The good guys thread

Operation Finally Home Gives War Hero Andrew Litz a Place to Heal

There are days when former Marine Sergeant Andrew Litz can't bear the sounds of his two young children playing in their two-bedroom apartment in suburban Dallas, when his wife, Heather, reminds them that Daddy's head hurts.

But on this October afternoon, the sturdy, intense former soldier is imagining a new life: one of calm connection with his family.

Standing in the yard of the brand-new home in Gunter, Texas, that will soon be theirs, he smiles. "This," he says quietly, "is a place where I can heal."

More than just bricks and mortar, the house is a safe haven, with five bedrooms and four baths. (Make a donation to help veterans like Andrew Litz, and charities like Operation Finally Home. Tune in to the Homeward Bound Telethon Sunday, Nov. 10 on the Military Channel, or visit HomewardBoundTelethon.org)

Since April 20, 2005, when an improvised explosive device in Ramadi, Iraq, killed two of his buddies and left him with a fractured back and neck, traumatic brain injury and post-traumatic stress disorder, Litz, 32, Heather, 29, and kids Zachary, 8, and Madison, 6, have struggled, often living in various rental properties.
http://img2-1.timeinc.net/people/i/2...w-litz-600.jpg

What a lovely gesture, and worthy cause!

Veteran asks for kidney, country answers call
Hundreds pledge to donate to Arcadia man


EDMOND, Okla. —A local veteran took to a street corner to ask for life-saving help and people across the country have answered his call.

Robert Dean, 84, of Arcadia held a sign asking for a kidney donation at the corner of Memorial and Penn on Sunday. He says since then 200 people have pledged to help him.

After the story aired on KOCO 5, it was picked up by stations across the country. Dean says he's gotten call after call. He said, “I had hoped to get one... I love these people.”

People from Florida to Alaska are literally offering a piece of themselves to save his life.

The veteran turned sculptor is narrowing down the list but says he is grateful to everyone.

Dean said, “This is the greatest gift that anyone could give and the greatest gift that anyone could receive… I wish that I could say more than thank you but it's all you could say, thank you.”

Dean says when he recovers from the surgery he plans to throw a party and invite everyone who offered to donate.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by kuhio98

Dean says when he recovers from the surgery he plans to throw a party and invite everyone who offered to donate.

---

What the story doesn't mention is that his act could save more lives than his own. Anyone who gets tested then becomes part of the national database, and if they do not match him, may match some future person in need!

I signed up to be an organ donor when I first got my driver's license - when I'm done with these parts, I hope they can go to good use!

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Karen

What the story doesn't mention is that his act could save more lives than his own. Anyone who gets tested then becomes part of the national database, and if they do not match him, may match some future person in need!

I signed up to be an organ donor when I first got my driver's license - when I'm done with these parts, I hope they can go to good use!

---

I signed my donor card too. And testing revealed that I'm a match for my mother who will need a kidney transplant in the near future.

92-Year-Old Hero Meets 8-Year-Old Girl Whose Life He Saved

http://img2-3.timeinc.net/people/i/2...ro-600x450.jpg

John Shear is 92. He's about 5-feet-tall, he's worked as a guard at the Santa Anita racetrack in California for 51 years, and he can still do 30 pushups at the gym every day – which is 30 more than we've ever done.

One day two years ago, Shear heard someone shout out that there was a loose horse in the paddock. "I went to one side and when I looked down, there was a little girl standing there," he told ABC News. The little girl was Michael Key's five-year-old daughter Roxy. Shear didn't even take a beat before deciding to jump in front of Roxy.

"I knew I was going to get hit," he said. "I thought there was a possibility I was going to die but you cannot stop and think, 'Should I or shouldn't I?' There is a five-year-old girl. I'm 90 years old. I have had a life. She hasn't had a life. You got to save that life."

And that's what he did. Shear was critically injured when the horse trampled both of them, and while Roxy was fine, the elderly man spent seven weeks in the hospital. When he got out, there was just one thing he wanted to do.

"I have always wanted to meet [Roxy] and I was so sad that I never got the chance to meet her when I got better," he said. So two years later, Shear went to one of Roxy's dance recitals, and was finally introduced to the little girl, now 8, whose life he saved.

"When her mother came over and hugged me and said, 'You're my daughter's guardian angel,' I felt wonderful," Shear said.

Roxy's father Michael sums up Shear's actions best: "He didn't save a daughter, he saved a family."

Watch their heartfelt reunion below.

<iframe width="640" height="360" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/bcO-CuA79g0?feature=player_embedded" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

Hero dog discovers, saves abandoned baby

BIRMINGHAM, England -- A stroll in an English park has a dog hailed a hero, and quite possibly saved the life of a baby.

According to the Birmingham Mail newspaper, a German shepherd named Jade was walking with its owner when the dog ran and laid down next to a bag discarded in shrubs.

When the owner inspected what his pet had found, he discovered a newborn baby girl. He ran to a friend's home to call the authorities, saying he didn't touch the bag so he wouldn't contaminate any evidence.

According to reports, the hospital where the baby was taken has nicknamed her Jade after the hero dog.

Police have not found the mother.

Short video here:

http://www.ktvu.com/news/news/weird-...ed-baby/nbhDt/

Woman Preps for Double Mastectomy with Beyoncé Dance Party

http://img2-1.timeinc.net/people/i/2...ce-600x450.jpg

When preparing to undergo a double mastectomy, most women wouldn't immediately think to initiate a full-on dance party in the operating room. But Deborah Cohan enlisted her surgical and anesthesia teams to join her in making a viral video to inspire others to show courage in the face of cancer.

The mom of two, clad in a hospital gown, boogies down to Beyonce's "Get Bodied" for about six minutes before her surgery at Mt. Zion hospital in San Francisco, as captured in the YouTube clip.

On her CaringBridge page, Cohan invited others to participate in a virtual flash mob by sending footage of themselves dancing to the track, from Beyonce's 2006 album B'Day.

"I have visions of a healing video montage," Cohan wrote on Nov. 1. "Nothing brings me greater joy than catalyzing others to dance, move, be in their bodies. Are you with me people?"

Don't just watch – get up and dance – along to the uplifting video below.

<iframe width="640" height="360" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/uPdheFjRm4E?feature=player_embedded" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

Gretchen Holt-Witt Baked 96,000 Cookies to Raise Millions for Cancer Research After Losing Son

http://img2-1.timeinc.net/people/i/2...t-witt-600.jpg

In the fall of 2007, doting mother Gretchen Holt-Witt of Califon, N.J., was in good spirits. Her 2-year-old son Liam, who had spent months in and out of the hospital battling neuroblastoma, a form of nerve cancer, was in remission and appeared healthy once again.

"We were so grateful his cancer was gone, we felt it was important to give back," says Holt-Witt.

So Gretchen and Liam, a joyful risk-taker of a kid who loved to cook – "he'd download tons of cooking apps," Holt-Witt says – decided to pay it forward. They came up with the idea to bake cookies to raise money for pediatric cancer research. But a few dozen wouldn't do. They opted for 8,000 dozen.

