/people/i/2013/pets/news/130902/dog-cat-transfusion-300.gif

kuhio98

08-26-2013, 04:12 PM

http://24.media.tumblr.com/50043c060b988bdf936d7bc9d4dabfff/tumblr_mrxwe51Vig1roqv59o1_500.png

kuhio98

08-27-2013, 11:17 AM

ELEMENTARY SCHOOL STUDENT AUSTIN PAYNE, 8
With his principal in trouble, he applies a big squeeze

Bantering in the cafeteria last month with students at Northridge Elementary School in Oklahoma City, principal Ron Christy noticed a child wasn't eating his Tater Tots. So he asked for one. Then another. Christy's chatting and chewing prompted a pupil to wonder aloud if his mother hadn't told him not to talk with his mouth full. Too late. By now, Christy, 50, was in distress, a Tater Tot stuck in his throat. "I looked around for another adult," says Christy, whose face was turning blue, "and saw only a roomful of children."

With the other students oblivious, Austin Payne sprang into action. Rushing behind Christy, he wrapped his arms around the principal and gave a sudden squeeze, performing the Heimlich maneuver his father, Charley, 30, had taught him last year. Out popped the Tater Tot. A whirlwind of attention has since come the third-grader's way, including a visit to Late Show with David Letter-man. But the straight-A student and budding right fielder is most impressed by the Thank You pin Christy gave him. "He told me he thought he was going to die," says Austin, "and that he was real proud of me."

kuhio98

08-28-2013, 11:35 AM

Darla and Jeff Garrison Give Formerly Conjoined Twins and Their Sister a New Life

Racing through the store, picking out new outfits with the money each received as a gift, the three 10-year-old girls still attract attention, just like any set of triplets. No one would ever expect that two of them were once physically attached to one another.

"When they encounter something they can't do," says their mom Darla Garrison, "they don’t dwell on it too long."

Indeed, Macey and Mackenzie – formerly conjoined twins who each have one leg – rely on prosthetics, but in every other way keep pace with their triplet sister Madeline.

Born attached at the pelvis with a shared third leg and entwined intestines, Macey and Mackenzie faced hurdles that would have challenged any family. Yet they carried an extra burden: Their birth parents, who had not seen a doctor during the pregnancy, had drug problems and were unable to care for them.

Happy Home
Enter Darla and Jeff Garrison. Over the years Darla, 42, a homemaker, and Jeff, 52, a construction worker, had welcomed several neglected or medically fragile foster children into their home, only to see each one move on. But they'd always wanted girls to expand their biological family of three healthy boys – Tyler, 20; Matt, 17; and Luke, 16.

Two years after doctors at Children's Hospital Los Angeles separated Macey and Mackenzie in 2003, the Garrisons adopted all three girls and moved from California to a farm in Indianola, Iowa. Their goal, as they told PEOPLE for a 2010 profile, was to create the kind of country childhood Darla and Jeff themselves had known and treasured.

Since then, Macey and Mackenzie have thrived, says Linda Kontis, cofounder of the foster-care agency that placed them.

"When you raise children who are handicapped in any way, when they're surrounded by people who treat them like regular kids, that becomes how they see themselves," Kontis says. "It wasn't just Darla and Jeff, they took in these girls as a family unit. And that's why they’re fabulous kids today."

A Bright Future
Macey and Mackenzie – who each weighed 2.2 pounds at birth – have overcome learning delays to be almost equal with their peers when they enter fifth grade in the fall.

"The girls have succeeded through hard work and the commitment by their family. Their progression is wonderful and inspiring," says Children's Hospital Los Angeles Pediatric Surgeon James Stein, who performed the multi-staged separation in 2003.

Macey, the quieter and more girly of the two, enjoys playing inside and coloring, says Darla. The outdoorsy Mackenzie helped a 12-year-old neighbor train for track last spring by running up and down the Garrisons' driveway.

And along with Madeline, all three girls have embraced household chores, including washing dishes, putting away laundry, feeding the cats and dogs to help out their mom, who was inspired by her experience with the girls to begin studying last year for a degree in physical therapy.

"I see them actually maturing," says Darla. "Now that I'm in school, I'm not as available, and they've really stepped up. They're pretty proud of that. They do a lot for 10-year-olds, really."

But 10-year-old girls they still are. "We used to have Bieber fever, but we've outgrown it," says their mom. "We're loving on Hunter Hayes these days. And also One Direction."

Macey and Mackenzie's rapid growth required them to swap out new prostheses three times this past school year.

"We're not to the point yet where they can just go out and about with their prosthetic legs," says Darla. "It's a balance issue. You have to train and train, and that's what we're doing with them at school."

Crutches are a constant, as are the ostomy bags that each of the girls must wear and change frequently – the primary excuse for their occasional down moments.

"Ostomies do upset your daily life," says Darla. "That's a lot of responsibility for a kid to make sure everything’s intact and they're not going to run into some trouble when they're out somewhere. The positive is that modern medicine has allowed them to be alive."

Finding Normal
Darla says that her daughters do everything they can to participate in activities like other kids their age.

"Mackenzie wanted to buy Rollerblades or a skateboard," says Darla. "I couldn't let her do it. She was bummed for a little while, but she got over it and found some other interest, and to me that is amazing. We talked about a bike. I'm not sure we sold her on the bike yet."

Macey speaks up for her sister: "Are you out of your mind?" she says to Darla. "How are we going to ride bikes?"

"It's possible," Darla says. "We're going to make it happen."

http://img2.timeinc.net/people/i/2013/news/130603/mackenzie-300.jpg

kuhio98

08-29-2013, 11:18 AM

http://24.media.tumblr.com/07d9e97751ab4be16f2a9387358a8bce/tumblr_mrtevy1kaX1roqv59o1_500.png

kuhio98

08-30-2013, 12:08 PM

Little Rachel wants 900 pairs of shoes for her birthday...but not for herself

ATHENS, TX (KLTV) - Little Rachel Beets loves shoes, so it is not surprising that she wants shoes for her eighth birthday.

However, she is not asking for one or two pairs of shoes, she is asking for 900...and she wants to give them all away.

"Because other people can have some shoes too," 7-year-old Rachel said.

She is calling the project "Rachel's Happy Feet," something her mom was a little hesitant about taking on in the beginning.

However, Rachel was persistent and eventually mom started making phone calls.

"34 pair were donated, and she came in from school and just her face lit up like a Christmas tree. I should have jumped on it a little sooner," said Rachel's mom, Amanda Beets.

Rachel's birthday is January 31, and that is when all the shoes they collect will be donated to the Athens' Rainbow Room.

"When a child is removed from a home, usually they have nothing except for the clothes on their back. We work with Child Protective Services case workers so when they remove a child, they are able to bring them to the Rainbow Room and get new clothes or personal hygiene items," explained Rainbow Room board member and former president, Ann Hall.

The Rainbow Room is a non-profit organization that serves children from infants to 18-years-old.

On Wednesday, Rachel's family received a monetary donation to purchase shoes for their cause, bringing their donation count to 78 pairs of shoes.

Amanda knows this project is a constant reminder for her family of how blessed they truly are.

"I want my kids to know that greed is not an option at all in life. It's always better to give to people and have that willing, giving spirit, and that's what we are trying to teach them," she said.

The Beets family and the Rainbow Room hope others will be inspired by this 7-year-old's generosity, and together collect all 900 pairs of shoes.

kuhio98

08-31-2013, 11:21 AM

Two Kittens Rescued from Brooklyn Subway After Stopping Service
http://img2-3.timeinc.net/people/i/2013/pets/news/130909/subway-kitten-600.jpg

It only took two kittens to stop New York's subway in its tracks.

Power was cut to the B and Q lines in Brooklyn for more than an hour after a woman reported Thursday morning that her kittens were loose in the nation's largest subway system, transit officials said.

The furry felines, one black and the other white with gray stripes, were finally found on the tracks and rescued nearly seven hours later.

How they made their way to the tracks was a mystery. But they were seen running dangerously close to the subway's high-voltage third rail.

Power was suspended between several stops – about half the Q line and the B line's entire length in Brooklyn – on both the local and express tracks for 90 minutes, Metropolitan Transportation Authority spokeswoman Judie Glave said. The express line was later stopped another half-hour while workers kept searching.

But the skittish kittens disappeared again (and again) before being discovered Thursday evening under the third rail of an above-ground express track. Police officers removed the kittens in crates, Glave said.

Officials said workers and passengers in Brooklyn's Flatbush neighborhood had been on the lookout for the kittens, and train operators were asked to proceed with caution. If they saw anything moving on the tracks, they were required to stop and notify the rail control center.

Though some passengers wanted to help by scouring the tracks, they were turned down by MTA workers citing safety concerns. The cats' owner did rush to a subway station with cat food, though, giving it to the transit workers who were dispatched to try and corral the elusive furballs.

While the effort on behalf of the kittens created delays for passengers, the Q operated a shuttle service between two of its normal Brooklyn stops, said transit officials, who couldn't immediately provide the cost of the extra service and rescue operation.

phesina

08-31-2013, 11:50 AM

How wonderful that they did that and they found the kittens!

God bless!

