The good guys thread

[kuhio98]

I sponsored a wreath in the name of my late father. I miss you Daddy. I'm sorry I didn't appreciate you enough when you were here.


Maine Company Looking For Help To Honor Fallen Soldiers With Wreaths

BOSTON (CBS) – A caravan of vehicles bearing Christmas wreaths is making its way from Maine to Washington, D.C. this week. Nine tractor-trailers are loaded with close to 100,000 small green wreaths, each tied with a red ribbon. It is the work of a non-profit Maine-based group called Wreaths Across America.

When the group began its work in 1992, volunteers placed wreaths at gravestones at Arlington National Cemetery. Since then, the organization has grown tremendously and it now helps wreaths make it to 909 cemeteries nationwide. That’s a total of close to 550,000 wreaths, according to the group’s executive director, Karen Worcester.

“We have amazing people traveling with us on the convoy,” Worcester says.

On Monday night, the convoy stopped over at the Topsfield Fair Grounds to give drivers a break, to thank volunteers, and to get ready for the emotional ceremonies that will take place on Saturday.

“When we go to Arlington,” Worcester explains, “we place the wreath and we speak the name of somebody’s loved one. It’s the least we can do.”

But this year, donations to Arlington were way down. Typically, people sponsor a wreath by donating money to the charity. Worcester thinks that so many people focused on their local cemeteries this year, donations to Arlington fell off.

They hit the road this year between 10,000 and 20,000 wreaths shy of their goal. Still, volunteers are optimistic.

“It’s not about just laying a wreath at Arlington, it’s about paying respect,” says Barbara Benard, a Gold Star Mother whose son, Sgt. 1st class Brent Adams, was killed in Iraq eight years ago.

Benard has made the trip for the past three years “to represent all the moms who can’t go to Arlington,” she explains.

Even though Wreaths Across America didn’t hit its goal, they’re still optimistic.

“They are down, but I keep hearing that they’re getting more,” Benard says. “I mean, they’re still loading trucks. The deadline was supposed to be December 2nd and they’re still getting donations in.”

If you want to help, you can visit the organization’s website at wreathsacrossamerica.org.

[kuhio98]

Cats Crash Brooklyn Nativity Scene



These days, the holiday season is really about peppermint-flavored everything and cats. But mostly cats.

We have cats in Christmas trees. Cats in Santa hats hating Christmas. Cats in Santa hats loving ... you get the point.

But some festive felines in Red Hook, Brooklyn, are taking their holiday cheer to biblical proportions. That's right – they're turning a local residence's nativity scene into a cat-ivity scene.

Sisters Annette and Sue Amendola have put up the manger scene in a lot next to their N.Y.C. home for more than a decade, reports the local DNAinfo. The traditional Christmas display, which depicts the birth of Jesus, has become a place for the feral cats to congregate during the holidays. The sisters say the cats cozy up between the Virgin Mary and Joseph, knocking the Jesus statue out of their way.

"People love it," Sue Amendola says. "But they really get a laugh out of the cats."

[kuhio98]

'Layaway Santas' Make Holiday Dreams Come True

Need a little pick-me-up this holiday season?

Look no further than the scores of "layaway Santas" who are flooding the stores this holiday and proving that the Christmas spirit truly does live in the hearts of many Americans.

The way layaway Santas work is simple: do-gooders visit stores that have a layaway department, such as Wal-Mart, Kmart or Toys "R" Us, and offer to pay off the holiday layaway bills of others who are struggling to save enough to put presents under the tree.

Layaway Santas have been around for ages, but the idea gained traction recently when the Associated Press highlighted their good deeds two years ago. http://finance.yahoo.com/news/anonym...222535611.html

Wal-Mart said it tracked more than 1,000 instances of lawaway Santas this season. Toy "R" Us reports 794 layaway Santa visits in 2012, while Kmart said big-hearted strangers spent more than $1.5 million in others' layaway contracts over the years, reports NBC News.

Most donors remain anonymous, but a few do come forward, including Dave Wilson, 65, who grew up poor on a farm in Iowa, but in Horatio Alger-like fashion went on to own 17 car dealerships in Orange County, Calif.

Every December he gives his wife Holly (yes, really) a special present: a Kmart receipt showing the thousands he spent helping others. Last Christmas he spent $18,000 paying off 320 layaway accounts. He has similar plans this year.

"It's not passing out Christmas hams or turkeys. They have to pay at least 10 percent ... this is something people have thought about and made an investment in," Wilson told NBC about his reasoning behind the yearly tradition.

Folks who cannot come up with the balance of their layaway account in time risk not receiving the gifts they earmarked for the holiday. That's why receiving the news that their accounts were paid off can come as a true Christmas miracle to many.

"Parents really want to make Christmas happen," Rachel Saraga, a manager at the Wal-Mart in King of Prussia, Pa., tells NBC of people who participate in their layaway program.

She sums up their reactions to learning their accounts have been paid off in one word: "Tears."