"We wanted to push our boundaries the way Liam's had been pushed," says Holt-Witt, who along with her husband Larry, daughter Ella, and 250 friends and volunteers churned out 96,000 cookies, raising more than $400,000.

Holt-Witt founded the non-profit organization Cookies For Kids' Cancer. People all around the country hold bake sales in the name of the organization to take up donations for pediatric cancer research.

http://img2.timeinc.net/people/i/201...witt-2-600.jpg

Now celebrating its fifth year, CFKC has raised more than $5 million for research and development of new cancer treatments for kids and this year published a new cookies cookbook, with proceeds going back to the charity.


"There aren't that many treatment options for kids because pediatric cancers get the short end of the funding stick," says Holt-Witt. "Helping others is what allows me to cope."

Shortly after their bake sale, Liam's cancer returned.

"He went through tons of relapses," says Holt-Witt, "It was kind of like building a house in the sand, the foundation could give away any second."

But despite constant trips to the doctors office, and countless rounds of chemo and radiation, Holt-Witt says "Liam didn't know he was sick. I'd say, 'Oh we're just going to spend a few more days at the hospital, no problem.' Seeing me worry was not going to make life easier for him."

First diagnosed as a toddler, Liam never showed any telltale signs of the illness. For four years Liam underwent countless clinical trials. Despite the treatment and doctors' best efforts, he never reached his seventh birthday.

"Missing her brother and losing her only sibling will never go away," says Holt-Witt of her daughter Ella, 7, who often comments on things Liam would have liked to do and see. "But Cookies is an outlet for her, because she feels like her bothers life had meaning and wasn't in vain."

The organization has now helped fund their seventh clinical trial project, meaning new hope for young cancer patients around the world.

"Cookies gives anybody, anywhere something tangible to do to help with such a daunting issue. It makes you feel like a hero," says Holt-Witt. "I know this sounds strange, but I feel like one of the luckiest people out there because I get to see the good in people. To have the opportunity to receive access to a new treatment is the equivalent of having a chance at bat."

That's a chance Morgan Pierce has now. The 10-year-old from Plant City, Fla. is currently receiving lifesaving cancer treatment through a new clinical trial that Cookies help fund.

"That's what keeps you going," says Holt-Witt. "I don't have my son here to hug and hold and love, but I'd still do anything for him. I know the first thing he'll say when I see him in heaven is, 'Mommy, did you make it better for others?' And my husband and I will have to look at him and say 'We did everything we could.' "

USS Harry S. Truman sailors free trapped sea turtle

http://localtvwtkr.files.wordpress.c.../t12.jpg?w=821

Sailors assigned to the aircraft carrier USS Harry S. Truman rescued a sea turtle that was tangled in a makeshift fishing net on Nov. 7.

“They called away, ‘man the port davit,’ because a lookout saw some containers attached to a net in the water, and there was a sea turtle trapped in it,” said Lt. j.g. Lillian Bean, who served as the boat officer for the rigid-hull inflatable boat (RHIB) used in the rescue.

In addition to Bean, the RHIB crew included Chief Damage Controlman Mark Rayner, search and rescue swimmer; Engineman 3rd Class Anthony Torro, boat engineer; Boatswain’s Mate 3rd Class Dalton Thompson, coxswain; and Seaman Madison Allen, bow hook.

“When we launched the RHIB, the turtle was about 700 or 800 yards away from us,” said Thompson.

Allen said the turtle was tangled in a makeshift fishing net built out of jugs, metal wire, hooks and netting.

“The netting and wire were wrapped around the turtle’s fin,” said Allen. “People put these types of traps together to catch fish, and the turtle ended up getting caught.”

Bean said when the jugs start bobbing up and down in the water it signals something has been caught. That is how the lookout noticed that there was something struggling in the water.

“He looked tired and stressed,” said Bean. “I really wanted to save this turtle and not leave him out there. When we got to the turtle, we tried to grab a hold of the jugs first, but it kept swimming away.”

Reaching the turtle was the first step in what turned out to be the difficult process of freeing it.

Bean said they couldn’t put anyone in the water because of the size of the turtle, how tangled it was and the potential hazard to a rescue swimmer, so they used a boat hook to pull the entangled turtle closer to the side of the RHIB so they could work on freeing it.

Allen said additional measures were taken to keep the turtle and the entangled floating jugs from getting too far from the RHIB.

“We attached the search and rescue tending line from the RHIB to the jugs to keep the turtle close,” said Allen.

Bean said the turtle’s right front fin had wire and line wrapped around it with hooks also penetrating the turtle’s flesh.

“I was thinking that we had to absolutely save this turtle when we got hold of it,” said Bean. “We weren’t leaving until this turtle was free.”

Allen said the turtle didn’t make it easy for its rescuers.

“While we were untangling him, he was flapping his fin in the air and always trying to swim away from the RHIB,” said Allen.

Capt. Bob Roth, Truman’s commanding officer, praised the team for the successful rescue.

“It was a great event all around,” he said. “The sea state was perfect and the RHIB team did a great job freeing the turtle and certainly saving its life,” he said. “In the Navy, we always strive to be good stewards of the environment. As professional mariners, we are obligated and take great pride in helping those fellow mariners in need. In this case, we applied our mariner culture of assistance to this wonderful creature. The smiles and excitement of the boat crew after they returned to the carrier were infectious, it was an uplifting experience.”

Hmmmm, I wonder what it would be like to be so financially secure that I could simply forget I had $98,000 in a plastic bag in a desk drawer? Well, I can dream, can't I?

Rabbi returns $98,000 he found in desk he bought on Craigslist

(CNN) -- A Connecticut rabbi returned $98,000 in cash he found in a plastic bag hidden behind drawers of an ordinary office desk he bought on Craigslist in September.

Rabbi Noah Muroff, a high school teacher at a private Jewish school in New Haven, discovered the money while dismantling the $150 desk to move it through a narrow doorway.

"The desk did not fit ... by just a fraction of an inch," Muroff said.

He said he unhooked file cabinet drawers and removed the top of the desk. Then came the unexpected surprise.

"Without detaching the desk, Muroff said, "this money, which was behind the drawers, was totally inaccessible."

The rabbi and his wife, Esther, were in total shock.

"We were looking at each other and laughing," he said. "This kind of thing only happens in the movies."

On the evening of September 2, just days before Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year, Muroff and a friend picked up the desk from a woman, Patty, who lives just outside of New Haven. Muroff declined to identify the owner further.

"I knew this was her money," he said. "She told me she bought the desk from Staples and put it together herself."

Within 20 minutes of finding the money, around 11:30 p.m. that same evening, Muroff called Patty.

"She was speechless, without words," he said.

Muroff said the former owner told him she put her inheritance in the desk and after a while forgot it was there.

"I do not think there are too many people in this world that would have done what you did by calling me," Patty wrote in a thank you note to Muroff that CNN obtained.

The couple took their four children with them to return the money the next day, hoping their good deed will send "the message of honesty and integrity," he said.

