The good guys thread

[kuhio98]

Organic Sock Bundles
Stay cozy and help someone in need with this cute bundle of socks. Each pack has three pairs of organic cotton socks to keep your loved ones warm all winter long. Men's and women's styles are available.

Each purchase benefits the Empowerment Plan, which provides comfort to the homeless in the form of warm winter jackets and coats.

Buy it now wearpact.com, $25

[kuhio98]

Kendall Plank knew her 12-year-old friend JB Glennon was nervous about getting a bone marrow transplant at Texas Children's Hospital in Houston.


She also knew her friend was a huge University of Texas fan.

One day when he stepped away from his room, she and her mom, Susan, decked it out with University of Texas memorabilia – quilts, blankets, games, towels and more.

"When JB saw his room he said, 'This is so awesome! Thank you very much!' and gave me a big hug," recalls Kendall, now 17, of Houston.

"He told me that it meant the world to him that somebody actually cared enough about him to do this," she says.

Inspired by JB's jubilant reaction, Kendall told her mother, "We gotta do this for all these kids that are here."

Nearly six years later, the Dec My Room http://decmyroom.org/ program, which largely relies on volunteers and donations, has taken over hundreds of children's hospital rooms across the country with themes ranging from Hello Kitty to Hollywood.

"It's just taken off," says Susan Plank.

On a recent afternoon, Joshua Lopez, 11, of Downey, Calif., is at Inpatient Acute Rehabilitation Unit at Children's Hospital Los Angeles when an entourage of volunteers descends with handpainted signs, balloons, and Los Angeles Lakers memorabilia (including a signed size 17 basketball shoe from Pau Gasol, his favorite player) to decorate the room of the ailing fan.

One member of the entourage is Dec My Room Director Jenny Hull whose daughter, Josie, 11, spent most of her young life in hospital rooms after undergoing a grueling 23-hour separation surgery on Aug. 5, 2002.

Jenny says Josie helped pick out the decorations.

"I love decorating the rooms and helping the children," says Josie.

A few minutes later, doctors and nurses yell "Surprise!" as Joshua enters the room.

"This made me really happy," says Joshua, who is struggling with juvenile dermatomyositis.

Next door is Brieanna Smith, 14, of Los Angeles, who is also being treated for juvenile dermatomyositis.

Her room was recently made-over with chinese lanterns, Hello Kitty balloons and blankets. She also received DVDs of the Twilight movie.

"I was really surprised when they did this to my room," says Smith. "It's made my room more homey."

Her mother, Alicia Cole, agrees. "She was so excited that day when they made over her room," says Cole, 45. "She said, 'Mom – look at my room! Look at my room!' "

She said when her daughter first found out she might be at the hospital for four months, she was depressed. But the makeover made a big difference in her state of mind.

"This lifts the kids' spirits," Cole says.

[kuhio98]

Local woman helps nurse hummingbird back to life
By Tom Plahutnik

FRANKENMUTH, MI (WNEM) - WNEM.com was alerted to a nice story out of Frankenmuth where a local woman helped get a hummingbird back in the air after being trapped in a garage.

It happened Thursday morning to Jim and Kathy Haney when the bird flew into their garage and couldn't find its way out. Jim Haney tells the rest below:

This little bird flew into our garage and couldn't find his way out. After sitting on a wire all night, it appeared that he didn't have the energy to fly away even when we touched him gently. Julianne Haney carefully pried his little feet off the wire and carried him to our feeder where he drank his fill and flew away. Everyone is happy.

Kathy Haney filled in an extra detail and said Julie stood on the roof of her car in the garage to gently get the bird off the wire, as he had a really tight grip on it.

All's well that ends well, right?

[kuhio98]

Passerby who happens to be daughter of baseball's Joe Torre catches falling baby

New York (CNN) -- A 1-year-old boy who plummeted two stories from a fire escape in Brooklyn on Wednesday was saved when a quick-thinking passerby saw the child and caught him as he fell, according to police.

The woman who caught the baby is Cristina Torre, daughter of famed Major League Baseball manager and former National League All-Star catcher Joe Torre.

The boy crawled through the window of a second-story apartment after pushing aside a piece of cardboard that blocked an opening beside the apartment's air conditioning unit, according to NYPD Detective James Duffy.

He then climbed onto the fire escape and fell onto the awning of a frozen yogurt shop directly below the apartment and bounced off, Duffy said.

That was when 44-year-old Cristina Torre, who happened to be passing by, saw the situation and positioned herself beneath the awning in time to catch the child, Duffy said.

Joe Torre released a statement Wednesday night saying, "I am very proud of my daughter Cristina's actions today during an incident in Brooklyn involving a small child. Fortunately for that child she was in the right place at the right time to lend a hand."

The boy's parents were charged with child endangerment, Duffy said. Three other children, aged 2, 3 and 5, were taken into the custody of Child Protective Services.

