The good guys thread

[kuhio98]

Midlothian (Virginia) man aims to raise $250,000 for ‘honest’ homeless man

MIDLOTHIAN, Va. — Apparently, honesty does pay, especially in the case of a homeless man in Boston.

Glen James found a bag with $40,000 in cash and travelers checks lost in a shopping center parking lot earlier this week. He turned it over to police and it was ultimately returned to its rightful owner.

The good deed is certainly not going unnoticed. Hundreds of miles away in Midlothian, Virginia, a complete stranger heard James’ tale and decided to take action.

“People like this they should be heard. Their spirit should be spread,” said Ethan Whittington. “He just seems like the type of person of never thinking of taking the money. He just had good intentions from the start.”

With a few strokes of the keyboard, the 27-year-old marketing director, who has never laid eyes on James, established an account for the 54-year-old on GoFundMe.com.

Whittington said his intentions were modest and he wanted to raise a few hundred bucks for a well-deserving man down on his luck.

“It kind of restores your faith in humanity, especially being inundated with the negative media on a daily basis,” Whittington said.

But Whittington’s humble idea has gone viral. Within just a few days, the total has jumped to over $117,000.

Brother and sister Thomas and Anna Ziljan are donating their hard-earned allowance to the cause.

“I wanted to buy him a house,” said Anna. “But it was too expensive so I’m donating my money.”

Whittington said he has been floored by the generosity of donors and when and if the fundraising ends, he said all the money belongs to James.

Whittington’s ultimate goal is to raise $250,000 for the good Samaritan he’s never met.

“The biggest thing is that I want this to be a positive influence on Glen,” he said. “This is the way we should be all of the time. You know I think it would make the world a better place.”

Whittington said he plans to fly to Boston in the coming weeks to meet James. He said he will shake his hand and give him a big hug.

[kuhio98]

Because Online Friends Make a Real Difference
"My 4-year-old son, Cole, has lymphoma. I've gotten a lot of support from the women at CafeMom.com, but one mom, Linda, is amazing. For Cole's birthday she got people from all over the country to send him cards. The response was overwhelming. With a sick child every smile is precious, so I'll always be grateful for these moments of joy."
-- Michelle, Sacramento, California

[kuhio98]

The Home Depot Throws Awesome Birthday Party for Deserving 5-Year-Old Boy

The workers at the Home Depot are known for being experts in painting, drilling, and hammering. Well, you can now add party planning to that list. Here's what happened.

Five-year-old Joshua Hagerty, from Modesto, California, asked his mother for a birthday party at his favorite place, the Home Depot. Joshua suffers from multiple physical ailments, including heart and kidney problems, for which he has had 15 surgeries so far in his short lifetime. His mother, Jennifer, contacted the Home Depot to see if she could pick up workshop sets to have the Home Depot-themed party at her home.

Store manager Kevin Baum called her back to say they would take it a step further. The employees threw Joshua a birthday party at their store, complete with balloons, Lego sets, goody bags, workshop kits, and even a hammer-shaped cake. Employees pitched in with their own money to fund the party and gifts to make Joshua's birthday dreams come true. At the end of the day, the grateful guest of honor said it was his "best birthday ever."

The reason this story has gotten the public's attention is not because of the Home Depot; it is because Jennifer has asked for help to thank the store and its employees. Here's our part to help — thank you to Home Depot store #6601 of Modesto! You guys rock!
http://l.yimg.com/bt/api/res/1.2/RqK...2b4dc_FULL.png

[kuhio98]

[kuhio98]

Young girl raises money for K-9 bullet proof vest
Allison Henry donated her birthday money

HOLYOKE, Mass. (WWLP) - A member of the Holyoke Police Department is a lot safer Thursday night, thanks to a 10-year-old girl.

Allison Henry of Palmer was honored Thursday for raising enough money for the department to buy a bullet proof vest for one of their K-9 dogs.

Her mother found out about Ryker through a group called Vested Interest in K-9s.

Allison decided that instead of birthday presents this year, she would ask for donations instead to help get Ryker a vest.

"I just feel that a dog should be safe because I really like animals," Henry said.

Holyoke Police Chief James Neiswanger praised the young girl. "A young lady at 10 years of age, making an impact on the world, making a positive impact," he said.

Thursday night, the department also introduced their two newest K-9 members, June and Titan.