La Pine-area dog, shot in head, recovering at home
Stranger in parking lot offers to pay hefty medical bill

LA PINE, Ore. - A La Pine-area dog that was shot in the face and faced possible euthanasia -- but was saved thanks to a chance encounter with a helpful stranger -- went home Saturday, his grateful owner said.

Santia Reed said in a Facebook posting that the vet told her Zeus "was shot at point-blank range," so they were unable to remove the fragments. He has a side of his jaw wired and a drain tube in his neck, to be removed next week.

For now, Reed said, Zeus "is on a diet of soft food, cannot be outside alone for 10-12 days, is on antibiotics and pain medicine" -- but "is so happy to be home."

She also said, "The man that helped save him even came by the vet's office today to see him" before the trip home.

The La Pine-area family was awakened by gunshots early Friday morning, only to find their yellow lab Zeus had been shot in the face.

"We heard gunshots about one or two in the morning. My boyfriend got up out of bed came outside and Zeus was covered in blood," Reed said Friday evening.

Zeus, in shock, ran away from the Santia and her boyfriend.

"We looked for him until 8 a.m., when we found him curled up on the porch," Reed said.

With the dog resting, she called animal control to see if they could have Zeus put down, because they couldn't afford his medical bills.

We don't have the money to do anything," Reed said. "They were offering to put him down, to pay the expenses, if we could get him to the vet."

The dog was loaded into a car and they made the eight-mile drive to the La Pine Animal Hospital, when fate stepped in.

"There was this man," Reed said. "He asked if we could save him, and I said, 'No we don't have any money.' And he told the vet whatever he had to do, he would pay for it."

Dr. Lani Voyles of the La Pine Animal Hospital said, "It's kind of refreshing to see someone who is willing to help for a complete strange. It makes me feel better. We see a lot of the other side of it, so it's nice to see it."

Voyles says Zeus had fragments of bullet removed from his mouth, and part of his jaw wired.

"As we got further in, I called (the donor) back again and said, 'It's going to be this much more.' And he said, 'That's great, whatever they needed,'" said Voyles.

Resting comfortably, Zeus is expected to make a full recovery. And Reed is ever thankful for the man in the right place at the right time.

"I want to say, 'Thank you for saving the dog, making the kids happy and not having to go through that,'" Reed said through her tears.

From People Magazine:

Bao Tran Reunites with Baby He Saved in Vietnam

http://img2.timeinc.net/people/i/201...tchell-600.jpg

Bao Tran still remembers an old man shuffling onto the bridge to hand him a tiny bundle tucked into a straw hat.

It was May 1972 and Tran was in the South Vietnamese Army fighting alongside the Americans. His company was about to blow up the bridge outside Quang Tri.

"The man said the baby was trying to nurse on its dead mother," Tran, now 65, recalls.

He carried the baby in that hat for 60 miles – "I was in full combat gear, with explosions all around," he says – to an orphanage, where he left her with the name he'd planned for his own daughter someday: Ngoc Bich.

"That is what I named this baby," he tells PEOPLE. "Precious Pearl."

That would have been the last time Tran saw the girl he thought of as "my con gai, my daughter" but for an astonishing coincidence that led to their reunion this year.

Finding Each Other

After seven years as a prisoner of war for the conquering North Vietnamese, Tran returned to the orphanage, but it had moved. Even as he and his wife had their own kids, he thought of his Pearl.

"I hoped she was okay," he says. She was.

Adopted by a Wisconsin couple who renamed her Kimberly Mitchell, she grew up on a farm, graduated from the U.S. Naval Academy, rose to Lt. Commander and now runs the Washington, D.C., non-profit Dixon Center for veterans.

"I'd always wondered," says Mitchell, "was it out of love I was put in the orphanage?"

After stumbling upon information on the orphanage's new location, Mitchell visited while on a 40th-birthday trip to Vietnam in 2011.

A U.S.-based Vietnamese-language newspaper wrote about her trip, mentioning the name on Mitchell's first passport as a baby: Precious Pearl.

Tran had since emigrated to the U.S. A worker of odd jobs in Albuquerque, he happened to read that paper.

"I knew it had to be the girl!" he says. He searched Mitchell out to reassure her that "she wasn't abandoned; she was rescued."

The pair met in New Mexico on March 29 and embraced like lost relatives.

"I was hugging this man, thinking, 'Why would he want to save me? '" she says. "He must have compassion and love in him that is beyond any comprehension."

Like Family Now

Today, as Tran and his wife Bau, with their children and grandchildren, ply Mitchell, 41, with flowers and Vietnamese food whenever they and their newfound "daughter" get together, there is not only joy all around – but also peace.

Mitchell knows that she was loved from the start; that her biological mother died with her baby in her arms.

"I was obviously important to her," Mitchell says.

And Tran's story of the war now has meaning.

"I was meant to find Precious Pearl that day," he says. "Finding her again has brought peace to my life."

http://img2.timeinc.net/people/i/201...hell-2-300.jpg

San Francisco turns into Gotham City for Batkid

Miles is a 5-year-old with leukemia who has always wanted to be Batkid. Thousands of volunteers crowded into San Francisco’s streets to help the Make-A-Wish foundation make the child’s dream come true.


Read more: http://www.nydailynews.com/news/nati...#ixzz2kl0dRYyD

Attachment 57422

Pass it on!

Act of kindness honoring late daughter spreads around the world

CNN) -- Alyssa O'Neill sent a text to her mother earlier this month asking her whether she would take her to get a pumpkin spice latte the next day. Although her mother agreed, Alyssa was never able to try the drink.

On September 4, the morning she was supposed to get the treat, the 18-year-old died of an epileptic seizure.

"We were just shocked at the sudden loss and didn't know what to do," her father, Jason O'Neill, said. "So we tried to fulfill the one thing that she asked us. If Alyssa couldn't get a pumpkin spice latte, we would get them for other people and try to pass the kindness forward."

O'Neill had no clue how many people this random act of kindness would affect.

Two days after Alyssa's funeral, the O'Neills went to a Starbucks in Erie, Pennsylvania, where they live, and purchased lattes for 40 strangers. O'Neill asked the manager to write the hashtag #AJO with a purple marker on each cup.

According to O'Neill, the manager and employees, overwhelmed with the gesture, donated 50 drinks on top of the 40.

"It just kind of exploded at that point. We had somewhat of a following, but nothing like this," he said.

Now the movement to raise awareness about epilepsy has gone beyond lattes.

"It was just random acts of kindness. People have been paying others' Christmas layaways and buying meals," O'Neill said. The Facebook memorial page AJO Forever in our Hearts has more than 28,000 likes.

O'Neill said his daughter's initials have nearly turned into a verb. "People are saying, 'I got AJOed this morning,' 'Have you AJOed today?'"

From Erie to Sri Lanka, the O'Neills have been receiving photos showing #AJO.

The family knew of Alyssa's seizure disorder before the fatal episode.

Alyssa was a high school cheerleader who hoped to become a nurse and help others with epilepsy. She was a first-semester student at Penn State Behrend.

