The good guys thread

[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!

[kuhio98]

I have to confess that when I heard about this story, I figured that "management" would come up with a million and one reasons why a wedding couldn't be performed at the airport. I am beyond happy to hear that, instead of hendering the process, they helped make it happen. And how wonderful to see a couple to understands that the important thing is to be together -- not where the wedding takes place. Gives me hope....


Navy Sailor Marries High-School Sweetheart in Reno Airport



A U.S. Navy sailor told his high school sweetheart he wanted to marry her the moment he laid eyes on her after an 11-month deployment off the coast of war-torn Syria.

Seaman Apprentice Dylan Ruffer got his wish Tuesday shortly after stepping off a plane at Reno-Tahoe International Airport.

Ruffer and Madison Meinhardt, both 19, tied the knot just after midnight under a tulle-covered arch in front of the arrivals escalators. More than 200 invited guests, passengers and others looked on.

"Seeing her for the first time, it was amazing," Ruffer told reporters.

A reception followed in the baggage claim area.

"We were expecting a little wedding in the corner," Meinhardt said. "This is definitely more than we could have ever asked for."

The couple, who met at Chester High School in Northern California, initially planned to marry in October but had to postpone the wedding when Ruffer's deployment was extended, according to KOLO-TV.

The bride inquired about the possibility of an airport wedding about three weeks ago, and businesses and community members quickly rallied around the plan. The Peppermill casino offered a spa package so the bride could prepare, while the Eldorado casino donated a honeymoon suite and limousine.

The airport catering service prepared food for the reception, which was held in a fully decorated section of the baggage claim area and featured a deejay.

"A lot of people were absolutely stunned to see a wedding in the terminal," airport spokesman Brian Kulpin said. "It's not something you see in the airport every day."

[kuhio98]

Oral Lee Brown Has Sent More than 150 Children to College

Back in 1987, Oral Lee Brown, an Oakland, Calif., realtor, made a seemingly crazy decision.

She decided to offer 23 first-grade children at Brookfield Elementary School a full-ride to college with no realistic expectations that they would even graduate from high school.

In a school district with a 54 percent high school graduation rate, Browns' kids are beating the odds. Out of that first group of 23, 19 graduated from high school and enrolled in college.

"They didn't want to fail me," she says of their success. "I believe love can turn anything around."

Brown, 68, later established the Oral Lee Brown Foundation. To date 90 to 95 percent of her classes have graduated, with around 150 kids going to college.

"I don’t have a magic wand," she says. "It is hard work, determination and love. I can't allow mine to fail."

Michael Tatmon, 32, is one of her grateful kids from that first class.

"Ms. Brown was always in my corner," says Tatmon, who graduated from Benedictine College in Atchison, Kan., with a degree in criminal justice in 2007 and a BA in criminology. "I appreciate her guidance, her wisdom. She taught us you can make it out of the hood."

She was also there for them on a personal level, he says.

"She was like a mother," says Tatmon, who recently started his own clothing, marketing and promotion company. "Out of my family members, I can say I'm one of the few who have never been in jail. That's a result of Ms. Brown in my life."

It all began when a young girl asked Brown for a quarter outside of a grocery store. Instead, she offered to take her inside and buy her something. Expecting her to pick out candy, the girl bought bread, bologna and other sandwich supplies.

Brown kept returning to the store to look for her. Then she decided to try the local elementary school. Three girls were absent from the two first-grade classes that day.

"The principal said, 'I'll give you a call when all the kids are there,'" Brown recalls. "So I get a phone call that all students are here today and I went through thinking I'd finally see her."

She didn't.

"So I just blurted out, 'Can I adopt one of the classes?'" she says. "'Give me the class you don't think will make it.'"

Brown also started Saturday school for the children and is trying to raise money to start a boarding school that will be a safe haven for these children, housing about 480 students.

"With the boarding school, my kids will be safe, with no bullets coming into their dorm," she says.

