The good guys thread

[Taz_Zoee]

San Francisco turns into Gotham City for Batkid

Miles is a 5-year-old with leukemia who has always wanted to be Batkid. Thousands of volunteers crowded into San Francisco’s streets to help the Make-A-Wish foundation make the child’s dream come true.


Read more: http://www.nydailynews.com/news/nati...#ixzz2kl0dRYyD

[kuhio98]

Pass it on!

Act of kindness honoring late daughter spreads around the world

CNN) -- Alyssa O'Neill sent a text to her mother earlier this month asking her whether she would take her to get a pumpkin spice latte the next day. Although her mother agreed, Alyssa was never able to try the drink.

On September 4, the morning she was supposed to get the treat, the 18-year-old died of an epileptic seizure.

"We were just shocked at the sudden loss and didn't know what to do," her father, Jason O'Neill, said. "So we tried to fulfill the one thing that she asked us. If Alyssa couldn't get a pumpkin spice latte, we would get them for other people and try to pass the kindness forward."

O'Neill had no clue how many people this random act of kindness would affect.

Two days after Alyssa's funeral, the O'Neills went to a Starbucks in Erie, Pennsylvania, where they live, and purchased lattes for 40 strangers. O'Neill asked the manager to write the hashtag #AJO with a purple marker on each cup.

According to O'Neill, the manager and employees, overwhelmed with the gesture, donated 50 drinks on top of the 40.

"It just kind of exploded at that point. We had somewhat of a following, but nothing like this," he said.

Now the movement to raise awareness about epilepsy has gone beyond lattes.

"It was just random acts of kindness. People have been paying others' Christmas layaways and buying meals," O'Neill said. The Facebook memorial page AJO Forever in our Hearts has more than 28,000 likes.

O'Neill said his daughter's initials have nearly turned into a verb. "People are saying, 'I got AJOed this morning,' 'Have you AJOed today?'"

From Erie to Sri Lanka, the O'Neills have been receiving photos showing #AJO.

The family knew of Alyssa's seizure disorder before the fatal episode.

Alyssa was a high school cheerleader who hoped to become a nurse and help others with epilepsy. She was a first-semester student at Penn State Behrend.

The O'Neills started the AJO Forever Fund to assist families of children with epilepsy and to bolster a scholarship fund for local cheerleaders looking to go into nursing.

[kuhio98]

First dog saves man from fire, then man saves dog

DES MOINES, Iowa —As a Des Moines man slept Tuesday morning, a fire was growing just 10 feet away.


Paul Kemp's dog, a 3-year-old Sheltie named Sheba, was the first to spot it. Kemp said he awoke on the living room couch to Sheba jumping onto his chest.

"It was unusual, and startled me -- and then I saw the fire," said Kemp. "So, I went and got my coffee pot, and threw some water on it and it didn't help, and it just grew really quickly."

Kemp ran outside and assumed Sheba was with him like always, but she wasn't.

"I was yelling outside for her, and I didn't see her and I figured she had to be back in the house, so I went in the house and yelled for her, and then she came running and ran outside," said Kemp.

Co-workers were shocked to see Paul and Sheba at work just hours after their ordeal, but at the Animal Lifeline this story of dog saves man, man saves dog goes hand in hand with the mission of the no-kill animal shelter.

It's where sick, injured and abused animals get a second chance.

"I love her, she's my little girl. I mean I've always loved her but now she saved my life, ya know," said Kemp. "She showed me that she's my best friend, because she was worried about me. I mean she wasn't running around when she first saw the fire. Her first instinct was to wake me up, ya know, thinking about me first."

Kemp suffered some burns described as minor in the fire.

The cause of the fire remains under investigation. Authorities said the home is a total loss.

Kemp and Sheba are staying in a hotel. Kemp said he had homeowner's insurance.

[kuhio98]

Little girl has big heart for books

LUBBOCK, TX (KCBD) - There's a little girl with a big heart for books.

Addie Bleu Short says reading is her favorite past time, and she wanted to find a way to share that love with kids across the world.

Over the past several months the third grader has collected enough books to donate a "entire library" to a village in Africa.

But now there's one thing standing in her way - enough funds to pay for the shipping.

Addie Bleu Short is a tall order, and she loves books more than an average third grader.

"Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone," she says. "I really like fiction with adventure and mystery in it."

According to her mom, the love has been there since picked up her first book.

"I started out only wanting books for presents on my birthday and for Christmas but then I thought, I have so many books!"

So Addie Bleu wanted to something special with all those books she had, to spread the joy she finds inside the pages of the books.

it's a part of the African Library Project, and the goal is to send 1000 books to a library for kids in Africa.

"She was excited because she could send a whole library and that idea was really neat to her."

The books are sent to rural parts of Africa, with project partners to organize the libraries in various African communities.

So far she has collected enough books for an entire library.

"Right now there are 1,600 books in the living room of the Short family, all waiting for enough money to ship them out to Africa."

The books must be sent by Dec. 10, but without enough money to cover shipping that day could come and go.

But the 9-year-old is far from being done.

She is asking for even more books to be donated to help spread the love of reading.

She's also trying to raise $2,500 for the Addie Bleu's African Library Project.

You can donate used children's books to the YWCA or Rush Elementary.

To donate or find more information, visit

http://www.gofundme.com/addiebleusafricanlibrary

https://www.facebook.com/addiebleusALP

[Sairentonen]

I love reading these! Goes to show that there's a lot more good out there
than we think!! (:
Thank you so much for posting such heart warming and inspirational stories!

[kuhio98]

I love reading these! Goes to show that there's a lot more good out there
than we think!! (:
Thank you so much for posting such heart warming and inspirational stories!

Thank you. Feel free to share any postive stories that touch your heart.

There have always been many more good people than bad in the world. I'm sick of the bad ones getting all the attention. Power to the good guys!

[cassiesmom]

I love the Batkid story! I heard about it on the radio first, then in the newspaper and twitter. What a great thing to do!