:love::love::love::love::love::love::love::love:

kuhio98

09-01-2013, 01:54 PM

http://24.media.tumblr.com/21b81b22e9d47a33da5551e441cd9b8a/tumblr_mrjzs56EA41roqv59o1_500.png

momcat

09-01-2013, 02:08 PM

On Friday morning around 11:00, two 8 week old kittens were seen running along the tracks in a Brooklyn subway station. Power was shut off and the station was closed while a police officer & a few transit workers grabbed a carrier and tried to catch them. No luck so the station reopened 2 hours later with a notice to all subway operators to go through the station slowly and watch for the kittens. The station was closed again later that afternoon. A few police officers and transit workers went to try another rescue. They saw the kittens run under a track so a transit worker, still wearing work gloves, reached under and got both kittens. Arthur and August were taken to a shelter where they're being cared for and checked over. They'll be transferred to another shelter for further care and socialization.

A very special THANK YOU to the police and the transit workers for caring enough to help these babies!

phesina

09-01-2013, 03:36 PM

THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU, and GOD BLESS to all those people involved in saving those kittens.

:love::love::love::love::love::love::love::love:

kuhio98

09-02-2013, 12:47 PM

COURIER WILSON DAVIS, 27
Refusing to walk away

Walking along a side street near St. Nicholas Avenue in Harlem on March 30 to visit his mother, Wilson Davis saw the shadowy figure of a man towering over a little girl. Ignoring her screams, the man had pulled her pants down and was straddling her. Another passerby just kept on walking. Not Davis. "I couldn't just walk by," he says. "That girl could have been killed."

Containing his anger ("I really wanted to hit the guy"), the amateur heavyweight boxer pinned the man, then yelled to a woman looking down from an apartment, "Call the cops!" The relieved 12-year-old hugged Davis, repeating "Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!" Even the arresting officers embraced him.

A Virginia native whose family moved to The Bronx when he was 7, the imposing 6'4", 230-lb. courier spends most of his evenings at the gym, training for hours in hopes of winning a professional championship belt. As for his personal triumph last spring, Davis modestly shrugs and shakes his head. "I have a sister, I have a mom who lives in that area," he says. "It could have been one of them. Even so, I would have done it for anybody."

Karen

09-02-2013, 05:34 PM

kuhio98

09-03-2013, 11:57 AM

http://31.media.tumblr.com/cc8bbb9cd9940d3a3716087deaaeeed9/tumblr_mpmgejm3ko1roqv59o1_500.png

kuhio98

09-04-2013, 01:23 PM

CABBIE WILLIAM SPIVEY, 50
Defending the road

Leaving Helen, Ga., on the night of Feb. 27, cabbie William "Bubba" Spivey drove over a hill and found himself face to face with an oncoming car on the wrong side of Interstate 20. Knowing a drunk driver had recently killed a father and his two children on that same stretch of road, Spivey decided on the spot to stop the oncoming car with his own. "If I stop dead still, I could block it," he said to himself, "and I believe I could survive the impact."

As others sped by, Spivey forced the other car off the road, then shouted to the driver, "Lady, you're on the wrong side of the interstate!" "No, I'm not," insisted Martha Bracken, 55, who tried to drive around him. But steering his car into hers, Spivey pushed her off the highway and jumped out to grab her keys.

Weeks later, Bracken pleaded guilty to driving under the influence and driving on the wrong side of the road. "I'm glad he stopped me," says the Crawfordville, Ga., resident. Spivey, a divorced father of two from Langley, S.C., felt he had no choice. "If I didn't try to stop her," he says, "and she killed somebody, I might as well have been driving that car."

Karen

09-04-2013, 01:31 PM

Good gracious, what a risk he took! But being a cabbies, he was likely even more acquainted with the horrors on the road every day!

kuhio98

09-05-2013, 02:11 PM

Police officer saves boy’s life 20 years ago, man is now an officer himself

MALDEN, MO (KFVS) - Jacob Redden doesn't remember the day he almost died, but Sergeant Scott Wilson said it's one day he will never forget.

"When I got there, there was this mother and father and they had a small child and he was real blue and wasn't breathing," Wilson said, "He didn't have a heartbeat."

Redden said he owes Wilson his life.

"Luckily Sergeant Wilson showed up and did CPR and saved my life," Redden said.

His parents had been taking him to the hospital after a seizure when little Jacob stopped breathing.

"You could tell that it wasn't going to be long and he wasn't going to recover from it," Wilson said.

However, when the two-year-old started crying, Wilson said the feeling of relief was indescribable. He said he didn't want Redden's parents to experience something he has dealt with himself…the loss of a child.

"Trying to hold back the tears. I had lost my own son a few years before that, 8 or 9 years before that. [He was] about the same age. And it was really scary," Wilson said.

Twenty years later, Redden said he's doing what he loves as an officer for the Campbell Police Department.

"After he saved my life I always figured if I can save another person's life then I've completed my goal," Redden said. "The only thing that pops in my mind when I think about that day is lucky that he was there, that he arrived so fast."

Wilson has watched Redden become a man and said he's proud of the career he's chosen. He made that clear when he spoke at Redden's graduation from the police academy.

"I actually told the story of Jacob and I then at the end I got to give him his diploma," Wilson said.

Redden and Wilson have kept in touch all these years and don't plan to stop any time soon.
http://kfvs12.images.worldnow.com/images/2783694_G.jpg

"Luckily Sergeant Wilson showed up and did CPR and saved my life,” Redden said.

cassiesmom

09-06-2013, 04:27 PM

(Reuters)
The Dallas Zoo will raise a pair of cheetah cubs with a Labrador retriever puppy, believing the dog will be a calming influence on the big cats as they grow to adulthood.

The 8-week-old male cheetahs Winspear and Kamau have arrived in Dallas, the zoo said, after a team of experts spent two weeks with them at their birthplace, the Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute in Front Royal, Va.

They will be raised alongside an 8-week-old black Labrador retriever puppy named Amani, the zoo said in a statement on Thursday.

"Zoological experts have found that because dogs are naturally comfortable in public settings, Amani will provide a calming influence for the cubs, as well as another playmate as they grow to adulthood," the statement said.

Cheetahs are endangered with an estimated 10,000 in existence, the zoo said. In the wild, adult cheetahs are the world's fastest land animals reaching speeds of 60 miles per hour (97 kmph), according to National Geographic.

Now weighing about 8 and 6 pounds (3.6 kg and 2.7 kg), the cheetahs are expected to grow to about 3 feet (1 meter) tall at the shoulder and weigh up to 140 pounds (63 kg), the zoo said.

kuhio98

09-07-2013, 12:19 PM

CMN Miracle Kid saves family from sinking boat
http://kcbd.images.worldnow.com/images/23331078_BG1.jpg

CMN = Children’s Miracle Network http://childrensmiraclenetworkhospitals.org/

LUBBOCK, TX (KCBD) - A Sudan, Texas girl is being called a hero after rescuing a family on Buffalo Springs Lake over the weekend.

It's a scary story with a happy ending and the hero of the story is a familiar face on KCBD.

Natalee Olivarez says she was out on the lake with her family on Saturday evening when she noticed a nearby boat was overtaken by waves, causing the occupants to jump out in the middle of the deep lake.

"The first thing I saw was a man holding a baby and the baby was going under," said Olivarez, 16.

Natalee Olivarez is a 2013 CMN Miracle Kid and she proved to be a miracle child in more ways than one this year.

"When I realized they needed help, my reaction was to jump in the water and get to the first person that I could," Olivarez said.

Olivarez says that was the little baby. However, her job was far from over.

"I saw a woman holding a two-year-old and I helped get the two-year-old on our boat. Then I pulled a little boy about five away from getting squished between our two boats and treaded water until I could find the time to put him on our boat. Then I helped another little girl about 11," she said.

Natalee has been fighting a chronic pain disease for the past three years. But through treatments, she says the pain stopped a few months ago. And she believes she was there for a purpose.

"I believe that God put me in the right place at the right time and gave me the strength and courage to jump in the water to help pull the people out."

Olivarez is a 2013 CMN Miracle Kid. You can see her story here. http://www.kcbd.com/story/22544038/cmn-miracle-kid-natalee-olivarez

kuhio98

09-08-2013, 03:05 PM

Cheryl and Keith Wyse Adopted Four Girls With Brittle Bone Disease

http://img2.timeinc.net/people/i/2013/news/130916/cheryl-wyse.jpg

Cheryl Wyse already had two great teenage sons, but the yearning for a girl never left her. So, in the mid-1990s, she and husband Keith looked into adopting from China.

They never imagined their quest for a daughter would lead them to a new life as parents of four girls whose bones are so weak a mere cough or sneeze can break a rib.

"When I met them," says Cheryl, 53, of her two oldest, "they looked so fragile. They captured my heart. I just wanted to mother them."

But make no mistake. While the Wyse girls of Archbold, Ohio, have Osteogenesis imperfecta, or brittle bone disease, they share an indestructible spirit.

From Rachelle, 15, who has endured more than 75 bone breaks while maintaining a straight-A average (along with twin Rebekah), to 7-year-old Lydia and 4-year-old Esther, both abandoned as babies, the four overcome daunting obstacles in the most matter-of-fact manner.

kuhio98

09-09-2013, 12:57 PM

Family speaks out after mystery diner's good deed, encouraging note

CHINA GROVE, NC - A family in Rowan County got an unexpected, and inspiring, note when they were out to dinner on Friday. A photo of the note is going viral.
http://wbtv.images.worldnow.com/images/23317889_BG1.jpg

Ashley England went to dinner at the Stag-N-Doe pizza restaurant in China Grove with her family on Friday evening, including her 8-year-old son, Riley. The family was sitting at the table when Riley, who has special needs, began to get "a little rowdy."