The O'Neills started the AJO Forever Fund to assist families of children with epilepsy and to bolster a scholarship fund for local cheerleaders looking to go into nursing.

http://i2.cdn.turner.com/cnn/dam/ass...story-body.jpg

First dog saves man from fire, then man saves dog

DES MOINES, Iowa —As a Des Moines man slept Tuesday morning, a fire was growing just 10 feet away.


Paul Kemp's dog, a 3-year-old Sheltie named Sheba, was the first to spot it. Kemp said he awoke on the living room couch to Sheba jumping onto his chest.

"It was unusual, and startled me -- and then I saw the fire," said Kemp. "So, I went and got my coffee pot, and threw some water on it and it didn't help, and it just grew really quickly."

Kemp ran outside and assumed Sheba was with him like always, but she wasn't.

"I was yelling outside for her, and I didn't see her and I figured she had to be back in the house, so I went in the house and yelled for her, and then she came running and ran outside," said Kemp.

Co-workers were shocked to see Paul and Sheba at work just hours after their ordeal, but at the Animal Lifeline this story of dog saves man, man saves dog goes hand in hand with the mission of the no-kill animal shelter.

It's where sick, injured and abused animals get a second chance.

"I love her, she's my little girl. I mean I've always loved her but now she saved my life, ya know," said Kemp. "She showed me that she's my best friend, because she was worried about me. I mean she wasn't running around when she first saw the fire. Her first instinct was to wake me up, ya know, thinking about me first."

Kemp suffered some burns described as minor in the fire.

The cause of the fire remains under investigation. Authorities said the home is a total loss.

Kemp and Sheba are staying in a hotel. Kemp said he had homeowner's insurance.

http://www.kcci.com/image/view/-/229...e-2-cu-dog.jpg

Little girl has big heart for books

LUBBOCK, TX (KCBD) - There's a little girl with a big heart for books.

Addie Bleu Short says reading is her favorite past time, and she wanted to find a way to share that love with kids across the world.

Over the past several months the third grader has collected enough books to donate a "entire library" to a village in Africa.

But now there's one thing standing in her way - enough funds to pay for the shipping.

Addie Bleu Short is a tall order, and she loves books more than an average third grader.

"Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone," she says. "I really like fiction with adventure and mystery in it."

According to her mom, the love has been there since picked up her first book.

"I started out only wanting books for presents on my birthday and for Christmas but then I thought, I have so many books!"

So Addie Bleu wanted to something special with all those books she had, to spread the joy she finds inside the pages of the books.

it's a part of the African Library Project, and the goal is to send 1000 books to a library for kids in Africa.

"She was excited because she could send a whole library and that idea was really neat to her."

The books are sent to rural parts of Africa, with project partners to organize the libraries in various African communities.

So far she has collected enough books for an entire library.

"Right now there are 1,600 books in the living room of the Short family, all waiting for enough money to ship them out to Africa."

The books must be sent by Dec. 10, but without enough money to cover shipping that day could come and go.

But the 9-year-old is far from being done.

She is asking for even more books to be donated to help spread the love of reading.

She's also trying to raise $2,500 for the Addie Bleu's African Library Project.

You can donate used children's books to the YWCA or Rush Elementary.

To donate or find more information, visit

http://www.gofundme.com/addiebleusafricanlibrary

https://www.facebook.com/addiebleusALP

http://kcbd.images.worldnow.com/images/23994226_BG1.jpg

I love reading these! Goes to show that there's a lot more good out there
than we think!! (:
Thank you so much for posting such heart warming and inspirational stories! :D

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Sairentonen

I love reading these! Goes to show that there's a lot more good out there
than we think!! (:
Thank you so much for posting such heart warming and inspirational stories! :D

---

Thank you. Feel free to share any postive stories that touch your heart.

There have always been many more good people than bad in the world. I'm sick of the bad ones getting all the attention. Power to the good guys! :D

I love the Batkid story! I heard about it on the radio first, then in the newspaper and twitter. What a great thing to do!

I have to confess that when I heard about this story, I figured that "management" would come up with a million and one reasons why a wedding couldn't be performed at the airport. I am beyond happy to hear that, instead of hendering the process, they helped make it happen. And how wonderful to see a couple to understands that the important thing is to be together -- not where the wedding takes place. Gives me hope....


Navy Sailor Marries High-School Sweetheart in Reno Airport

http://img2-3.timeinc.net/people/i/2...ruffer-600.jpg

A U.S. Navy sailor told his high school sweetheart he wanted to marry her the moment he laid eyes on her after an 11-month deployment off the coast of war-torn Syria.

Seaman Apprentice Dylan Ruffer got his wish Tuesday shortly after stepping off a plane at Reno-Tahoe International Airport.

Ruffer and Madison Meinhardt, both 19, tied the knot just after midnight under a tulle-covered arch in front of the arrivals escalators. More than 200 invited guests, passengers and others looked on.

"Seeing her for the first time, it was amazing," Ruffer told reporters.

A reception followed in the baggage claim area.

"We were expecting a little wedding in the corner," Meinhardt said. "This is definitely more than we could have ever asked for."

The couple, who met at Chester High School in Northern California, initially planned to marry in October but had to postpone the wedding when Ruffer's deployment was extended, according to KOLO-TV.

The bride inquired about the possibility of an airport wedding about three weeks ago, and businesses and community members quickly rallied around the plan. The Peppermill casino offered a spa package so the bride could prepare, while the Eldorado casino donated a honeymoon suite and limousine.

The airport catering service prepared food for the reception, which was held in a fully decorated section of the baggage claim area and featured a deejay.

"A lot of people were absolutely stunned to see a wedding in the terminal," airport spokesman Brian Kulpin said. "It's not something you see in the airport every day."
<iframe width="640" height="360" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/Z8cj-4cZlz8?feature=player_embedded" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

Oral Lee Brown Has Sent More than 150 Children to College

Back in 1987, Oral Lee Brown, an Oakland, Calif., realtor, made a seemingly crazy decision.

She decided to offer 23 first-grade children at Brookfield Elementary School a full-ride to college with no realistic expectations that they would even graduate from high school.

In a school district with a 54 percent high school graduation rate, Browns' kids are beating the odds. Out of that first group of 23, 19 graduated from high school and enrolled in college.

"They didn't want to fail me," she says of their success. "I believe love can turn anything around."

Brown, 68, later established the Oral Lee Brown Foundation. To date 90 to 95 percent of her classes have graduated, with around 150 kids going to college.

"I don’t have a magic wand," she says. "It is hard work, determination and love. I can't allow mine to fail."

Michael Tatmon, 32, is one of her grateful kids from that first class.

"Ms. Brown was always in my corner," says Tatmon, who graduated from Benedictine College in Atchison, Kan., with a degree in criminal justice in 2007 and a BA in criminology. "I appreciate her guidance, her wisdom. She taught us you can make it out of the hood."

She was also there for them on a personal level, he says.

"She was like a mother," says Tatmon, who recently started his own clothing, marketing and promotion company. "Out of my family members, I can say I'm one of the few who have never been in jail. That's a result of Ms. Brown in my life."