LaTosha Hunter, 32, who received a bachelor of arts degree in accounting from Alcorn State University in Lorman, Miss., says she wouldn't be the person he is today without Brown.

"Everyone has a purpose in life," she says. "And her purpose was that we had a better life."

[kuhio98]

People Pets Blind Dog and His Guide Brother Find Forever Home

... And they lived happily ever after!

Jeffrey and Jermaine, the two homeless pups whose story melted hearts when a photograph of them hugging each other in their shelter pen went viral, have found a place to spend forever.

The no-kill animal shelter Operation Ava sorted through more than 10,000 adoptions applications for the 8-month-old pups, who are inseparable because Jeffrey is blind and his brother, Jermaine, is his loyal guide dog. The lucky new owners: Jonathan Hochman and his wife, Veronica McKee.

According to a rep for the shelter, the couple, who live in Springfield, Pa., had been looking to adopt a pair of shelter dogs, as they have a big backyard and are not planning on children.

They will bring the dogs to their new home on Monday.

"I thought these are the cutest dogs I've ever seen,” McKee told Today of the moment she saw the photo. "They're incredibly sweet, but they still have that sibling rivalry. There's this sharing thing. It's pretty funny."

The pit bull-Lab mixes, who now have a feline sibling in McKee and Hochman's cat Blabbus, were found on the streets of Philadelphia in October.

[cassiesmom]

(CBS) – A dog missing since the tornado tore through downstate Washington more than a week ago has been re-united with his owner, reports WBBM’s Mike Krauser.

His name is Dexter, a six-month old pit bull and he has been missed by his owner Jacob Montgomery, an MP in the Illinois National Guard whose third floor apartment was torn apart by the tornado.

He posted an ad online with a lot of pictures asking that if anyone sees Dexter to contact him.

Dexter was found Tuesday morning in the rubble alive. Comparing the before and after pictures he has obviously lost a lot of weight and his ribs are showing. He was being checked out by a vet and has been reunited with his owner.

[kuhio98]

Kevin Bacon and Kyra Sedgwick Prepare 1,000 ‘Thanksgiving To-Go Meals’


You could say that Kevin Bacon and Kyra Sedgwick are giving back before giving thanks.

On Nov. 24, the celebrity couple joined other volunteers (including chefs David Burke, Sunny Anderson, and Mario Batali) at the Food Bank For New York City in Harlem to prepare 1,000 Thanksgiving meals for high-need communities in the area.

Sedgwick and Bacon, who are actively involved in the food bank, say the cause is close to their hearts—and home. “We only live a few blocks from here and the idea that we have so much and there’s 1 out of 5 people in New York using food bank services is kind of staggering,” Bacon told PEOPLE.

With new challenges following government funding cuts that cost the city the equivalent of 76 million meals, Sedgwick says that Thanksgiving won’t be the same for many. “I remember coming here last year and things were rough and they were really struggling to feed the amount of people that were coming in,” she said. “I can only imagine this year, it must be a devastating loss.”

Before strapping on their chef’s hats and aprons, the couple also talked about their own Thanksgiving plans: They will once again be hosting both of their families, which has become an annual tradition.

“We have a great Bacon family Thanksgiving, we’ve been doing it forever,” said Sedgwick.

As for the meal, she admitted that she’s partial to dark turkey meat and gushed about her love of vegetables. “I heard that you don’t start enjoying Brussels sprouts until you’re an adult and let me say that’s one of the good things about getting older,” she said.

Sedgwick, who sliced off the tip of finger chopping kale this summer, said she will likely stay out of the kitchen, but that daughter Sosie, who was just named Miss Golden Globe, and Bacon’s sisters will be handling the cooking and pie-baking. “I’m more of a cheerleader because everyone comes to our house to cook,” she said.

Said Bacon: “It makes us realize how thankful we are and that point gets driven home even stronger on a day like Thanksgiving.”