"He threw the phone and started screaming," she recalled. "The past few weeks have been very hard and trying for us - especially with public outings. Riley was getting loud and hitting the table and I know it was aggravating to some people."

Just when England was ready to leave, a waitress appeared.

"I'll try to do this without crying," the waitress told the family. "But another customer has paid for your bill tonight and wanted me to give you this note."

The note read: "God only gives special children to special people.”

Riley is non-verbal and has been through three major brain surgeries for a severe form of epilepsy. The seizures started when he was 18-months-old, robbing him of his speech. His mom says he had more than 100 seizures a day.

Riley's frustration with being unable to speak, often leads to outbursts England says causes many to cruelly judge her son.

"Until a person has walked in the shoes we have walked in," she said. "They have no right to say one thing."

What they should focus on instead? Remembering the one thing she longs to hear from Riley.

"They take just a simple 'I love you' from your child for granted," she said.

"Because you have never heard that from your son?" asked WBTV's Brigida Mack.

"Never," England replied, getting choked up. "Never."

England says the kindness of the mystery diner made her cry.

"To have someone do that small act towards us shows that some people absolutely understand what we are going through and how hard it is to face the public sometimes," she said. "They made me cry, blessed me more than they know - I felt like out of all the rude negative comments that we are faced with - these outweighs them. The people who care!"

She says she wants to say thank you to the person that paid for their meal and sent the encouraging words.

"Little did he know what struggles we had been facing lately and this was surely needed at that moment," she said. "Thank you!"
http://wbtv.images.worldnow.com/images/23317889_BG2.jpg

kuhio98

09-10-2013, 05:45 PM

Roseville Girls Look to Help Santa Cruz Teen Pay for a Heart Transplant

If all goes as planned, a green bracelet will help save the life of 18-year-old Gavin Jack.

“It kills me to know that he’s going through this right now,” said Kyli Oleson.

Oleson wants to help Jack get a heart transplant.

“It’s not fair that it costs $75,000 to save a kid’s life,” said Oleson.

Oleson lives in Roseville and Jack 160 miles away in Santa Cruz.

“It hurts, I know it hurts,” said Oleson.

The two have never met.

“When I found out about Gavin’s condition, it hit home for me. He’s also in high school and I realized that could be me,” said Oleson.

It started as a senior project at Granite Bay High School and quickly turned in to an all-out fundraiser.

“If I reach the goal of 300 bracelets [and] t-shirts in one month, that’s already $7,000 alone,” Oleson said.

And this purple-y nail polished 9-year-old is the artistic master-mind behind the bracelets.

“It makes me feel good he could die at any time now I know I am helping someone and changing his life,” said Angelina.

Oleson and Angelina met through the “Beside the Blue Foundation” – meant to help law enforcement families across the state who may have financial hardships.

“The goal is to sell 300 bracelets and 300 t-shirt by the end of the month,” Oleson said. And if they do, they could end up saving the life of a total stranger.

For more info on how you can help Gavin Jack, go to http://www.facebook.com/teamgavinj

kuhio98

09-11-2013, 10:06 AM

http://31.media.tumblr.com/262bca5cfbe2536e1a1a341368143ba5/tumblr_moaon9brKf1roqv59o1_500.png

kuhio98

09-12-2013, 01:42 PM

LUBBOCK, TX - Last Sunday, Shannon Torrez's dog Asia became a mother. The Sharpei and Pitbull mix gave birth to one puppy named Raider. It was a surprise to Shannon, but nothing compared to what came next.

"I got a call from a friend of mine that three kittens had been dropped off on her front porch in a little bucket and she didn't know what to do with them. I went and picked them up, figuring I was going to have to bottle feed them for a little while before adopting them," Shannon said. "When I got home Asia was kind of throwing a fit that I had the kittens and she wanted to see them. I put them up to her and she didn't want to me to get them out of her sight."

Asia immediately began taking care of the kittens. She cleaned them, nursed them and protected them.

"The first couple of days she wouldn't leave their side at all. It took her a few days for them to get settled in and for her to get comfortable before she would even leave the box," she said.

Although it seems unusual, it's something that veterinarians have seen before.

"It occurs actually pretty often," said Dr. Lane Preston with the Animal Medical Center in Lubbock. "She goes ahead and adopts those kittens as her own even though they're not hers. They don't smell like dogs but the urge to mother and nurse is greater than all of those things."

He says this usually occurs when female dogs go through their heat cycle. Their bodies think they are having a puppy and even if they aren't, the dogs still produce milk.

Sometimes the dogs can suffer health problems when they have milk without puppies to drink it, so this kind of surrogate mothering is encouraged.

"There are times when we have to tell the people, do you know of anybody that has some puppies or has some kittens that you could put on this mom to help her out a little bit?"

The kittens are about three and a half weeks old right now. They will stay with Shannon and Asia for another four weeks.

"I honestly thought she would take them in, you know clean them, keep them warm at least, but that I was going to feed them because she is much bigger than they are. But no, they got the hang of it and she has no problem with them," said Shannon.

Dog milk is close enough to cat milk that the kittens should suffer no ill effects.

Torrez has tentatively named the cats Jade, Jewel and Gunner.

http://kcbd.images.worldnow.com/images/23406604_BG1.jpg

kuhio98

09-13-2013, 09:21 AM

Kennedy Hubbard Raises Thousands To Help Sick Children and Their Families

Kennedy Hubbard, 16, has never looked much like the other kids at school.

Born with Lymphatic Malformation, a mass of fluid-filled cysts surround her mouth and jaw, Hubbard was about five years old before she knew she was different.

"Once she was in school, around other kids and reacting to the way they looked at her, she would look at me kind of puzzled," recalls her mother, Leanne, 44, of Moorestown, N.J.

But Kennedy didn't let those differences faze her.

"When I look in the mirror, I just see myself," says Kennedy, a setter on her school's volleyball team. "It is what it is."

Two years ago, when she was a freshman at Moorestown (N.J.) High school, she and her family launched Kennedy's Cause, which has raised more than $34,000 by selling bracelets, t-shirts and car magnets stamped with her personal motto – "Shine."

http://img2.timeinc.net/people/i/2013/news/130923/heroes-300.jpg

The money goes to fund research for better treatments and possible cures for her disease and to help other sick children and their struggling families, no matter what their disease or disability.

"She's dedicated herself to making this journey better for the next people," says Dr. Cameron Trenor, director of the Vascular Anomalies Center at Boston Children's Hospital.

"It's priceless, the perspective she gives on how kids can embrace their differences," he says, "and handle what are some very serious medical problems."

Kennedy's foundation helped buy an expensive medical bed for a girl in Hawaii with CLOVES Syndrome and gas money to a family in Ohio who drove two hours a day for six months to be with their hospitalized baby boy.

"From being in the hospital so many times, I've known so many families in need, kids littler than me who have similar medical issues," says Kennedy. "I want to give them hope."

Kennedy goes out of her way to befriend and mentor other children with Lymphatic Malformation.

http://img2.timeinc.net/people/i/2013/news/130923/heroes-2-600.jpg

This past summer, that included cutting out of volleyball practice to travel to the New Jersey shore to meet with the vacationing Shaffer family from Culpeper, Va., whose 2-year-old son, Cole, has an almost identical lymphatic mass in his face.

"I was scared of the day Cole says to me, 'Why are they staring at me?' " says Cole's Mom, Caryn, 32. "But one response Kennedy told me that stuck in my head like a mantra is, 'Curiosity is OK; cruelty is not.' "

Kennedy's help was invaluable, she says.

"The hope Kennedy's given me you can't put a price on," she says. "I can now look down the road and see a bright future for my boy."

kuhio98

09-14-2013, 09:20 AM

Inmates give back by crocheting gifts for babies at Children's Hospital

FRANKLIN, Wis. —Convicted criminals are making blankets for sick babies.

It's a new program at Milwaukee County's House of Correction, but WISN 12 News' Marianne Lyles discovered it's the female inmates who gaining from the gifts they're making.

Valerie Jernigan's therapy while locked up in the House of Correction involves a plastic needle and some yarn.

"With confinement comes a lot of anxiety, depression and being away from your family, and this helps. This helps," Jernigan said.

She knows those feelings all too well having been in and out of jail and prison for much of her adult life.

"I'm ashamed to say I'm almost 50, and I'm still coming back and forth," Jernigan said.

But now she's found a purpose -- leading other inmates. They call her Mama Bear.

It's all because House of Correction Assistant Superintendent Kerri McKenzie came up with the idea of crocheting.

"You have 70 inmates in a dorm with nothing to do. So that just breeds tension," McKenzie said. "I was also made aware there were other correctional facilities doing projects such as this."

Plastic needles/hooks and yarn were donated.

It started out with inmates just learning how to crochet, then they learned to create blankets. Now they know how to create infant mittens and hats.

But where would this all go?

"I just suggested maybe we could donate to Children's Hospital since it is such a great place," Corrections Officer Sarah Moore said.

Moore remembered how her own daughter, Jordan, as a newborn, was in Children's Hospital with brain malformation and heart failure.