It all began when a young girl asked Brown for a quarter outside of a grocery store. Instead, she offered to take her inside and buy her something. Expecting her to pick out candy, the girl bought bread, bologna and other sandwich supplies.

Brown kept returning to the store to look for her. Then she decided to try the local elementary school. Three girls were absent from the two first-grade classes that day.

"The principal said, 'I'll give you a call when all the kids are there,'" Brown recalls. "So I get a phone call that all students are here today and I went through thinking I'd finally see her."

She didn't.

"So I just blurted out, 'Can I adopt one of the classes?'" she says. "'Give me the class you don't think will make it.'"

Brown also started Saturday school for the children and is trying to raise money to start a boarding school that will be a safe haven for these children, housing about 480 students.

"With the boarding school, my kids will be safe, with no bullets coming into their dorm," she says.

LaTosha Hunter, 32, who received a bachelor of arts degree in accounting from Alcorn State University in Lorman, Miss., says she wouldn't be the person he is today without Brown.

"Everyone has a purpose in life," she says. "And her purpose was that we had a better life."

http://img2-2.timeinc.net/people/i/2...-brown-300.jpg

People Pets Blind Dog and His Guide Brother Find Forever Home
http://img2-1.timeinc.net/people/i/2...spca-1-600.jpg
... And they lived happily ever after!

Jeffrey and Jermaine, the two homeless pups whose story melted hearts when a photograph of them hugging each other in their shelter pen went viral, have found a place to spend forever.

The no-kill animal shelter Operation Ava sorted through more than 10,000 adoptions applications for the 8-month-old pups, who are inseparable because Jeffrey is blind and his brother, Jermaine, is his loyal guide dog. The lucky new owners: Jonathan Hochman and his wife, Veronica McKee.

According to a rep for the shelter, the couple, who live in Springfield, Pa., had been looking to adopt a pair of shelter dogs, as they have a big backyard and are not planning on children.

They will bring the dogs to their new home on Monday.

"I thought these are the cutest dogs I've ever seen,” McKee told Today of the moment she saw the photo. "They're incredibly sweet, but they still have that sibling rivalry. There's this sharing thing. It's pretty funny."

The pit bull-Lab mixes, who now have a feline sibling in McKee and Hochman's cat Blabbus, were found on the streets of Philadelphia in October.

(CBS) – A dog missing since the tornado tore through downstate Washington more than a week ago has been re-united with his owner, reports WBBM’s Mike Krauser.

His name is Dexter, a six-month old pit bull and he has been missed by his owner Jacob Montgomery, an MP in the Illinois National Guard whose third floor apartment was torn apart by the tornado.

He posted an ad online with a lot of pictures asking that if anyone sees Dexter to contact him.

Dexter was found Tuesday morning in the rubble alive. Comparing the before and after pictures he has obviously lost a lot of weight and his ribs are showing. He was being checked out by a vet and has been reunited with his owner.

Kevin Bacon and Kyra Sedgwick Prepare 1,000 ‘Thanksgiving To-Go Meals’
http://img2.timeinc.net/people/i/201...on-600x800.jpg

You could say that Kevin Bacon and Kyra Sedgwick are giving back before giving thanks.

On Nov. 24, the celebrity couple joined other volunteers (including chefs David Burke, Sunny Anderson, and Mario Batali) at the Food Bank For New York City in Harlem to prepare 1,000 Thanksgiving meals for high-need communities in the area.

Sedgwick and Bacon, who are actively involved in the food bank, say the cause is close to their hearts—and home. “We only live a few blocks from here and the idea that we have so much and there’s 1 out of 5 people in New York using food bank services is kind of staggering,” Bacon told PEOPLE.

With new challenges following government funding cuts that cost the city the equivalent of 76 million meals, Sedgwick says that Thanksgiving won’t be the same for many. “I remember coming here last year and things were rough and they were really struggling to feed the amount of people that were coming in,” she said. “I can only imagine this year, it must be a devastating loss.”

Before strapping on their chef’s hats and aprons, the couple also talked about their own Thanksgiving plans: They will once again be hosting both of their families, which has become an annual tradition.

“We have a great Bacon family Thanksgiving, we’ve been doing it forever,” said Sedgwick.

As for the meal, she admitted that she’s partial to dark turkey meat and gushed about her love of vegetables. “I heard that you don’t start enjoying Brussels sprouts until you’re an adult and let me say that’s one of the good things about getting older,” she said.

Sedgwick, who sliced off the tip of finger chopping kale this summer, said she will likely stay out of the kitchen, but that daughter Sosie, who was just named Miss Golden Globe, and Bacon’s sisters will be handling the cooking and pie-baking. “I’m more of a cheerleader because everyone comes to our house to cook,” she said.

Said Bacon: “It makes us realize how thankful we are and that point gets driven home even stronger on a day like Thanksgiving.”

Struggling homeowner gets Thanksgiving surprise
Builders Care & Roof Smart come through for 78 year-old woman

CAPE CORAL, Fla. - Chanting the words "Builders Care, Roof Smart," a group of smiling people marched right down Alabar Lane to the home of 78 year-old Joan Annunzio

"Surprise!" they yelled when they got to her front porch.

"Hi," she said with a shy smile.

The group's spokeswoman, Heidi Taulman explained they were there to give Joan good news: the leaking roof that's been worrying her for years will finally be fixed.

"It leaks in various place and tiles are blowing off of it," said Joan.

The group said a prayer as Joan was presented with flowers.

"Lord, you are a God of new beginnings," someone whispers.

"Make this a new beginning for Joan and the Annunzio family."

"She's not going to worry about anything any longer," said Peter Simeone who co-owns Roof Smart with John Gillam.

The company is installing a $6500 roof for free on Annunzio's home. She's lived in it for 28 years.

"I'm just overwhelmed with Thanksgiving, just overwhelmed," Joan said as she teared up.

Joan couldn't afford to have the roof replaced or even repaired.

She raised her son in the house and always put him first.

Despite some serious health problems - including a heart condition and failing eyesight - she often walks 2 miles to the store to pick up things for her neighbors.

"Joan worked hard all of her life, taking care of friends whenever she can," said Taulman of Builders Care.

Now it's time for someone else to take care of Joan.

"I'm just overwhelmed and feelingn appreciation," said Joan.

"Thank you from bottom of my heart which is pounding," she said with a laugh to the group.

The co-owner of Roof Smart said it's just as gratifying for his crew as it is for Joan.

"This is what the holidays are about about," says Simeone.

"Giving to someobdy who needed something."

"You reach out and help out," he said.

"We should be more thankful to her than her to us," he added.

Simeone says his company is thankful to have met with a lot of success over the years and wants to pay it forward.

"We've been so blessed the community has taken care of us." he said.

"Now we can take care of people need to be taken care of."

True to form, Joan's thoughts quickly shifted others who are getting ready to celebrate the holiday as she wished that, "everyone could be as thankful as I am right now and that we have a happy Thanksgiving day."

Hers will most definitely be a thankful - and dry holiday. The leaky roof should be completely replaced just in time for Thanksgiving dinner on Thursday.

