The good guys thread

[kuhio98]

Because the Little Things Matter
I was having a tough day, so I gave in to the smell of Starbucks and stopped by with a friend. In line I made a passing comment to her about how much I liked their special holiday coffee cup. The man behind me picked up the cup, bought it and handed it to me, saying "Merry Christmas." That small act of kindness turned my day completely around.
-Elyse Butler, St. Louis, Missouri

[kuhio98]

Theresa Strader Rescues Thousands of Puppy-Mill Dogs
When lifelong animal lover Theresa Strader heard about a massive dog auction in Missouri in 2007, she thought she would check out the scene and adopt a pet or two.

"I said, 'I'm set up to take care of two or three of them,' " remembers Strader, 48, a pediatric nurse and mom of four from Black Forest, Colo.

But when she arrived at the auction site – a collection of tents set up by a large-scale commercial breeder going out of business, a.k.a. a "puppy mill," says Strader – it broke her heart.

"The first thing that hits you," says Strader, "is the smell. Then you are overwhelmed by the emotion of seeing dogs live like that, in cages, frantic. These were dogs who never felt the sunshine on them."

Appalled, Strader ended up adopting 13 of the 561 dogs up for auction – and that was just the beginning. That February, she founded the nonprofit National Mill Dog Rescue, which has since housed, rehabilitated or found homes for more than 6,900 dogs, from poodles to pugs, cavaliers to chihuahuas.

At her 160-acre facility, Strader and a team of 1,400 volunteers, plus a small paid veterinary staff, "take immaculate care of every single dog. We don't cherry-pick," she says. "We take everybody."

Sherrie Lidderdale can attest to that. In August 2011, she adopted a Welsh corgi from Strader.

"Most people who love animals know about Theresa and all of the work that she does," says Lidderdale. "It's just so cool when one single individual can make such a huge difference."

[jackie]

I was feeling a little down today and this thread really cheered me up.

Thanks!

[kuhio98]

Driving home from work one evening in the pouring rain, my headlights illuminated two eyes on the side of the road. I stopping to investigate, finding a very wet, bedraggled-looking cat looking up at me, meowing pitifully. A car must have hit it and it now lay in the gutter, unable to move. I checked for a collar and ID but there was none. I flattened a cardboard box from the boot and slid the cat onto it, covering it in a rug.

At the nearest veterinary clinic, the vet gently examined it. "He's about eight months old and has a broken front and hind leg, but I would need X-rays to know the extent of the damage," he told me. "As he's not your cat, I don't know if you want to go ahead with this. It could be rather expensive."
I knew it would cost me hundreds of dollars, but the alternative was the cat being put to sleep. The following morning the vet rang to say the X-rays confirmed a broken front leg and two badly splintered breaks in the hind leg. "I'll put a metal pin in his back leg to keep it immobilized until it's healed," he told me. "He'll have slightly shorter hind legs but it won't affect his movements at all."

I contacted the RSPCA to no avail, so all day I looked forward to picking up my little friend. Carrying the cat, the vet smiled, "He's a happy little fellow - he hasn't stopped purring since he woke up. The staff are quite taken with him!" I hardly recognized him. His previously matted, dirty fur was now a beautiful silver grey, with a dark charcoal mask around his eyes and nose, like a bandit. His front leg was in a cast and the hind leg was taped, with the pin protruding at each end. He lay there looking at me, purring loudly.

I thanked the doctor and went out to the receptionist to pay the bill. "I think you've given me the wrong account," I said. "This is only $85. He's had X-rays and an operation on his legs." "No, that's right," she replied. "The vet has only charged you for the drugs and medication. There's a message on the bottom." Written underneath the total were the words "SPECIAL RATE FOR ADOPTIONS." I was speechless at his kind and generous gesture. It was obvious he would be embarrassed if I made a fuss, so I paid the account and underneath his message I wrote "WITH GRATEFUL THANKS, BANDIT AND MUM."

[kuhio98]

I was feeling a little down today and this thread really cheered me up.

Thanks!

Jackie ~ I'm so pleased to hear that these stories cheered you up.
Feel free to share any happy, positive stories you run across.

I was very down when I started this thread. 2012 has been the worst year of my life.
Scouring the news/internet for positive stories has helped immensely.

[kuhio98]

Growing food to give away
When Katie Stagliano was in third grade, she planted a cabbage in her garden. After a lot of hard work, it grew into an impressive 40 pounds. She decided to donate it to a soup kitchen. The cabbage was big enough for the meals of 275 people. Katie was amazed at how many people she could help with just that one cabbage. It inspired her.
At only 11 years old, she got the idea to start her own nonprofit organization called Katie's Krops. Katie's Krops grows food and gives it away to soup kitchens.
The organization has 6 gardens, where they grow thousands of pounds of lettuce, tomatoes and other vegetables, all of which they donate to people in need.
Everyday, Katie tends to the plants, managing to take care of them while also playing tennis, swimming and maintaining the highest GPA in her class. Luckily, she has a lot of help - her idea has really brought her community together. The seeds for the plants are donated by the organization Bonnie Plants and the organization Fields to Families has sent a professional gardener, Lisa, to help care for the plants. Katie's family, classmates and local volunteers also help by working in the gardens.
Katie encourages everyone to help in any way that they can. She reminds people that even the smallest effort can make a big difference. Katie's Krops is also accepting applications from other kids aged 9-16 who want to start their own charity garden. The winner will be awarded a grant to help fund their new garden. You can read more about Katie and her organization at the http://www.katieskrops.com/ website.

[kuhio98]

“Two, cute little dogs ran across the street near where I live and almost got run over. I stopped to see if I could help them find their owners. Both dogs had no collars on and no name tags and I knew if had left them there they might be run over. So I contacted my dad to help transport them to my sisters place for the evening whilst we called vets and the RSPCA to help find the owner. The following day the owner was so happy to find them and the dogs were ecstatic. I wonder how many other drivers saw the dogs who had travelled some distance and had driven straight by. It is awesome the difference we can all make if we take the time to care. Who can you pay it forward to with a random act of kindness today?” posted on the Pay it forward Day website by Blake, Sydney

[Taz_Zoee]

I just received this email from my sister this morning. I knew I had to share it here. She is a member, although not very active, and she doesn't know I'm posting this. This seriously brought tears to my eyes.

The neighbor who lives kitty corner from us across the street came over today to ask me if I could come over and feed her cats and fish while they are gone to Arizona..I said sure...she said she would pay me and I said no. Went over to her house so she could show me everything and ended up staying there for over 3 hours!! She is a talker! Anyway I mentioned not having a tree and that made it feel like it wasn't Christmas, they don't have a tree because they wont be here. But anyway I digress, she had come over a couple weeks ago and asked me if I wanted the turkey/ham with all the fixins that her husbands company gives them each year because they wont be here to eat it. I said sure...and I told her again today that them giving that to us was more than payment for taking care of the cats and that is all we needed. She said well don't be surprised if you find a little something extra in with the turkey and stuff, which they are giving to us Friday and they are leaving Friday and coming back on the 31st. She also gave me 2 shirts that don't fit her husband to give to Les.
Well I came home and around 6 there is a knock at the door which woke me up..I go and open it just a crack and see a Christmas tree !! I open the door and her husband peeks his head around the tree and says Merry Christmas!! I said OMG are you serious!! and I hear her chuckling from behind the tree..I think it is about 6 or 7 feet tall. I look at her and say please tell me you didn't spend a lot of money on this tree and she looks sheepishly and says ..only 10 dollars...I was basically speechless and so was Les..he was like wow. I am still like WOW!! So we have a tree and it is all decorated ..