The good guys thread

[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.

[kuhio98]

'Kindest site' helps pay it forward
Miresi lets you track your kindnesses

PORTLAND, Ore. (KOIN) - Pay it forward. There's now a website for that.

The just-launched site is the brainchild of Kelle Bovid, a 48-year-old Michigan mother of four who hatched the idea one day on the road home from Chicago.

"In the drive-thru at McDonalds, I paid for my drink but also for the meal for the gentleman in line behind me. The McDonald's employee was excited when I said I'd pay for the next meal and asked if I wanted to relay a message. I said 'just pay it forward," she told KOIN.com.

"I watched the man's reaction as he was told that his meal had been paid for. He laughed! So for $4 and some change, it made me happy, and brought some joy to the McDonalds employee and the guy who got a free chicken sandwich. Is there a better way to spend $4? I don't think so."

Over time, she took that feeling and idea and turned it into Miresi.org -- Miresi is the Persian word for kindness.

"Miresi.org is the result of a collaboration with Grand Valley State University in Allendale, Michigan. We were given a team of four students and 11 weeks to create the entire site," Bovid said.

Here's how it works:

A person goes to Miresi.org and creates a free account, then downloads and prints the pay-it-forward cards.

"Each card is coded with a unique number to enable tracking," she said. "Go out and do something nice for someone, and leave the card behind with the recipient of your kindness. The card will direct the recipient to miresi.org where they'll enter the card number, be able to see its history, and tell of their own experience. And pay it forward in their own way.

"Each person associated with a card will be able to see the history of the card and to watch as it moves forward."

Visitors to the site will also be able to see other people's acts of kindness, too, plus comments from people who've received the cards.

"Currently our tracking allows users to enter an address or zip of the location where the card or kindness was passed," she said. "Our next step is to create mapping which will give users a visual depiction of the card as the acts of kindness are paid forward."

They want people handing out more than one card because they know not every card will be acknowledged. The more cards in circulation the more likely people are "to see the impact of their act of kindness."

A mobile app is in development.

GVSU faculty member David K. Lange said his student teams work about 1000 hours on each project. He sees another student team working to build a better tracking system and better visual presentation.

"We want to bring joy to people," Bovid said. "I know how good it feels to be surprised by a random act of kindness and I'd like everyone to experience that.

"When people see how good it feels to surprise strangers, we're hoping they'll do it more often. We want people to see that their actions have real and lasting effects, and to inspire them to make all their actions positive."

http://www.miresi.org/

[kuhio98]

Secret Santa buys coffee for everyone in Starbucks

(WTNH)--The morning rush at Starbucks on the New Haven green paused for a hush of giving.

Christie Colon was at the cash register when she was approached by a fellow worker.

"He said, use this credit card and I said, what's going on with the credit card?,'" Colon recalled.

"Well, the gentleman in the corner decided to give us the credit card so he can pay for everybody while he was there."

For an hour and a half, the secret Santa delighted people like David Gale.

"This gentleman just decided to break out his American Express Gold card," Gale said. "I've told everyone that would listen to me today that I just had a warm heart today, because it renewed my faith in man again."

The man racked up receipts totaling somewhere between $500 and $600.

"I asked him why he was doing this and he said 'just because,'" said Colon. "Then he actually tipped my coworkers that were on the floor. He gave us all an individual tip and when he did, I gave him a big hug and I was like thank you so much, so very kind of you."

"He was just smiling - ear to ear- you could tell it was genuine," she said.

A mix bag of customers got a taste of something good.

"People who spend $10 on their coffee or their lattes, they got a free one and then people who come in just to seek warmth got a free cup of coffee. I thought it was a beautiful thing," Colon said.

A beautiful gesture to be shared and celebrated in the wonder of the season.

[kuhio98]

Decorator of I-17 Christmas tree still a mystery

BLACK CANYON CITY, AZ (CBS5) - Each night on CBS5 News at 10 p.m. this week, we're highlighting an Arizona Christmas tradition or legend.

Chances are, if you've driven from the Valley to northern Arizona in December, you've seen it from Interstate 17.

The question is: Who decorates it every year?

"We were driving along and all of a sudden we saw this Christmas tree all decorated and it was like a little surprise," said Lisa Symonds, of Gilbert, about her trip up to Prescott Monday.

Each December, for about 30 years now, someone has decorated a tree in the median of I-17 - just north of Sunset Point near Milepost 254.

"I was wondering who did this, and were they really sneaky?" asked Symonds. "Did they do it at night time when no one was there?"

The star-topped Christmas tree is adorned with glass ornaments, stuffed animals, flags, bells and bows. It's also draped with tinsel-garland.

"We see it every year," said Jeff Chastain, of Flagstaff. "Every holiday it's changing and it's very elaborate."

Clearly, a lot of work goes into putting the decorations up and taking them down.

Amazingly, no one has ever been caught in the act.

As for who does it, people have their suspicions.

"We've heard a few rumors," said Tommy Meredith, of Prescott. "Transportation people, ADOT people and so forth."

Others suspect law enforcement of being the mystery decorators.

But, for now, no one is taking credit.

"I really don't know who does it," said Chastain. "I just see it and look at it and say it looks nice and keep on going."

[kuhio98]

Cecil Williams to Keep Guide Dog Who Saved Him After Donations Pour In


Cecil Williams, whose life was saved by his guide dog after he fell on New York City subway tracks, will get to keep his pooch after animal lovers donated money to pay for the retiring pup's expenses.

Williams, 61, faced finding a new home for Orlando, the Labrador who jumped on the tracks to revive him after he fainted, because the 11-year-old pooch is getting to be too old to be a guide dog and the owner's insurance plan doesn't cover the expenses of nonworking dogs, the New York Post reports.

Guiding Eyes for the Blind, which trained Orlando, created a fund to help Williams keep his brave pup, and animals lovers have also donated more than $55,000 on the crowd-funding site Indiegogo so that the pair can stay together. "The spirit of giving, Christmas and all that – it exists here. It's in New York," a tearful Williams said from his hospital bed on Wednesday.

Williams, who became blind in 1995 from meningitis, was going to have to re-home Orlando in January and get a new guide, but thanks to the donations he can afford to keep the dog he calls his "best buddy."

The pooch jumped on the train tracks at the 125th Street station on Tuesday morning after Williams fainted and fell. Orlando began licking Williams' face to get him between the rails, where a train passed over them.

"That dog deserves to be spoiled rotten for the rest of his life," said Andrew Piera of Blue Star Transportation, who offered to pay for Orlando's upkeep. "This guy can't afford it and I can – and it's Christmas."

Williams has been moved by the generosity of strangers and by his dog's loyalty.

"I'm not a cry baby or nothing but my eyes are misty," he admitted. "He was there. He's always with me … He's always looking out for me. That's his job."