"Thank you so much," she told the group again,

"And may we all have a all happy Thanksigving in a world in peace."
http://thumbnail.newsinc.com/25395694.sf.jpg

Hotel Rewards Homeless Man Who Returned Guest's Wallet with Thanksgiving Stay

Joel Hartman has been homeless for a year. He spent last Thursday sleeping in the woods outside of Duluth, an Atlanta suburb. He made it into Atlanta, and was looking for food in a dumpster outside the Omni Hotel when he found a wallet. What happened next is pretty extraordinary.

Hartman returned the wallet, which belonged to a French tourist, to the hotel. The Omni's general manager, Scott Stuckey, found out, and released surveillance footage of Hartman's honest gesture, which made it to the Internet.

Hartman eventually learned that the Omni was looking for him and returned to the hotel last week, where he was greeted by Stuckey, who had an offer for him: a room through Thanksgiving with room service and a $500 reward.

"It's just for doing the right thing," Hartman told WSB Atlanta. He intends to hop a freight train to Alaska when his stay at the Omni is up. Best of luck to you, Josh!

Watch a Man Be Surprised by a Room Full of People He Rescued During the Holocaust

Sir Nicholas Winton is one of the lesser-known figures of World War II. He organized the rescue of over 650 children (mostly Jewish Czechoslovakians) in an operation called the Czech Kindertransport.

The children were destined for the Nazi death camps, and Winton was instrumental in getting them safe passage to Britain.

After the war was over, Winton didn't brag about his exploits. In fact, he didn't tell a soul for half a century, not even his wife Grete. Then, in 1988, Grete found a scrapbook dating to 1939 in their attic.

It held all the children's photos, a list of their names, letters from some of their parents, and other documents. It was the first time she'd learned of her husband's story.

Later that year, the BBC program That's Life aired a reunion between Winton and the children – obviously now grown adults – he rescued. Winton was surprised when one of the children he rescued was revealed to be seated beside him, so imagine how he felt when the show's host asked if there were any other people he'd helped to save in the audience and two dozen others stood and applauded.



http://img2.timeinc.net/people/i/201...vivors-600.jpg

Gas station clerk helps missing elderly couple with dementia get home


TACOMA — An elderly couple, both suffering from dementia, have been found safe, thanks to an observant gas station clerk in Tacoma.

People come in to the Pink Elephant Car Wash and Gas Station asking to use the restroom all the time. But when an elderly woman came in Thursday morning, then returned just a few minutes later, Susan McConnell knew something was wrong.

“I told her, you were just here five minutes ago,” said McConnell. “The look on her face was very disappointed. I don`t think she remembered being here.”

McConnell’s father has Alzheimer’s. She thought the woman and her husband, who were both in their 80s, were showing similar signs.

“Having a parent that`s suffering from it has made me more aware of the disease. It`s hard dealing with them because they don`t understand.”

Before she came to work, she had heard on the news that a couple from an assisted living facility in Normandy Park was missing. She wasn’t sure if it was this couple. But she convinced them to sit down and get warm, while she called 911.

“I figured if they said yes to the coffee, I got them for a few minutes. And I kept praying for the officers to please show up, show up quick.”

Officers did show up and positively identified Richard and Doris Rogers. The couple had been missing more than 12 hours. But thanks to McConnell’s quick thinking, they were safe.

“So many times we`re busy and we don`t have time to get involved, that`s not always good. So this time, I made sure to get involved. If something like this happened to my father, I would want someone to do that for him.”

McConnell didn’t want to work on the holiday. But she says it was worth it, to see the Rogers` reunite with their daughter and head back home to Normandy Park.

“I don`t know, I have honestly had the best thanksgiving ever,” she says. “To know they`re home, they`re safe, they`re with their family. Honestly, it`s the best Thanksgiving ever.”
http://tribkcpq.files.wordpress.com/...ng?w=300&h=202

Precious Ornaments

When my daughter, Lauren, was 14 months old she got cranky and didn't want to eat. The doctor diagnosed an ear infection and gave us antibiotics. Two days later Laura died in her sleep. My husband, David, and I were devastated.

It turned out that Lauren had a rare metabolic disorder that prevents the liver from breaking down fat. We had had no idea -- she had always seemed healthy.

That first Christmas without her was hard, but our family and church provided us with strength. The next Christmas, in 2006, my mother-in-law gave me an etched-glass ornament with Lauren's name and dates of birth and death on it. It's beautiful, but the best thing is that it's tangible. I can proudly display it because I want people to ask about my daughter; I want to talk about her. That's what keeps her memory alive.

Since then, Lauren ornaments have become a tradition -- we now have six. They're always up on our mantel, not just at Christmas, for anyone who comes into our home to see.

-- Nicole, Decatur, Georgia

Eastern Iowa father pays it forward after son's cancer fight

CEDAR FALLS (KWWL) - Paul Woodward is collecting toys for cancer patients because he says it's just the right thing to do.

"It's a good feeling to see those people going through such a bad time and have something good happen to them even if it is just for a few minutes," said Woodward.

Last year Woodward collected more than 400 toys for cancer patients at the University of Iowa Hospital and the Ronald McDonald House in Iowa City.

This year he hopes to get more, that's because for Woodward it hits close to home.

"Even if it was for two minutes, it put a smile on his face and gave him something to do to keep his mind off of the doctors, nurses coming in all the time," said Woodward.

At 10-years-old, Woodward's son Brady was diagnosed with a rare form of muscular cancer. Brady spent six weeks at the hospital in Iowa City while going through radiation.

"There was up and down days that he had with the sickness and reacting to the chemo and stuff," said Woodward.

In August, Brady celebrated his fourth year cancer free.

"Some days I still can't believe what he went through and he made it," said Woodward.

Woodward is collecting toys through December 12th.

If you would like to donate you can find Paul Woodward on Facebook.
http://kwwl.images.worldnow.com/images/3044966_G.jpg

Boynton Beach woman gets surprise of lifetime


BOYNTON BEACH, Fla. - To watch Yolanda Thomas at home with her four kids, is to watch an engine at work.

"I have to work so fast," she said. "Dinner, homework, showers, it's a lot."

She gets up at 5 a.m. every day so she can get ready for her new job as a clerk and run them to school.

In a word, she's: "Exhausted."

And stressed out, financially.

When she left military service in 2010, she never imagined transitioning would be this hard.

"When I was in the Navy I could get them whatever they wanted," Thomas said. "Two of my sons have birthdays in November. I didn't have the funds to give hem the gifts they wanted. So Christmas I said I'll make it up to them."

While Yolanda was at work Wednesday, dozens of volunteers from Florida Power & Light and Boynton Beach Police Explorers transformed her home.

They put up Christmas lights, snowmen and presents.

"I just can't wait to see the look on her face," said FPL volunteer Heather Kirkendall.

A few weeks ago, Yolanda told local veterans group, Stand Down House, that she wanted a Merry Christmas for her kids.

After another twelve-hour work day, she drove up to dozens of people and thousands of lights on her home.

"I don't know, I don't know what to say. I'm speechless," she said.

