The good guys thread

[kuhio98]

Leave a Book

Most people take the bus, and leaving a book with a Post-It note saying "Enjoy " on your seat as you leave is one way to make someone's day. You could do this on an airplane or even a train, too!

(Note from Lisa/kuhio98 ~ Whenever I have to use the laundromat to wash big items – for some reason, I absolutely hate the laundromat – I always leave old paperbacks there because I remember what it’s like to be bored to tears with nothing to read.)

[kuhio98]

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.



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]

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]

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]

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.schoolinsite...ndingID=139420

[kuhio98]

Disabled 'Kangaroo' Dog to Walk Again – with the Help of $7,000 in Donations


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."