"They didn't know what was wrong with her for the first three days. They just told me she would pass away, and there's wasn't much they could do for her," Moore said,

Jordan has had six successful brain surgeries. Today, she's a happy, healthy 5-year-old, but these women, especially Jernigan, understand there are more babies like her.

"My sister, God rest her soul, she had sickle cell anemia, and she was practically raised in Children's Hospital," Jernigan said. "It just feels wonderful, being able to give something back after I've taken so much," Jernigan said.

"It gives them a sense of purpose and accomplishment," McKenzie said.

"It's amazing. They're so excited and happy about it, and we hope they carry it over to when they're not incarcerated anymore," Moore said.

The inmates volunteer to take part in the program, and there's no cost to taxpayers.
The Milwaukee County House of Correction is taking donations of yarn and plastic needles so that more inmates can learn to crochet.

kuhio98

09-15-2013, 10:31 AM

From People Magazine Heroes Among Us:

STEELWORKERS IN ILLINOIS
Braving a fiery wreck, they pull victims out alive

Just before 10 p.m. on March 15, the Birmingham Steel plant in Bourbonnais, Ill., shook with a deep ramble. No one on the night shift seemed concerned; steel mills often reverberate with "wet charges"—-explosions set off as chunks of scrap metal, moist from sitting outdoors, strike the furnace where they're melted down. But this time was different. Crane operator Mark Lapinsky peered outside the plant grounds and to his horror saw a jumble of railroad ears engulfed in fire and smoke. He sprinted to the shipping office.

"Amtrak wreck! Call 911!" he screamed, then ran through the plant summoning coworkers. Heading south from Chicago with 216 people aboard, the train, the City of New Orleans, had collided at a crossing with a truck carrying 18 tons of steel. Driver John Stokes, 58, escaped with cuts and bruises, but 11 people on the train died and 116 were injured. (The cause of the crash remains under investigation.) Terrible as the toll was, it would have been worse but for Lapinsky and 34 fellow steelworkers. "They were the major heroes," says Bourbonnais Fire Chief Mike Harshbarger. "They were there first, willing to wade into the mess."

When Lapinsky reached the crash site, 100 yards from the mill, he found people crawling out of a ditch, drenched in water and blood. "Out comes a crew member holding a little girl," he recalls. "He hands her to me and tells me to get help. I look down, and her left foot is missing." Lapinsky wrapped her wound in his jacket until he spied a nurse. (Though the girl, Ashley Bonnin, 8, of Nesbit, Miss., survived, her mother, June, 46, was killed, along with a cousin and two friends, all between the ages of 8 and 11.) Crane operator Dale Winkel, 41, and shipping clerk Joe Brown, 29, joined Lapinsky in pulling out survivors as fire spread through the wreckage. At one point, passenger Greg Herman, 40, of Memphis crawled out, handed off Kristen, his 8-year-old daughter, then raced back to the sleeping car where his wife, Lisa, 39, and their other children, Kaitlin, 5, and David, 3, remained. Lapinsky, Brown and Winkel intercepted him. "One of them said, 'You can't go in there,' " Herman recalls. "I grabbed him and said, 'My wife and kids are in there.' He said, 'Let's go.' " The steelworkers crawled in and got out Herman's family, all of whom suffered only minor injuries. "They wouldn't be alive today if it weren't for them," Herman says of the steel men.

Moments later, the plant's night supervisor Bob Curwick, 39, and millwright Jack Casey, 41, entered the dining car to find Susan Falls, her right leg crushed by debris. Falls told them her husband, John, and their 19-year-old daughter Jennifer were somewhere inside. At the time of the crash, the family had been eating cheesecake. Afterward, Falls, 46, called out their names but heard nothing. "I'm not going to make it," she told Curwick and Casey. "If you're going to die, I'm going to die with you," Curwick replied. "And I'm too ornery to die." John, 56, had escaped on his own, and after searching the car, Curwick was startled when a hand reached out from a pile of tables and chairs and grabbed his ankle. It was Jennifer, who has Down's syndrome, immobilized by fractures of the ribs and spine. Curwick and Casey stayed with mother and daughter as the flames drew closer and firefighters cleared debris. Finally a hose appeared, and water came pouring in ("The sweetest sound I ever heard," says Casey).

On the scene until 3:30 a.m., the steelworkers took the next day off. When they returned, they met with counselors and talked of their trauma—especially the lives they couldn't save. "There were a bunch of tough guys in there," says Casey. "But there were plenty of tears."

kuhio98

09-16-2013, 09:19 AM

Ospreys who nested atop Brevard traffic pole safely moved

http://mynews13.com/content/dam/news/images/2013/09/osprey-nest-brevard-1-091313.jpg

VIERA -- Florida
A family of ospreys that had built their nest on top of a traffic signal pole at a busy Brevard County intersection have been safely relocated.

They didn't fly the coop; they simply got a new home, county officials said.

The birds' nest was on top of a pole at the intersection of Stadium Parkway and Viera Boulevard, just north of Space Coast Stadium and Viera High School.

After waiting for the babies to get old enough -- and after getting special permits from state and federal agencies -- workers moved the nets to another, taller pole nearby.

Ospreys are known for building nests on manmade structures and causing damage.

The traffic signal would have been costly to replace, making the move necessary.

Okay, English Majors ~ Which is correct? Ospreys who or Ospreys that
Isn't who used when speaking of people?

Karen

09-16-2013, 08:13 PM

Okay, English Majors ~ Which is correct? Ospreys who or Ospreys that
Isn't who used when speaking of people?

In general, "who" is used for people, and "that" is used for things. So it depends on whether you regard all living critters as people, or as things!

kuhio98

09-17-2013, 09:20 AM

Making the best of a bad situation: Family cancels wedding, ends up feeding 200 strangers

ATLANTA (CBS ATLANTA) - A local family turned a canceled event into a chance to bless others affected by homelessness.

Willie Fowler says his family was planning a wedding celebration Sunday when it was abruptly canceled.

The family decided to partner with Hosea Feed the Hungry and Homeless and treat 200 people to a meal at the restaurant Villa Christina.

"Seeing people that may have or may not have an opportunity to dine in a place like this," said donor Willie Fowler," for me to be able to assist them in doing this that's reward enough for me."

People who took part in the event say the kindness of the Fowler family encourages them to move forward despite their difficult circumstances.

kuhio98

09-18-2013, 09:01 AM

Veterinary Angel
A dog came to the veterinarian's office in terrible shape. But the vet just wouldn't give up on her.
By Tracy Land, DVM, Cumming, Georgia

Ten dogs were brought into our clinic that day. All with the same owners, all in bad shape: malnourished, severely underweight, mangy and flea-ridden.

The worst of the lot was a black German shepherd named Maggie. She was rail thin. Every bone in her body showed. She was covered with open sores from her mange. I cradled her head in my hands and sighed, having seen cases like this far too often in my 15 years as a veterinarian.

Overpopulation is the leading cause of death among pets. Millions of dogs and cats are put down every year because no one wants them. That's why I dedicate a big part of my practice to spaying and neutering. We've done more than 23,000 operations over the past six years, a lot for our small staff.

The clinic runs on a shoestring budget. I believed it was my duty to give discounts to people who couldn't otherwise afford to get their pets fixed. More than once I prayed we wouldn't have to close down. Who would take care of the animals if we didn't?

"You can pick them up later on today," I told the couple who'd brought the dogs in. I hated sending animals back to such poor living conditions, but I had no choice. At least after the procedure, they wouldn't be able to have unwanted puppies.

We cleaned the dogs up and prepped them for surgery. Everything went smoothly, and most of the dogs recovered well. All but Maggie. She was extremely sluggish. An exam confirmed that she was bleeding into her abdomen.

I figured a tied-off artery was leaking or there was a nick somewhere. It happened once in a while and wasn't a big deal. We'd find the source, stop the bleeding and close her up.

But I was shocked when I went in. Maggie's abdomen overflowed with blood. I soaked it up with surgical sponges. That didn't help. Blood spilled onto the table, then the floor.

My hands searched everywhere—every vein, artery and organ—but I couldn't find the source of the bleeding. I closed my eyes to block out any distractions, concentrating on what I felt with my fingers. Where is the blood coming from? I did everything I knew to do, twice. Maggie was bleeding to death. Please, God, save this dog. I can't.

I took a deep breath and opened my eyes. Just like that, the bleeding stopped. Completely. After a few minutes and a few more sponges, Maggie's abdomen was clean and dry. There was no blood oozing from anywhere. And no explanation for what had happened.

The nurses stood in silence as I sewed Maggie up. We gave her fresh blood, drugs to prevent shock and infection, and bundled her in blankets. I didn't think she'd last the night, which I told her owners when they came to get the other dogs. "Come back tomorrow," I said. "We'll see how she's doing then." I left the clinic exhausted and depressed.

First thing in the morning I went to check on Maggie. "Hey, girl," I said. She looked up at me and weakly wagged her tail. "You've got more fight than I gave you credit for." We put her on a special diet. Within 24 hours, Maggie was eating, drinking and walking. She'd come a long way, but still, her health wasn't good.Maggie had heartworms and intestinal worms. The resulting anemia, low protein levels and liver damage meant her blood couldn't clot, like a hemophiliac's. That was why there was so much blood.

When Maggie's owners returned, I explained the dog's medical problems. "She'll need expensive treatment," I told them. "But there's no charge for her emergency care."