Hours later, as she went over a paper she'd written for the college degree she's taking online classes for, she had a moment of satisfaction.

"I learned that my service really is appreciated. I hear people say it all the time. To see it in action means so much more."

Thanks for her service in the Navy, and as a mother.

5-Year-Old Boy Creates ‘Bug’s Bikes’ For Kids With Special Needs

BOSTON (CBS) — Every kid should have a bike, right? Well for children with special needs, that may mean a special bike, a very expensive bike.

That’s why there’s a new program called “Bug’s Bikes.” The idea of a 5-year-old, it has grown into a community wide, team effort, to help.

Bug is 5-year-old Steven De Angelis. Steven has vision problems with high functioning autism and other medical issues, but when he’s riding his adaptive bike: “It’s therapy. It’s independence. He has an ability to just go and be free,” says his mother Kelly.

Steven’s parents had to save for a while to buy his bike, but when he went to an adaptive bike camp at the Franciscan Hospital for Children last spring, he had a 5 year old’s revelation.

“He realized he was the only kid bringing his bike home ever day, and he wanted to know why the other kids weren’t bringing their bikes home,” says Kelly. Cost was the big reason. Depending on a child’s specific needs, these bikes range in cost from about $600 to as high as $4000.

“For most families it’s very out of reach because therapy, medical needs, other equipment comes first,” says Kelly. But Steven had an idea; a lemonade stand.

“He wanted to raise money to help other kids get bikes like his,” his mom says. Word got out and over the course of 3 days, $2000 was collected. Bug’s Bikes was born.

Recently they gave their first adaptive bike to 5-year-old Sienna Brown of Belmont.

“We were so overwhelmed and overjoyed,” says Sienna’s mother Gina Brown. “When she got the bike she was so excited. She gave Steven the biggest hug, and just to see her face light up, it just made my heart just melt,” she adds.

Sienna’s mother already sees a difference. “When they ride these bikes they’re using all the muscles in their legs, they’re using hand and eye coordination. I see her getting a little bit stronger each time she’s on it,” she says.

The effort has grown out of the idea of one little boy. “We went from a lemonade stand to about 470 friends on Facebook, to community groups that are involved,” says Kelly De Angelis. And together, they’re getting it done. “No matter what their ability, agility, disability is, every child deserves that childhood experience of riding a bike,” Kelly says.

The short-term goal of Bug’s Bikes is to raise enough money to provide 5 more children with these special, adaptive bikes.

You can help the cause by buying a Christmas Ornament http://bugsbikes.org/christmas-ornament/ Bought mine! Only $8
http://173.254.91.223/wp-content/upl..._n-259x300.jpg

Student Rescues Chihuahua Stuck in Sewer

BAY VILLAGE, Ohio– When a member of the family goes missing, there are many anxious moments wondering what has happened. But, a Bay Village family has a passerby and police to thank for their “dog-gone” happy ending.

Pepe, a 13-year-old Chihuahua, is back safe with the Roybal family. The dog spent 1 ½ days in a storm sewer drain. He had somehow fallen in and couldn’t get out on his own. “I assumed the worst because it was too cold and he’s old,” Pepe’s owner, Martin Roybal, said.

The Roybals had put both of their Chihuahuas outside. But, Pepe, who is deaf and partially blind, must have gotten disoriented and wandered off. Roybal said he has never done that before.

Lizzie Rudge is a Cleveland State student. She had gotten off the bus and crossed the street at Columbia and Wolf Roads in Bay Village when she heard what she thought was a dog barking. “It was really wet, really cold, really raining and I was walking by and I heard barking as I was about to cross the street. So, I looked down and under the sewer grates, I saw a dog. So, I called the police.”

Rudge stayed with the dog until police arrived and actually fed him some crackers she had left over from lunch. She couldn’t rescue the dog herself. “He was so scared and I couldn’t reach him because he was under the grates,” Rudge said.

An animal rescue officer helped police get Pepe out of the storm sewer. They reunited him with the Roybals who had reported him missing. Pepe had wandered two blocks from his home.

“I kind of recognized the barking,” Rudge said. It turns out Pepe is Rudge’s neighbors’ dog who she had played with when she was child.

The Roybals are thankful Rudge found their dog. “We’re so grateful to her because if it wasn’t for her being right there at the right moment and time, we don’t know what could have happened. We’re glad that he’s home,” Roybal said.

New 'pay what you can' restaurant opens in Johnson City (Tennessee)

For the first time Tuesday, lunch was served at One Acre Cafe on West Walnut Street in Johnson City. It's a new restaurant featuring soups, salads, sandwiches.

It has the makings of a typical restaurant, but the difference comes when people pay. "Someone might come in and say 'I don't have any money,' so we'd say to them 'Great, volunteer an hour of your time and we'll provide you with a meal,'" explained executive director Jan Orchard.

Orchard is a retired teacher and came up with the idea for the restaurant to help feed the community. "This cafe belongs to the people of the community, not to us. We were just the catalyst," she said.

People who come in to eat not only pick what they want to eat, but how much as well. Orchard says they have a system to prevent throwing away excess food -- small, medium and large portions are available. A small portion is $4, medium is $6, and large is $8.

Patrons can choose to pay for their meal with volunteer hours, with money, or they can pay for their meal and then donate extra, which the restaurant calls 'paying it forward'.

It’s a concept some East Tennessee State Univeristy students think will take off. "The portion size is a wonderful idea. I feel like so many people leave food on their plate, and being able to pay by portion I think eliminates that," said ETSU student Andrew Felty.

Others are also welcoming the new restaurant, including fellow restaurant owner Tom Seaton. He has been running the nearby Firehouse restaurant for more than three decades. "We think it's going to be great for our community. We're glad they're here," said Seaton.

For now One Acre Cafe is only serving up lunch Monday through Friday, but the group is hoping to expand as the restaurant gets off the ground.

At the end of Wednesday’s lunch 70 people were served by a staff of volunteers. The average price paid for lunch was $9.32.

Tree farm sends military families holiday cheer

BRISTOL, Tenn. - The holidays can be a tough time for military families, separated by deployment but a local Christmas tree farm is working to give them some holiday cheer.

Wolverton Mountain Christmas Tree Farm crews have been preparing and packing Christmas trees all season long but not all of them are loaded onto the tops of cars and taken to homes in the Tri-Cities.

"Every year we get trees together from various farms and send them overseas to our troops or to various bases," said Julie Baldwin, of Wolverton Mountain Christmas Tree Farm.

Baldwin and her parents have been a part of the national Trees for Troops program for a few years and the word is spreading.

"They'll come in, they know that we do this and they'll either donate a tree or the cost of a tree," Balwin told us.

They've raised a couple hundred dollars, she said, and already have 15 to 20 trees on the way to military families.

Baldwin told us there were about 200 trees in total sent from this region.

The trees are sent through Fed Ex to 60 military bases across the country and abroad, according to the Troops for Trees website.

Baldwin told us they are hand delivered.

"This is a tradition, going to pick the tree out together so they can't go do those things," said Baldwin. "To have someone come in and bring the tree to the house and a smile and a Merry Christmas from a stranger means the world."

