The good guys thread

[kuhio98]

Felicia Dukes and her four children had been living in a homeless shelter – but now they have a cozy house all their own – thanks to a Los Angeles lawyer who has temporarily given up his residence to the family in need.

Tony Tolbert, 51, decided he wanted to give up his fully furnished home, rent-free for one year, to a struggling family. So he sought out Alexandria House, a homeless shelter for women and children, where he was connected with Dukes.

"You don't have to be Bill Gates or Warren Buffet or Oprah," Tolbert, who has moved back into his parents' house for the year, told CBS News. "We can do it wherever we are, with whatever we have, and for me, I have a home that I can make available."

Dukes, who was joined by her three daughters and son, tearfully tells CBS, "My heart just fills up and stuff … I'm just really happy."

Tolbert says his generous spirit comes from his father, an L.A. entertainment lawyer, who taught his son about the virtues of giving when he was growing up. Tolbert says his dad regularly lent out the family's spare bedroom to someone in need.

"Kindness creates kindness; generosity creates generosity; love creates love," Tolbert said, while emotionally addressing his dad, who has Alzheimer's disease. "I think if we can share some of that and have more stories about people doing nice things for other people, and fewer stories about people doing horrible things to other people, that's a better world."
Tolbert's ways are nothing new, according to his mom Marie, who says, "He's so giving, and he's always been that way."

[kuhio98]

Sheets, Toys, Socks & Pet Food:

Mary Marzano found a way to reuse gently-used sheets from hotels that would otherwise be thrown away by donating them to homeless shelters. Since she began, Mary has provided bedding for 8000 beds. Audience members and staff each contributed a new sheets to Mary's organization for a total of 340 sets.

10 year-old Ashlee Smith saw a need to help children who have lost everything due to fire. With the help of her firefighter father, Ashlee has given out 50,000 toys in the last 2 years.
Hannah Turner first gave her pink socks to a homeless man at the age of 3 and decided with her mother to donate 100 additional pairs to a shelter. Since then, Hannah's Socks has given 100,000 pairs of socks to those in need.

12 year-old Mimi Ausland started http://freekibble.com/ to donate dry pet food to animal shelters in need. Since starting the site, the organization has helped to feed 1 million homeless animals.

BTW ~ Mimi also has a page for cats: http://www.freekibblekat.com/

[cassiesmom]

(source: happynews.com -- I really needed something to smile about today!)

It's a Friday night at a Pittsburgh area dek hockey rink. You have the ball on your stick, racing towards your opponents' goal crease. You're watching the goaltender's eyes, trying to anticipate his next move.

Then you realize the goalie you're trying to out-think looks remarkably like Sidney Crosby.

Such was the scene at Dek Star last weekend, as the most famous hockey player on Earth strapped on the goalie gear and played for a ball hockey team in a 26-and-over league -- unannounced and completely anonymous to his foes until his identity was revealed later in the game.

"The greatest hockey player in the world was next to me, talking. It was super cool of him to be able to try and be like us normal guys, just come out and play with the guys," said Joseph Heaney, a ref at Dek Star for seven years that officiated the game.

Like the rest of his NHL peers, the Pittsburgh Penguins captain has been locked out since mid-September. Many of them have left for ice rinks in Europe; Crosby, meanwhile, opted to stay local for near-daily practices with his Penguins teammates on the ice — and the occasional goaltending foray onto a hard plastic dek hockey rink, apparently.

Crosby's moonlighting at Dek Star, located about 10 minutes from downtown Pittsburgh, was first reported by The Pensblog on Monday. Seth Rorabaugh of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette caught up with Crosby, and a few folks at the facility, to confirm the validity of this surreal moment.

How, exactly, did Crosby end up playing goalie for a dek hockey team?

From the Post-Gazette:

"My buddy plays in the league there. I talked to him about playing," Crosby said. "I played a lot of goalie in street hockey growing up and stuff. Just asked if he needed a goalie. He said sure and I came out. It was cool."

Due to his equipment, the presence of hockey's most recognizable figure was not known by those at the rink until late in the contest. "I had all the [goaltending] gear on," Crosby said. "I was talking to the ref once toward the end of the game and I think he recognized me."

(Sidney Crosby, talking to a referee? Boy there's something you never see ...)

"My referee walked over just to kind of say, 'Hey, you're not the normal goalie. It's about time they get a goalie.' " said Chris Evans, general manager of Dek Star. "Instead, he looked at him and he was like, 'Holy [cow] that's Sidney Crosby.' "

"The other team played against him for an hour and had no idea. They didn't even know until I told them until after he left."

For the record, the team he played against was nicknamed "Flyers Suck." You just can't make this stuff up...

According to Heaney, Crosby "pitched a 4-0 shutout" in the game.

This shouldn't come as a surprise, mind you: Crosby frequently tends goal during road hockey games in the offseason in Canada, and has strapped on the pads during Pittsburgh Penguins practice before. He also played street hockey during his day with the Stanley Cup.

Hockey fans have been drained of joy by the NHL lockout, which is threatening the viability of the 2012-13 season. But there have been some surreal benefits to the work stoppage, from charity games with NHL stars to impromptu street hockey games with players … to Sidney Crosby, ball hockey goalie.

"I'd like to thank him for the experience," said Heaney.

"It's one that I'll be able to tell my 7-month-old son. As soon as he knows who Sid is."

[kuhio98]

Being an Everyday Hero doesn't mean you have to wear a red cape or leap high buildings. An Everyday Hero simple looks for opportunity moments to give others small acts of kindness.

Years ago, while I lived in Norway, I would travel back to the United States every summer to visit family. I always made the trip alone with my two little girls. Early one morning I boarded the plane in Oslo with my then six year old and one year old daughters. We were buckled into our seats when a stewardess approach us. She asked me if I'd packed a breakfast for my girls. Surprised, I answered I hadn't because I'd ordered kids meals for this portion of the trip. The stewardess explained that the food staff was currently on strike, and therefore, no food would be served. I felt so bad for my girls because they were hungry and needed breakfast.

Moments later this stewardess returned, and handed me a brown paper bag. In it was the breakfast she'd packed for herself that morning. She gave it to my children so they would not be hungry. Thirteen years later I still remember this act of kindness.

Many times during a typical day we have opportunities to offer a little extra to others. If I have a cart heaped with groceries, and the person behind me has only a few items, I can allow her to go ahead of me in line. While shoveling snow from my sidewalk, I can take a little more time and do my neighbor's sidewalk too.

[Catty1]

http://ca.news.yahoo.com/blogs/looko...--finance.html

She may be a millionaire, but Yu Youzhen, a woman from China's Wuchang District who works six days a week as a sanitation worker, believes being humble is integral to being wealthy.
China SMACK reports that Yu Youzhen and her husband had been vegetable farmers who, over the course of many years, rented out spare rooms in their home. They saved enough to build some apartments, only to have their land taken by the government. When they were finally reimbursed, they found themselves rich.

But Yu's not living off the profits. Her job, which she's had since 1998, isn't some volunteer organization that requires a few hours per week. She wakes up at 3 a.m., dons an orange jumpsuit and picks up litter along a 3,000-meter street for six hours a day. Her paycheck amounts to around $230 per month.



She spoke to a local paper about how she witnessed her neighbors squander similar fortunes on drugs and other vices. She feels that working hard will set a good example for her children and help to keep them out of trouble.
"A person can't just sit at home and ‘eat away' a whole fortune," Yu explained. She said she told her kids that if they didn't work she'd donate the apartments to the country.
So far, so good. Her two kids are both employed and earning a modest living. Her son works as a driver and her daughter is an office worker.