They left, saying they'd come back later. They didn't. State law requires that we send a registered letter to any owner who abandons a pet. Then the owner has 10 days to pick the pet up. We sent Maggie's owners such a letter. Three days passed. No response. The next day, their check for the initial visit bounced. I knew we'd never see them again. What to do about Maggie?

Maggie seemed to understand we were trying to help her. She was cooperative and sweet. She licked the hands that stuck her with needles. At the same time, she was very aggressive toward strangers. She charged threateningly and snarled at any new person she saw.

Usually we try to find a home for an abandoned animal, but people don't want to adopt a dog that might bite. After the 10-day waiting period, Maggie would have to be euthanized. It was day eight. You can't keep every unwanted pet you come across, I told myself. But Maggie seemed special, like she was meant to be mine.

God, Maggie should have died during her operation. But you saved her when I couldn't. Why, since we're just going to have to put her down?

The whole staff knew we shouldn't get too attached. "Goodbye, Maggie," I said before leaving for home. Her tail thumped against the floor.

I lay in bed that night unable to sleep. I kept thinking about Maggie. If only she were a gentle dog, then we could find a home for her.

I dreaded going to the clinic the next morning. Dreaded seeing Maggie greet me with a wagging tail. When I got there, I noticed the benches on the front porch were missing. That's odd. I looked around and saw that the door of the garden shed was open. The tools were gone. We've been robbed!

I scrambled for my keys, sure I'd find the place ransacked. We'd be ruined financially. I unlocked the door and threw it open. Everything was in order. No medication missing. No money gone. Nothing had been disturbed. We were still in business!

Thump, thump. I spun my head and saw Maggie, tail hitting the floor. In my worry, I'd forgotten about her. "Thank God you're all right," I said. And then I realized what had happened. Maggie was all right because the burglars never got in. They didn't even try. Surely, Maggie snarled at them through the window, scaring them off. "You saved the clinic, didn't you, girl?" I gave her a treat and a rub on the head. Our hero.

Now I knew for sure why Maggie had been saved on the operating table. And I knew there was no way we could put her down. Thanks to her, the clinic could go on saving animals. Not all of them, but as many as we possibly could.

Today, Maggie's gained about 20 pounds. Her sores have healed, and her fur grew in thick and shiny. She's a beautiful, happy, healthy dog. She's a permanent staff member now—the best security guard we've ever had. And a daily reminder that animals are precious not only to me, but to someone who really can care for every single one.

kuhio98

09-19-2013, 09:12 AM

Good-Deed Pranksters Spread Joy With $200 Tips

A prank usually leaves someone shocked and embarrassed. But a duo of good-deed pranksters decided to give food servers a terrific surprise, a $200 tip. YouTube personalities Stuart Edge and Andrew Hale stopped by several diners in Orem, Utah, to record the recipients' shocked reactions, and they are pretty awesome. The jokesters start out by asking their servers what is the largest tip they have ever received. And then they leave each a $200 tip while the camera secretly records the server's reaction.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=Q4enUE8qt_Q

The video has been viewed more than a million times on YouTube, and it's leaving commenters with a warm and fuzzy feeling. One commenter wrote, "Now these are the kind of pranksters I like." In the video, one of the waiters says that he makes only about $2.13 an hour, so the tip is gladly welcomed. A female server's co-worker tells the guys that she was recently hit by a car while on her bike, adding, "Thanks for making her night." In the end, it seems that Andrew and Stuart got more out of the good-deed pranks than the servers. The only thing left to do is to pass it on, people!

kuhio98

09-20-2013, 09:13 AM

Minnesota DQ manager's good deed gets attention

MINNEAPOLIS — Joey Prusak was appalled when he saw a customer at the suburban Minneapolis Dairy Queen store where he works pick up someone else's $20 bill and slip it into her purse.

So when the woman got up to the counter to order, Prusak refused to serve her unless she returned the money. When the woman refused, the 19-year-old store manager went a step further: He gave the visually impaired customer who hadn't realized he'd dropped the money $20 out of his own pocket.

"I was just doing what I thought was right," Prusak said Thursday as he recalled the incident from earlier this month. "I did it without even really thinking about it. ... Ninety-nine out of 100 people would've done the same thing as me.

"Even so, Prusak has received loads of praise since a customer's email about him to Dairy Queen was posted online.

Now, people are calling the store, thanking Prusak and even offering him jobs. Customer traffic at the Hopkins Dairy Queen has doubled, and many people are leaving large tips — money that Prusak says he will donate to charity.

Prusak said he even got a call Thursday from billionaire Warren Buffett, whose company owns Dairy Queen. "He called and thanked me for being a role model for all the other employees and people in general," Prusak said.

Prusak has worked at the Hopkins Dairy Queen since he was 14. He's trying to save money to go to school for business management and has managed the store since the spring.

The visually impaired customer who dropped the money during the Sept. 10 lunch rush was a regular. Prusak said he thought the woman who picked up the $20 bill would return it. Instead, she looked at the man, then put the cash in her purse.

"I was appalled," Prusak said. "I didn't know what to do or say."

Prusak thought for a moment, and when the woman approached the window, he asked her to return the money. But she claimed it was hers. The conversation went back and forth. Finally, Prusak recalled, he told the woman: "Please return the $20 or get out of the store, because I'm not going to serve someone as disrespectful as you."

Prusak said the woman stormed out, and he served the other customers. He then went over to the man eating his sundae and gave him $20. Prusak didn't tell anyone about it, other than the other employee in the store.

But another customer saw the incident and sent an email to Dairy Queen. The email was forwarded to store owner Dave Pettit, who posted it at the store. Another employee took a picture, which has been circulating online.

Dean Peters, a spokesman for International Dairy Queen, said the company is figuring out how to reward Prusak.

Prusak said when he saw what happened, he just couldn't keep quiet.

"I was going to say something no matter what," he said. "If she would have returned the money, then I would have served her."

http://media.adn.com/smedia/2013/09/19/14/21/979-KS4BP.AuSt.55.jpeg

Karen

09-20-2013, 12:28 PM

Good for him, standing up for what is right, regardless of expense to himself.

kuhio98

09-21-2013, 09:27 AM

Random Acts of Everyday Angels
It's too easy to overlook the small kindnesses. But where would we be without these Earth Angels?

By Colleen Hughes, New York, New York

Ask me if I’ve ever seen an angel, and my quick answer is, No. I just love to help bring to life the angel stories people tell us. And that’s what I was doing the other day when the phone rang. “Hey, Colleen, it’s Angelo. Your Subaru’s ready to go.”

Every morning I jumped out of my car and ran past Angelo’s garage, high-tailing it to catch my bus at the corner. “Can’t be late for work!” I’d yell. This particular morning I had to let the bus go by and tend to the rattle in my car. Angelo promised he’d get to it ASAP—and here it was, finished. Too bad I wouldn’t get there in time to pick it up and pay him before he closed up shop for the day.

“I’ll stop in before my bus comes in the morning, how’s that?”

Angelo laughed. “You’ll be rushing, Colleen. Key’s under the driver’s side mat. Take your car and come see me on the weekend.”

“Wow, thanks!” I said. How often did a car mechanic care so much about his customers getting to work on time?

I returned to my angels reading. But Angelo’s kindness kept coming back to me. In his busy day he’d gone out of his way to consider me and my needs.

Then I remembered the grocery store clerk who’d rummaged around for a 10% off Thanksgiving coupon from a circular I hadn’t seen. “I know you like saving as much as I do,” she’d said. And the lifeguard who’d put aside the prescription sunglasses I’d left behind on the Fourth of July. Or the spring afternoon I’d found the postman fixing the red flag on my mailbox. All these people taking an unexpected interest in my everyday life.

As I thought back over the past year, I made a resolution. Ask me again if I’ve ever seen an angel. Yes, I have. Countless times.

Catty1

09-21-2013, 11:22 AM

http://ca.news.yahoo.com/blogs/good-news/spanish-man-turns-lost-winning-lottery-ticket-worth-152213101.html?vp=1

The northwest Spanish town of La Coruña posted a lost-and-found notice this week that has captured the world's attention.

It read:

"FOUND: A lottery ticket bought more than a year ago, which entitles the owner to an unclaimed $6.3 million jackpot."
"LOST: The ticket's owner."
Manuel Reija Gonzalez found the unclaimed lottery ticket from 2012 in a lost property box at the lottery kiosk where he worked.
Its worth: 4.7-million euro.
Instead of claiming it for himself, the honest man turned it into authorities.

"I never for a moment thought about keeping it because I wanted to be able to sleep well at night with a clear conscience," Gonzalez told the BBC.
"Because here was somebody who had a problem forgetting his ticket and I put myself in his shoes, and it's the sort of thing I could have done. I thought the best thing to do was just to return the ticket," he added.
According to the newspaper La Voz (http://www.lavozdegalicia.es/noticia/galicia/2013/09/17/ojala-aparezca-perdio-dice-lotero-hallo-boleto/0003_201309G17P4992.htm), someone bought the ticket with the winning numbers 10, 17, 24, 37, 40 and 43 from a shopping centre in Galicia, Spain, but managed to misplace it.
Gonzalez assumed the ticket, which was not purchased at his kiosk, fell out of someone's wallet.
When he ran the numbers, he was shocked to learn of the huge jackpot.
"I couldn't believe it the first time I checked the ticket! So I ran it through the machine again just in case there was a computer error," he told reporters. "I was standing up, but I had to sit down. I almost broke the chair, I was so flustered!"
If the ticket's owner isn't identified in the next two years, the millions will go to Gonzalez.
"For the first time we're looking for a millionaire, not because we want money from them, but because we want to give it to them," the mayor of La Coruña, Carlos Negreira, said on Monday.
Negreira said he'll buy Gonzalez a beer in two years if the good Samaritan gets to keep the fortune.