The program hits home for Baldwin and her husband, they're both members of the Army National Guard.

In 2003, her husband, Ralph Norris, had a tour in Iraq.

"I've heard stories of people who are getting them now and how the families are really appreciating it," Norris told us. "You know, it's hard as it is with the loved one being gone and they get something in return."

The national program has sent more than 122,000 trees since it started in 2005. They hope to get it up to 140,000 this year.

Norris told us it's about more than just the numbers.

"That little relief, even though we couldn't be there, we know that people are thinking about them and taking care of them," said Norris.

Wolverton Mountain Christmas Tree Farm will be collecting donations for Trees for Troops until they close up for the season.

If you'd like to make a donation to the program, you can stop by the Wolverton Mountain Christmas Tree stand on Volunteer Parkway.

You can also donate directly to Trees for Troops on their website. http://treesfortroops.org/dnn/Donate.aspx

http://www.wcyb.com/image/view/-/233...ps-jpg--1-.jpg

I sponsored a wreath in the name of my late father. I miss you Daddy. I'm sorry I didn't appreciate you enough when you were here.


Maine Company Looking For Help To Honor Fallen Soldiers With Wreaths

BOSTON (CBS) – A caravan of vehicles bearing Christmas wreaths is making its way from Maine to Washington, D.C. this week. Nine tractor-trailers are loaded with close to 100,000 small green wreaths, each tied with a red ribbon. It is the work of a non-profit Maine-based group called Wreaths Across America.

When the group began its work in 1992, volunteers placed wreaths at gravestones at Arlington National Cemetery. Since then, the organization has grown tremendously and it now helps wreaths make it to 909 cemeteries nationwide. That’s a total of close to 550,000 wreaths, according to the group’s executive director, Karen Worcester.

“We have amazing people traveling with us on the convoy,” Worcester says.

On Monday night, the convoy stopped over at the Topsfield Fair Grounds to give drivers a break, to thank volunteers, and to get ready for the emotional ceremonies that will take place on Saturday.

“When we go to Arlington,” Worcester explains, “we place the wreath and we speak the name of somebody’s loved one. It’s the least we can do.”

But this year, donations to Arlington were way down. Typically, people sponsor a wreath by donating money to the charity. Worcester thinks that so many people focused on their local cemeteries this year, donations to Arlington fell off.

They hit the road this year between 10,000 and 20,000 wreaths shy of their goal. Still, volunteers are optimistic.

“It’s not about just laying a wreath at Arlington, it’s about paying respect,” says Barbara Benard, a Gold Star Mother whose son, Sgt. 1st class Brent Adams, was killed in Iraq eight years ago.

Benard has made the trip for the past three years “to represent all the moms who can’t go to Arlington,” she explains.

Even though Wreaths Across America didn’t hit its goal, they’re still optimistic.

“They are down, but I keep hearing that they’re getting more,” Benard says. “I mean, they’re still loading trucks. The deadline was supposed to be December 2nd and they’re still getting donations in.”

If you want to help, you can visit the organization’s website at wreathsacrossamerica.org.

Cats Crash Brooklyn Nativity Scene

http://img2-2.timeinc.net/people/i/2...ts-600x450.jpg

These days, the holiday season is really about peppermint-flavored everything and cats. But mostly cats.

We have cats in Christmas trees. Cats in Santa hats hating Christmas. Cats in Santa hats loving ... you get the point.

But some festive felines in Red Hook, Brooklyn, are taking their holiday cheer to biblical proportions. That's right – they're turning a local residence's nativity scene into a cat-ivity scene.

Sisters Annette and Sue Amendola have put up the manger scene in a lot next to their N.Y.C. home for more than a decade, reports the local DNAinfo. The traditional Christmas display, which depicts the birth of Jesus, has become a place for the feral cats to congregate during the holidays. The sisters say the cats cozy up between the Virgin Mary and Joseph, knocking the Jesus statue out of their way.

"People love it," Sue Amendola says. "But they really get a laugh out of the cats."

http://img2.timeinc.net/people/i/201...-2-600x450.jpg

'Layaway Santas' Make Holiday Dreams Come True

Need a little pick-me-up this holiday season?

Look no further than the scores of "layaway Santas" who are flooding the stores this holiday and proving that the Christmas spirit truly does live in the hearts of many Americans.

The way layaway Santas work is simple: do-gooders visit stores that have a layaway department, such as Wal-Mart, Kmart or Toys "R" Us, and offer to pay off the holiday layaway bills of others who are struggling to save enough to put presents under the tree.

Layaway Santas have been around for ages, but the idea gained traction recently when the Associated Press highlighted their good deeds two years ago. http://finance.yahoo.com/news/anonym...222535611.html

Wal-Mart said it tracked more than 1,000 instances of lawaway Santas this season. Toy "R" Us reports 794 layaway Santa visits in 2012, while Kmart said big-hearted strangers spent more than $1.5 million in others' layaway contracts over the years, reports NBC News.

Most donors remain anonymous, but a few do come forward, including Dave Wilson, 65, who grew up poor on a farm in Iowa, but in Horatio Alger-like fashion went on to own 17 car dealerships in Orange County, Calif.

Every December he gives his wife Holly (yes, really) a special present: a Kmart receipt showing the thousands he spent helping others. Last Christmas he spent $18,000 paying off 320 layaway accounts. He has similar plans this year.

"It's not passing out Christmas hams or turkeys. They have to pay at least 10 percent ... this is something people have thought about and made an investment in," Wilson told NBC about his reasoning behind the yearly tradition.

Folks who cannot come up with the balance of their layaway account in time risk not receiving the gifts they earmarked for the holiday. That's why receiving the news that their accounts were paid off can come as a true Christmas miracle to many.

"Parents really want to make Christmas happen," Rachel Saraga, a manager at the Wal-Mart in King of Prussia, Pa., tells NBC of people who participate in their layaway program.

She sums up their reactions to learning their accounts have been paid off in one word: "Tears."

Man Travels Country in Pink Tutu to Cheer Up Wife During Her Cancer Treatment

Picture a heavyset man, wearing nothing but a pink tutu, leaping about New York's High Line. Would you believe he's doing it for his wife?

Bob and Linda Carey have been together since 1986. When Linda was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2003, Bob started taking pictures of himself in said tutu to cheer her up. What started as a silly gag has become an unlikely symbol of hope for cancer patients across the country.

Bob's Tutu Project http://www.thetutuproject.com/about/ raises money for breast cancer research through sales of his prints, his photo book Ballerina and donations. His Carey Foundation is partnered with CancerCare, a nationally run nonprofit, to help distribute the funds they raise.

We like Bob's take on dealing with cancer: "This all sucks, you know? And it's stupid that it's happening." But, he adds, "There's no reason for us to suffer through it like this. I'm here to make people happy."

And it seems to be working: "It just makes me laugh, to see my husband dancing around in a pink tutu," Linda says. "It helps me be positive. The more I laugh, the better I feel."


http://24ari923j4ns2i5id6kb6bqt7v.wp...tu-project.jpg