The good guys thread

[kuhio98]

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

[kuhio98]

Surgery on Sunday

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

[kuhio98]

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

[kuhio98]

Brought Little Kitty Home

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

[kuhio98]

Car from a Co-worker

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

[kuhio98]

Phred would be so proud!

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

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

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

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

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

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

[kuhio98]

The Cervantes Family Gives Birthday Joy to Homeless Kids

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

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

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



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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Son Alex agrees.

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

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

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