"He found something that wasn't his, and did the right thing to try to find who it belongs to," Negreira said. "He's a good example for our citizens who believe in justice."
Six people have already tried to claim the prize, NPR reported, but none of them were able to prove ownership: specific knowledge of when and where the ticket was purchased.

kuhio98

09-22-2013, 10:37 AM

Midlothian (Virginia) man aims to raise $250,000 for ‘honest’ homeless man

MIDLOTHIAN, Va. — Apparently, honesty does pay, especially in the case of a homeless man in Boston.

Glen James found a bag with $40,000 in cash and travelers checks lost in a shopping center parking lot earlier this week. He turned it over to police and it was ultimately returned to its rightful owner.

The good deed is certainly not going unnoticed. Hundreds of miles away in Midlothian, Virginia, a complete stranger heard James’ tale and decided to take action.

“People like this they should be heard. Their spirit should be spread,” said Ethan Whittington. “He just seems like the type of person of never thinking of taking the money. He just had good intentions from the start.”

With a few strokes of the keyboard, the 27-year-old marketing director, who has never laid eyes on James, established an account for the 54-year-old on GoFundMe.com.

Whittington said his intentions were modest and he wanted to raise a few hundred bucks for a well-deserving man down on his luck.

“It kind of restores your faith in humanity, especially being inundated with the negative media on a daily basis,” Whittington said.

But Whittington’s humble idea has gone viral. Within just a few days, the total has jumped to over $117,000.

Brother and sister Thomas and Anna Ziljan are donating their hard-earned allowance to the cause.

“I wanted to buy him a house,” said Anna. “But it was too expensive so I’m donating my money.”

Whittington said he has been floored by the generosity of donors and when and if the fundraising ends, he said all the money belongs to James.

Whittington’s ultimate goal is to raise $250,000 for the good Samaritan he’s never met.

“The biggest thing is that I want this to be a positive influence on Glen,” he said. “This is the way we should be all of the time. You know I think it would make the world a better place.”

Whittington said he plans to fly to Boston in the coming weeks to meet James. He said he will shake his hand and give him a big hug.

kuhio98

09-24-2013, 01:37 PM

Because Online Friends Make a Real Difference
"My 4-year-old son, Cole, has lymphoma. I've gotten a lot of support from the women at CafeMom.com, but one mom, Linda, is amazing. For Cole's birthday she got people from all over the country to send him cards. The response was overwhelming. With a sick child every smile is precious, so I'll always be grateful for these moments of joy."
-- Michelle, Sacramento, California

kuhio98

09-26-2013, 01:52 PM

The Home Depot Throws Awesome Birthday Party for Deserving 5-Year-Old Boy

The workers at the Home Depot are known for being experts in painting, drilling, and hammering. Well, you can now add party planning to that list. Here's what happened.

Five-year-old Joshua Hagerty, from Modesto, California, asked his mother for a birthday party at his favorite place, the Home Depot. Joshua suffers from multiple physical ailments, including heart and kidney problems, for which he has had 15 surgeries so far in his short lifetime. His mother, Jennifer, contacted the Home Depot to see if she could pick up workshop sets to have the Home Depot-themed party at her home.

Store manager Kevin Baum called her back to say they would take it a step further. The employees threw Joshua a birthday party at their store, complete with balloons, Lego sets, goody bags, workshop kits, and even a hammer-shaped cake. Employees pitched in with their own money to fund the party and gifts to make Joshua's birthday dreams come true. At the end of the day, the grateful guest of honor said it was his "best birthday ever."

The reason this story has gotten the public's attention is not because of the Home Depot; it is because Jennifer has asked for help to thank the store and its employees. Here's our part to help — thank you to Home Depot store #6601 of Modesto! You guys rock!
http://l.yimg.com/bt/api/res/1.2/RqK4T6VzaGd3iyQ00hZPFA--/YXBwaWQ9eW5ld3M7Zmk9ZmlsbDtoPTQyMTtweG9mZj01MDtweW 9mZj0wO3E9ODU7dz03NDk-/http://media.zenfs.com/en-US/video/video.pd2upload.com/video.trendingnow.com@ef4ef3ae-f39e-3363-b66f-1b99a652b4dc_FULL.png

kuhio98

09-27-2013, 10:30 AM

http://24.media.tumblr.com/36ba76258a2cd0520790ff1492b612f6/tumblr_msolzn4VOk1roqv59o1_500.png

kuhio98

09-27-2013, 07:21 PM

Young girl raises money for K-9 bullet proof vest
Allison Henry donated her birthday money

HOLYOKE, Mass. (WWLP) - A member of the Holyoke Police Department is a lot safer Thursday night, thanks to a 10-year-old girl.

Allison Henry of Palmer was honored Thursday for raising enough money for the department to buy a bullet proof vest for one of their K-9 dogs.

Her mother found out about Ryker through a group called Vested Interest in K-9s.

Allison decided that instead of birthday presents this year, she would ask for donations instead to help get Ryker a vest.

"I just feel that a dog should be safe because I really like animals," Henry said.

Holyoke Police Chief James Neiswanger praised the young girl. "A young lady at 10 years of age, making an impact on the world, making a positive impact," he said.

Thursday night, the department also introduced their two newest K-9 members, June and Titan.

http://media2.wwlp.com/photo/2013/09/26/Young_girl_raises_money_for_K_9_bullet_p_150406000 0_3140560_ver1.0_640_480.jpg

kuhio98

09-30-2013, 03:34 PM

From People Magazine Heroes Among Us:

PARAMEDIC TERRY HOBEN, 37
In a hurricane's wake, he ferries neighbors to safety

After wrapping up a brutal 17-hour shift Sept. 17 at a hospital in Newark, N.J., paramedic Terry Hoben thought he'd take a look at what Hurricane Floyd had left behind before he headed home. Entering downtown Bound Brook, where he lives with his wife, Sally, 45, and their two children, Hoben found chaos. Floodwaters from the Raritan River had risen more than 10 feet on Main Street, inundating homes, shorting out power lines and setting off fires. "It was hysteria at that point," recalls Hoben. "There were fire trucks running all over the place, state police were arriving with boats, 10 to 12 feet of water." And the water was still rising.

Spotting a friend, police Lt. Steven Cozza, Hoben asked how he could help. Cozza urged him to get home as fast as he could, put his fishing boat into the water and start emptying houses. Soon after, in the 16-foot skiff he had left parked on a trailer in his driveway, Hoben teamed up with officer Diana Paczkowski and pushed off into the eerie landscape of half-submerged buildings in search of stranded residents. "You put 16 feet of water on an area you usually walk around, and you can't recognize a thing," says Hoben. "We were scared to death." Adds Paczkowski, 29: "I'm not an avid water lover, first of all."

Navigating fast-running murky waters where familiar streets once lay, the two were soon hard at work. Taking aboard babies and children first, they plucked whole families from upper floors, attics and even rooftops where they had sought safety. Hoben sometimes entered a house where residents had been reluctant to leave or were waiting for the waters to subside. But water wasn't the only worry. The floods had risen to the point that Hoben and his passengers had to duck beneath high-voltage power lines, some of them still surging with current. And in one area a gas main had broken. Hoben carefully eased his boat along, hoping nothing would set off the potentially lethal fumes. "A mistake could not just have cost my life or Diana's, but the 8 or 10 people in the boat," he explains.

He and Paczkowski made nearly 50 trips over 13 hours, taking people to safety. Mary Anne Baloy, 42, remembers him well. She, her husband, Roger, 39, and their three children thought they could wait out the flood. Then it rose to their first-floor ceiling and kept on climbing. In the distance, she says, "you heard people screaming." When Hoben and another team of rescuers arrived, he lifted Baloy's kids into his boat. "It was incredible what they did," she says. "I have no idea how to repay them." But Hoben says he was just one of many residents and police officers who helped that night. "My town was in trouble," he says. "And this disaster pulled this community together."

kuhio98

10-03-2013, 02:31 PM

Sgt. Kevin Briggs Stops Suicides on San Francisco's Golden Gate Bridge
http://img2-1.timeinc.net/people/i/2013/news/131014/kevin-briggs-3-600.jpg

More than twice a month, on average, those who've lost all hope come to San Francisco's Golden Gate Bridge, climb over the railing and, tragically, plunge 220 feet into the Pacific Ocean to end their pain.

That number would be higher, if not for California Highway Patrol Sgt. Kevin Briggs, nicknamed the "Guardian of the Golden Gate." Since 1994, through sheer compassion and expert listening skills, Sgt. Briggs has helped convince more than 200 people on the precipice of death not to take their lives (so far, he's only lost one).

"People who come to jump don't necessarily want to die," explains Briggs, 50, who calmly introduces himself just a few feet away to the despondent person, often standing for hours in bone-chilling wind or heavy fog.