[kuhio98]

From People Magazine Heroes Among Us:

PARAMEDIC TERRY HOBEN, 37
In a hurricane's wake, he ferries neighbors to safety

After wrapping up a brutal 17-hour shift Sept. 17 at a hospital in Newark, N.J., paramedic Terry Hoben thought he'd take a look at what Hurricane Floyd had left behind before he headed home. Entering downtown Bound Brook, where he lives with his wife, Sally, 45, and their two children, Hoben found chaos. Floodwaters from the Raritan River had risen more than 10 feet on Main Street, inundating homes, shorting out power lines and setting off fires. "It was hysteria at that point," recalls Hoben. "There were fire trucks running all over the place, state police were arriving with boats, 10 to 12 feet of water." And the water was still rising.

Spotting a friend, police Lt. Steven Cozza, Hoben asked how he could help. Cozza urged him to get home as fast as he could, put his fishing boat into the water and start emptying houses. Soon after, in the 16-foot skiff he had left parked on a trailer in his driveway, Hoben teamed up with officer Diana Paczkowski and pushed off into the eerie landscape of half-submerged buildings in search of stranded residents. "You put 16 feet of water on an area you usually walk around, and you can't recognize a thing," says Hoben. "We were scared to death." Adds Paczkowski, 29: "I'm not an avid water lover, first of all."

Navigating fast-running murky waters where familiar streets once lay, the two were soon hard at work. Taking aboard babies and children first, they plucked whole families from upper floors, attics and even rooftops where they had sought safety. Hoben sometimes entered a house where residents had been reluctant to leave or were waiting for the waters to subside. But water wasn't the only worry. The floods had risen to the point that Hoben and his passengers had to duck beneath high-voltage power lines, some of them still surging with current. And in one area a gas main had broken. Hoben carefully eased his boat along, hoping nothing would set off the potentially lethal fumes. "A mistake could not just have cost my life or Diana's, but the 8 or 10 people in the boat," he explains.

He and Paczkowski made nearly 50 trips over 13 hours, taking people to safety. Mary Anne Baloy, 42, remembers him well. She, her husband, Roger, 39, and their three children thought they could wait out the flood. Then it rose to their first-floor ceiling and kept on climbing. In the distance, she says, "you heard people screaming." When Hoben and another team of rescuers arrived, he lifted Baloy's kids into his boat. "It was incredible what they did," she says. "I have no idea how to repay them." But Hoben says he was just one of many residents and police officers who helped that night. "My town was in trouble," he says. "And this disaster pulled this community together."

[kuhio98]

Sgt. Kevin Briggs Stops Suicides on San Francisco's Golden Gate Bridge


More than twice a month, on average, those who've lost all hope come to San Francisco's Golden Gate Bridge, climb over the railing and, tragically, plunge 220 feet into the Pacific Ocean to end their pain.

That number would be higher, if not for California Highway Patrol Sgt. Kevin Briggs, nicknamed the "Guardian of the Golden Gate." Since 1994, through sheer compassion and expert listening skills, Sgt. Briggs has helped convince more than 200 people on the precipice of death not to take their lives (so far, he's only lost one).

"People who come to jump don't necessarily want to die," explains Briggs, 50, who calmly introduces himself just a few feet away to the despondent person, often standing for hours in bone-chilling wind or heavy fog.

"I try to find out what brought them to this point," says Briggs, a cancer survivor and father of two boys. "If I can get them to break down, that's a good sign, it shows they're listening and thinking. If someone says they have no plan for tomorrow, I say, 'OK, let's make one.' "

"Sgt. Briggs not only saves lives, he inspires us all with his compassion and dedication," says Robert Gebbia, American Foundation for Suicide Prevention director. "He's a true American hero."

In March 2005, Kevin Berthia, then 22, a former postal worker who'd battled lifelong depression and was overwhelmed as a new father, was about to jump when Briggs, who happened to be passing by, spotted him.

"I know you must be in tremendous pain," Briggs told him. "If you want to talk, I'm here to listen."

It was a life-changing moment for Berthia.

"Sgt. Briggs got me to open up about stuff I'd never dealt with before, like not knowing my real parents," says Berthia, an adoptee, who now takes medication for depression. "He made me realize we're all here for a purpose, and life is about finding just what that purpose is. I owe every bit of my second chance to him."