[phesina]

Passerby who happens to be daughter of baseball's Joe Torre catches falling baby

New York (CNN) -- A 1-year-old boy who plummeted two stories from a fire escape in Brooklyn on Wednesday was saved when a quick-thinking passerby saw the child and caught him as he fell, according to police.

The woman who caught the baby is Cristina Torre, daughter of famed Major League Baseball manager and former National League All-Star catcher Joe Torre.

The boy crawled through the window of a second-story apartment after pushing aside a piece of cardboard that blocked an opening beside the apartment's air conditioning unit, according to NYPD Detective James Duffy.

He then climbed onto the fire escape and fell onto the awning of a frozen yogurt shop directly below the apartment and bounced off, Duffy said.

That was when 44-year-old Cristina Torre, who happened to be passing by, saw the situation and positioned herself beneath the awning in time to catch the child, Duffy said.

Joe Torre released a statement Wednesday night saying, "I am very proud of my daughter Cristina's actions today during an incident in Brooklyn involving a small child. Fortunately for that child she was in the right place at the right time to lend a hand."

The boy's parents were charged with child endangerment, Duffy said. Three other children, aged 2, 3 and 5, were taken into the custody of Child Protective Services.

Wow! Well done, Ms. Torre!

[kuhio98]

An Alaskan malamute with a nose for mischief finds a new mission in life: paying daily visits to an ailing neighbor.

By Ron Berler, New York, New York

Casey wasn’t the most popular dog in her owner Carol Baird’s neighborhood of Dalton, Georgia. A huge, burly Alaskan malamute, she had a heart of gold but a nose for trouble.

She’d slip out the Baird family’s back door and trot down the street without a care. Most people gave her a wide berth. That was hardly surprising. From a distance, Casey looked a lot like a wolf.

She behaved like one too, or at least had an appetite like one. Neighbors often stormed over to complain. “Your dog got out again, and ate all of our dog’s food!” or “Casey’s turned over our garbage!”

So when a man rapped on Carol’s door, said he lived three blocks away and then asked for her dog’s name, Carol braced herself. What did Casey do this time?

“We have a sliding-glass door that we usually keep open in the summer,” the man began, “and every day for the last several weeks your dog has wandered off the street and come uninvited into my house.”

That dog, Carol thought. “I’m so sorry,” she said. “I don’t know why Casey gets herself into such mischief. A lot of it’s our fault. We have to start watching her more closely. But honestly, she means no harm...”

“No, you don’t understand,” the man interrupted. “I came over to thank you.”

The man must have seen the confusion on Carol’s face. No neighbor had ever said anything positive about Casey before. They usually wanted to know who would fill up the two-foot hole she’d energetically dug in their backyard.

But not this neighbor. He explained that his father, who had Alzheimer’s, lived with him and his wife and needed constant monitoring. The father rarely moved from his easy chair in front of the TV in the living room and was often agitated. Caring for him had exhausted the man and his wife.

“I couldn’t remember the last time we had two hours to ourselves,” the man said. “And then, one day, your dog showed up.”

Casey wandered into the house through the sliding door and made straight for the man’s father. “She sat right beside him, like she had planned to visit him all along,” the neighbor said, his voice filled with wonder.

He saw his father turn to Casey and begin to pet her. He stroked her and stroked her, and fell peacefully asleep. “He slept two full hours,” the neighbor said. “It was the biggest midday reprieve my wife and I have had in years.”

Casey returned the next day, and every day after that, as if she had an appointment to keep. Each time was the same. She’d pad to the old man’s chair and sit by his side, letting him pet her till he dozed off.

“To my wife and me,” the neighbor said, “Casey was a gift from heaven. That’s why I’ve come to see you today. Is Casey here?”

“Yes, she is,” Carol said. “Casey!”

The big malamute trotted up, looking at the neighbor with searching eyes. The neighbor gave a gentle pat. “You must have known, didn’t you?” the neighbor said to Casey. “That’s why you just stopped coming a couple of days ago.”

“Known what?” Carol asked.

“My father died in his sleep the night after Casey’s last visit. She knew her job was over.”

[kuhio98]

Bare??? Bear?????

[phesina]

Local woman helps nurse hummingbird back to life
By Tom Plahutnik

FRANKENMUTH, MI (WNEM) - WNEM.com was alerted to a nice story out of Frankenmuth where a local woman helped get a hummingbird back in the air after being trapped in a garage.

It happened Thursday morning to Jim and Kathy Haney when the bird flew into their garage and couldn't find its way out. Jim Haney tells the rest below:

This little bird flew into our garage and couldn't find his way out. After sitting on a wire all night, it appeared that he didn't have the energy to fly away even when we touched him gently. Julianne Haney carefully pried his little feet off the wire and carried him to our feeder where he drank his fill and flew away. Everyone is happy.

Kathy Haney filled in an extra detail and said Julie stood on the roof of her car in the garage to gently get the bird off the wire, as he had a really tight grip on it.

All's well that ends well, right?

What a lovely story! Thank you!