"I try to find out what brought them to this point," says Briggs, a cancer survivor and father of two boys. "If I can get them to break down, that's a good sign, it shows they're listening and thinking. If someone says they have no plan for tomorrow, I say, 'OK, let's make one.' "

"Sgt. Briggs not only saves lives, he inspires us all with his compassion and dedication," says Robert Gebbia, American Foundation for Suicide Prevention director. "He's a true American hero."

In March 2005, Kevin Berthia, then 22, a former postal worker who'd battled lifelong depression and was overwhelmed as a new father, was about to jump when Briggs, who happened to be passing by, spotted him.

"I know you must be in tremendous pain," Briggs told him. "If you want to talk, I'm here to listen."

It was a life-changing moment for Berthia.

"Sgt. Briggs got me to open up about stuff I'd never dealt with before, like not knowing my real parents," says Berthia, an adoptee, who now takes medication for depression. "He made me realize we're all here for a purpose, and life is about finding just what that purpose is. I owe every bit of my second chance to him."

kuhio98

10-05-2013, 06:38 PM

FISHERMAN SHAUN CURNOW, 32
A helping hand for a deer in deep water

As he headed out at dawn last June off the coast of Cornwall, England, fisherman Shaun Curnow of the village of St. Keverne was hoping for a standard day's haul of 500 pounds of mackerel. Instead, as he scanned the sea a quarter-mile offshore, he spotted a disturbance in the water. "The gulls were really going in on something," says Curnow. "I could see this little brown blob. I thought it was a bit of driftwood at first."

But it wasn't. As Curnow pulled his 19-ft. fishing boat, the Bold Venture, toward the scene, he made out an object moving against the tide. "As soon as I saw the antlers, I knew what it was," he says. " 'That's a blinkin' deer!' " After several attempts to pull alongside the flailing animal, Curnow finally managed to grab hold of the exhausted creature and haul him over the side. "He was huffing and puffing and panting," says Curnow, who offered the deer a bit of a Kit Kat bar. "He kept looking at me, and he was a sad little thing." Onshore in 20 minutes, Curnow, who had radioed ahead, was met by local veterinarian David Cromey, who examined the winded but healthy 3-year-old male—which weighed in at 65 lbs.—and later released him into the nearby woods.

To date no one in St. Keverne, where few deer are ever seen, has been able to explain how the hapless animal wound up in the sea. But his rescue briefly made Curnow, a divorced father of two, a national celebrity. "They were all ready for big brown eyes and a story with a happy ending," says Cromey. "And that's what they got."

Karen

10-05-2013, 06:58 PM

fter several attempts to pull alongside the flailing animal, Curnow finally managed to grab hold of the exhausted creature and haul him over the side. "He was huffing and puffing and panting," says Curnow, who offered the deer a bit of a Kit Kat bar. "He kept looking at me, and he was a sad little thing." Onshore in 20 minutes, Curnow, who had radioed ahead, was met by local veterinarian David Cromey, who examined the winded but healthy 3-year-old male—which weighed in at 65 lbs.—and later released him into the nearby woods.

Who knew a deer would eat a Kit Kat bar! That's an ad in the making! I bet that's one buck who will never go for an ocean swim again!

kuhio98

10-06-2013, 03:11 PM

A Heavenly Hero in a Black Chariot

By Margaret David, Tujunga, California

I wasn’t as spry as I used to be, but I liked to walk, rather than drive, around my small town. Shopping, the doctor’s office, the bank were all nearby, clustered around a busy five-way intersection that connected to the thruway.

Seeing the traffic as I strolled back home, I was glad to be on foot.

Then I heard a growl. A dog—not looking quite right—stalked toward me. I backed up. Grrrrr! A snarl from behind. I nearly jumped out of my skin. At my heels was a second dog, as angry as the first. Oh, no, I’ve stepped in the middle of something....

We have strict leash laws in California, but no owner was in sight—no one except the people driving by. I knew I wouldn’t get far trying to run. “Nice doggie...” I whispered.

From the corner of my eye, I caught sight of a black car exiting the thruway. Shiny like it had just come from the dealer’s lot. It suddenly stopped on the opposite side of the street. A tall, slender man stepped out and calmly crossed the street toward me, dodging the slowing cars without a second glance.

“Go home!” he commanded the dogs. “Go home!”

The dogs turned tail and ran. The man headed back to his car.

I shouted after him, but he didn’t seem to hear over the traffic noise. He got in his car, started it and drove out of sight.

A black car? I wondered. Shouldn’t it have been angel white? :)

kuhio98

10-07-2013, 05:52 PM

Barb Bratvold's First-Graders Send Get Well Cards to Thousands of Strangers

One week after Donna O'Malley's 23-year-old son died last February, the retired Montevideo, Minn., nursing-home worker found a large manila envelope stuffed inside her mailbox.

Inside were 15 handmade sympathy cards from a group of first-graders O'Malley had never met.

"We're so sorry about your loss," read one card in a crooked scrawl, covered with pink and purple hearts.

"We care about you," read another, embellished with rainbows and a smiling sun.

O'Malley wept as she sifted through the stack of cards, savoring each message.

"It touched my heart that these young kids took the time to think about me and my son," she says. "I still have the cards on display in my sun room. I'll treasure them forever."

O'Malley is among 50,000 people who have lost loved ones, are ill or just need to know someone cares who have received surprise packages from the Kindness Club at Evansville Elementary, a student charity started in 1995 by teacher Barb Bratvold.

Bratvold had assigned her students to make get-well cards for a guest speaker who became ill shortly after visiting their class.

The kids enjoyed the project so much, she says, that they asked if they could continue making cards for others in the community who needed cheering up.

Whenever anybody in Evansville, Minn., learns about a friend or relative going through a tough time, they know to tell the Kindness Club, says Hallie Richter, 6.

"I like to write 'I love you' on all of my cards and decorate them with lots of stickers," says the first-grader. "I hope they help people to get better faster."

Meeting twice a week, "the Kindness Club is a way to teach my kids that the world isn’t all about them, there are people out there who are hurting," adds Bratvold, 57.

"Even though they’re only in first grade, this is a way they can make a difference," she says.

She recalls the story of one boy who initially didn’t want to make cards for people he didn’t know until he came to school one day in tears.

His favorite babysitter had been killed in a car accident.

"He spent a lot of time making a beautiful sympathy card," recalls Bratvold, "then he delivered all of the students' cards to the family."

After he saw how much it meant to her family, he always wanted to participate.

"Those are the kind of lessons I hope stay with my students," she says.

"I always tell my kids, 'Once you're a member of the Kindness Club, you're a lifetime member,' " she says. "I'm hoping that they'll still be making cards when they’re 99."

http://img2.timeinc.net/people/i/2013/news/131007/kindness-club-2-600.jpg

cassiesmom

10-08-2013, 03:53 PM

(source: Fox News, where I was looking for something else - but I found this!)

Less than a week after rescuing a pit bull that would have been put down, a Minnesota mother says the dog returned the favor by detecting a dangerous drop in her son's blood sugar and rescuing the young boy from a life-threatening situation, Fox 9 News reported.

Christi Smith took in TaterTot just hours before he was scheduled to be put down by Minneapolis Animal Care and Control. She planned to foster the four-legged friend until she could find him a permanent home, but she says he's already become family for good.

When watching Peyton Anderson play with his dog, it's clear the two have a special bond -- but Smith didn't know how special that bond was until last week when the pooch alerted her that the 4-year-old was not well in the middle of the night.

"He just seemed kind of weird," Smith recalled. "He wasn't really coherent -- deliriously tired."

Although the 10-month-old pit bull rescue had only been in her home for a few days, TaterTot quickly sensed something was wrong and began licking and jumping on the boy when he wouldn't wake up.

"He kept on whining and barking and running between the two of us," she told Fox 9 News. "I checked on him, and he was barely breathing."

After rushing her son to the emergency room, doctors ran a battery of tests to discover the boy's blood sugar was dangerously low.

"If his blood sugar was that low, he may have been producing ketones," explained Isis Sanchez, of Blue Pearl Veterinary Clinic. "That may have been what the dog picked up on."

Sanchez said TatorTot's keen sense of smell likely helped him realize the change in Peyton's body.

"What, for us, is barely a whiff of something gives them a huge picture of what's going on," she said.

Aside from smell, Sanchez said dogs may also have a sort of "sixth sense" that can detect changes in electrical activity, which is how some dogs may be able to warn people with epilepsy that a seizure may be looming.

"Doggie heroes come in all sizes," she said.

kuhio98

10-09-2013, 05:55 PM

People Pets The Daily Treat: Boy and Miniature Horse Became Best Friends Over Shared Disability

Nothing brings two individuals together like common ground – and that's exactly what happened in the case of miniature horse Judd and Tyler Cribbs.

Judd was born at the Capital Area Therapeutic Riding Association in Grantville, Pa., two months ago with a condition that prevents him from supporting his own weight without splints. The association offers horseback riding as therapy to patients with disabilities, but in the case of Judd, the organization was faced with an opportunity to do the opposite.

"It's our turn to give therapy back," CATRA's Ben Nolt told local station WHTM, adding, "There are horses who have had this in the past and recovered normally. We're sort of a wait and see."

While undergoing physical therapy, Judd has become an inspiration to local children, like Cribbs, who also requires splints to stand.

"[Judd] uses them the same way Tyler uses them to strengthen his legs," said his mother, Heather Cribbs. "For Tyler to have an animal that is akin to him, it helps him want to do better because he sees the animal strengthened by the braces."