[kuhio98]

Man Travels Country in Pink Tutu to Cheer Up Wife During Her Cancer Treatment

Picture a heavyset man, wearing nothing but a pink tutu, leaping about New York's High Line. Would you believe he's doing it for his wife?

Bob and Linda Carey have been together since 1986. When Linda was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2003, Bob started taking pictures of himself in said tutu to cheer her up. What started as a silly gag has become an unlikely symbol of hope for cancer patients across the country.

Bob's Tutu Project http://www.thetutuproject.com/about/ raises money for breast cancer research through sales of his prints, his photo book Ballerina and donations. His Carey Foundation is partnered with CancerCare, a nationally run nonprofit, to help distribute the funds they raise.

We like Bob's take on dealing with cancer: "This all sucks, you know? And it's stupid that it's happening." But, he adds, "There's no reason for us to suffer through it like this. I'm here to make people happy."

And it seems to be working: "It just makes me laugh, to see my husband dancing around in a pink tutu," Linda says. "It helps me be positive. The more I laugh, the better I feel."

[kuhio98]

Criminals-turned-carpenters spread holiday cheer

Polk City, FL - It's probably the last place you'd expect to find one of Santa's workshops: inside a Florida state prison. But at the Polk Correctional Institution, each year a select group of inmates builds handmade, hand-painted, hand-crafted toys for good little girls and boys.

"We're the little elves," joked Stephen Steedley, an inmate at Polk C.I.

"Yep, this is Santa's workshop," added Brandon Niccoli, who is behind bars for strong armed robbery.

The idea of criminals-turned-carpenters started more than a decade ago and since the program began at Polk C.I., inmates have made more than 5,000 toys.

"We build toys 365 days a year, seven days a week," said Jennifer Selin, a corrections officer who oversees the program.

The toys are distributed to needy kids in Polk County through the Toys for Tots program.

However, officials say the program's success is not measured by the number of wooden toy cars or rockers that are produced; instead it's measured by what the inmates learn.

"A lot of us spent time taking from the community, so really this gives us a chance to give back," inmate Clayton Kammeraad said.

"One of the things that I always look for is what is my meaning in life... and right now my meaning is helping the needy children," said Stephen Muench who has a couple of years to go before he's released from prison.

"This is not my first time in prison, but I think I'm going to get the most out of this time in prison by just participating in this program," Steedley said.

Only a handful of inmates are allowed to participate in the program. In order to be selected from the general population, the inmates can't have any disciplinary write-ups within the past year and they must be nearing their release.

"Yes, we've all made mistakes and it wound us (up) where we're at, but not everybody in here is an evil person. There's a lot of people in here that have a really big heart," Kammeraad noted.

And this holiday season a lot of kids will have a little more holiday cheer thanks to the inmates at Polk C.I.

[kuhio98]

Goodwill employee finds $2K, returns it to owner

JAMES ISLAND, SC (WCSC) - An employee at a Lowcountry Goodwill store is receiving praise Wednesday morning after finding $2,000 amongst some donated items and returning the money to its owner, according to a Facebook post from Goodwill Industries of Lower South Carolina.

The post states an associate was pricing donated items Tuesday at the James Island Goodwill when they came across $2,000, along with other paperwork, belonging to a doctor's office.

Officials then contacted the doctor's office to return the findings.

According to the post, the doctor rewarded the honest employee for returning the money and paperwork, which the employee then donated to the Goodwill Angel Tree.

[kuhio98]

Retired detective solving cases in Bunnell for free

BUNNELL -- Harry Kuleski has become a fixture at the front desk of the Bunnell Police Department.

It's the only place this retired Flagler County Sheriff's detective can do his work.

And what work he's done. Acting Police Chief Randy Burke knew it would be a perfect fit.

"He's logged in the last year 1,500 hours of work time and has cleared, I think it's 700, over 740 cases in the time he's been here,” Burke said.


It's not anything new.

Departments all across the country bring in help to review cold cases, often retired detectives.

Kuleski dove in with a passion. “It's amazing," said Kuleski. "We had cases going all the way back to 1991. In fact, we just finished our last box last week.”

The best part of the arrangement, at least for the taxpayers of Bunnell, is that the services of Sgt. Kuleski cost them nothing.

He's a reserve sergeant for the department.

That's a rank he just got this week, which includes the use of a vehicle.

Acting Chief Burke said the promotion is the least he can do.

“The kind of experience that Harry Kuleski brings to the agency is phenomenal," Burke said. "The fact that he does it as a reserve officer, non-paid is even more phenomenal.”

Kuleski served 21 years in the sheriff's office and more than two decades in the United States Coast Guard. All that was after a stint in the US Navy during Vietnam.

He said being a cop is in his blood.

As for how long he'll keep doing this? “Till they kick me out. Till whenever," Kuleski said. "Until the girls drive me nuts or whatever, but as long as I can go for 'em and help 'em, I'll be more than happy to be here.”

Detective Kuleski is also teaching the young cops in Bunnell's police force which includes his son, who is in the field training program with the department.