Though CATRA is committed to helping Judd recover, the cost of his care, which ranges from X-rays to bandage changes, is growing day by day. For those interested in lending a hand, click here http://www.catra.net/Judd.htm to visit the donation page for Judd's treatment.

http://img2.timeinc.net/people/i/2013/pets/news/131021/boy-horse-300.jpg

kuhio98

10-10-2013, 10:58 AM

Rebecca Welsh Helps Orphans And At-Risk Kids Worldwide

Rebecca Welsh was volunteering in orphanages in Honduras in 2002 when she had an eye-opening encounter with a child living on the streets.

"A 6-year-old little girl stopped me and begged me for water," she says. "She travelled in a pack of about ten children and was the youngest in the group."

She soon found out the children, who couldn't get shelter in the city's overflowing orphanages, slept on cardboard boxes at night and dug through trash to find their next meal.

"I just couldn't believe that was going on and I'd never even heard of it," she says.

That encounter – and her work at the orphanages where she used art to create a bond with the kids – led to her forming the HALO Foundation (Helping Art Liberate Orphans) in 2005.

The nonprofit has raised more than $2 million to buy food, shelter, education, water and clothes for 3,000 kids in 11 orphanages around the world.

"I really want to give these kids a chance to live a normal life," says Welsh, 34, who lives in Kansas City, Mo., "and have food and all their basic needs met because they deserve it."

She auctions off the childrens' artwork to raise money for the foundation; something that started after Welsh got inundated with artwork the orphans sent her as a thank you.

"I thought the best way to share their work was to showcase it," she says, "and raise funds that would go back to the children at the same time."

It worked.

"The average kid's piece now sells for around $500," she says. "That amount provides dinner for an entire orphanage for 50 nights."

The foundation also operates learning centers in two cities in the United States, including Kansas City, to help foster children and other at-risk youth learn life skills and help them heal through art therapy.

"I think anyone who puts time and energy into improving the lives of kids is wonderful," says Sister Berta Sailer, co-founder of Operation Breakthrough, which provides child care and other social services for the working poor in Kansas City.

"I think it's so important the kids everywhere feel valued," says Sailer, who has worked with Welsh's foundation on a few projects in Kansas City, "and have their needs met and activities designed for them."

Kiki, 13, who started coming to Welsh's Kansas City center in 2010 after two years of being homeless, can attest to that.

"It helped me to become a better leader," she says, "and to learn how to talk to people in a better way."

Kiki says her favorite part is Interplay, where kids use dance and song to express their feelings.

"We dance and sing and yell and let out a lot of feelings, like anger," she says. "I feel relaxed and tired afterward."

Welsh says she still gets a thrill when she hears a story like this.

"It makes me feel like my purpose in life is fulfilled," she says. "I know this is what I'm here to do. I feel very blessed."

http://img2-1.timeinc.net/people/i/2013/news/131021/rebecca-welsh-300.jpg

kuhio98

10-11-2013, 09:21 AM

From People Magazine Heroes Among Us:

COLLEGE STUDENT MARIAN NEAL, 40
Broke and out of a job, she gives a child the gift of life

Troubled by back problems in 1996, Marian Neal gave up her job handling freight in Washington, D.C., for a shipping company. Broke and homeless, she moved in with a friend two years later in nearby Alexandria, Va. There she befriended Terrance Varner, a 7-year-old who lived with his grandmother Elaine Harris and whose kidneys were failing. To keep her little friend company, Neal, now 40, often accompanied him on his three weekly trips to dialysis at Washington's Children's National Medical Center. "I saw all the suffering the children went through there," she recalls, "and wondered what I could do to help." Then she had an idea.

Last December, Neal donated one of her kidneys to Terrance—an unusual offering in that only 4 percent of transplants come from people unrelated by blood or marriage. Thankfully medical tests showed that Neal and Terrance were a match.

"I didn't think it was a big step," says Neal. "I just wanted Terrance to be able to eat, drink and play like a normal boy." Grandmother Harris saw the December operation as a much bigger deal. "It's the best Christmas present I could ever have," she told The Washington Post.

Good deed aside, Neal again found herself homeless last August when her friend's brother moved back in. But her plight did not go unnoticed. Hearing about Neal, U.S. Secretary of Housing and Urban Development Andrew Cuomo secured a one-bedroom apartment for her in Southwest D.C. Says Cuomo: "In an age when many people think only about themselves, she was totally selfless."

In addition to the apartment, Neal also received a free car from a local auto dealer so she could drive to classes at Northern Virginia Community College, where she is studying to become a social worker. "I made a way for Terrance," says Neal gratefully, "and God made a way for me."

kuhio98

10-12-2013, 09:14 AM

A Ticket to Life
He was about to undergo major surgery. Why was his dog acting so strangely?
By Allen Anderson, Minneapolis, Minnesota

A strip of glossy paper, torn from yet another magazine, dangled from our little black cocker spaniel’s clenched teeth. I knelt down to tug the soggy, rectangular scrap from his mouth. “Come on, boy.” He relaxed his jaw and looked up with innocent eyes. I glared at him, frustrated.

Now? Why are you doing this now? Nothing, it seemed, could stop Leaf’s new bad habit. And he’d always been such a good dog! I held the slimy slip he’d dropped into my hand up to the light, reading the disjointed words and numbers printed on it as if they held some clue to his odd new behavior.

Each time he pulled this stunt it was the same thing: a slip of paper, not chewed or shredded, which he brought to me. “Ready to go?” my wife, Linda, asked, interrupting my inspection.

“Leaf’s at it again,” I said, showing her.

Linda slipped an arm around me. “Don’t worry about it. You know how scared he gets. He probably just doesn’t want you to go.”

Neither do I, I thought.

The hospital. That’s where Linda and I were headed. A sterile monolithic building where a surgeon was going to operate on my brain. I’d complained of headaches and blurred vision. Doctors had found an aneurysm, fatal if it ruptured.

I’d undergone tests, taken an MRI, a CT scan, had met with my surgeon and scheduled the operation, all while putting on the same brave face I wore as an officer for the Atlanta Police Department. I’d been in life-threatening situations my entire career, but this time, my bravery was a front.

In truth, I was terrified. Lately, a recurring nightmare confirmed my darkest fears: I was going to die.

I remembered the first night the scene unfolded before me. I was watching an endless snaking line of people, waiting to get inside a vast, domed building. Everyone I knew was there: Linda, family and friends, coworkers, people I recognized from church.

Slowly, one by one, they went through an entrance of what people in line were calling the Building of Life.

Each person held a ticket, as if for a concert. I pushed my way into the line, hoping that no one would notice I had no ticket. Everyone glared at me. Some said, “You do not belong here.” The line moved past me, leaving me behind. No! Terror ripped through me. I want to be with Linda! I want to live!

I woke up, my body shaking, my pillow drenched with sweat. The message couldn’t have been clearer. My life was over. I must have woken Leaf because he jumped onto the bed next to me. I wrapped my arms around him. It felt strange, him comforting me.

Usually it was the other way around. Linda and I had adopted Leaf from a shelter six months earlier. We’d given him his name because he’d seemed as fragile as an autumn leaf trembling in the breeze. Leaf had been abandoned, and his skittishness made us wonder if he’d been abused by a former owner.

We kept a blanket on the floor by our bed for him to lie on, and he sometimes woke in the middle of the night with bad dreams, whimpering and crying pitifully. I’d roll out of bed and flick on a nightlight, then take him into my office and hold him in my arms until he calmed down.

“It’s okay, boy,” I’d say softly. “You’re safe now.”

But Leaf had never been destructive or acted out, not until just recently. The more anxious I got about the surgery, the more Leaf went on a shredding binge, tearing up newspapers, magazines, anything readable we left lying around.

He’d rip up a sheaf of paper and bring me some scrap covered with saliva, always one tiny scrap, looking at me with his deep, dark eyes. “No, Leaf, no,” I’d say, over and over. He didn’t seem to get it. Even as I headed out the door to the hospital, he just stood there, staring at me earnestly.

I shivered, sitting on the cold, starched sheet of the hospital bed, prepped for surgery: my head shaved, hospital gown wrapped loosely around me. Soon I’d be whisked off to the O.R. Linda leaned forward in her chair and we held hands, bowing our heads, praying. But my fear wouldn’t leave me.

What if this is it? Our last minutes together? Then it was time. Linda kissed me and I watched her go, just as a chaplain came in for a final prayer. She held my hand. “Trust in God,” she said. “Relax in his love.”

These words echoed in my mind on the way to the O.R. I closed my eyes. That’s when I saw Leaf’s face projected on the backs of my eyelids. He held a sliver of paper in his mouth. In my inner vision I reached out as Leaf dropped it into my hands.

I knew what it was. Those cropped letters and numbers that lined the deliberately torn scrap, they hadn’t made any sense before. But now they did.

A ticket. That was what Leaf was giving me. The nightmares that plagued him, and me—had Leaf seen what I’d seen? Impossible. Yet I was sure of it. Surer than I’d ever been of anything. I’m going to make it, I thought. I will awaken and enter the Building of Life.

Ten days later I came home, stitches running from the center of my skull to below one ear. Bruises covered the right side of my face. Surgery had been a complete success. And Leaf? His paper-shredding ended as quickly as it had begun. He never did it again.