The good guys thread

[kuhio98]

7-Year-Old Has Raised Over $600,000 to Help Cure His Best Friend's Disease

The next time you think about the power of friendship, think about Dylan Siegel.

Dylan is 7 years old. His best friend, Jonah, has an extremely rare liver disease, and funding for his treatment almost dried up at one point. So Dylan decided to help by writing a book, The Chocolate Bar Book, which has helped raise over $600,000 for research into Jonah's disease.

Jonah has Glycogen Storage Disease Type 1b, which is a rare liver disorder that causes dangerously low blood sugar. As one of 500 children in the world with the disease, Jonah has to be fed every few hours through a feeding tube in his stomach. There is currently no cure.

Dylan describes his friendship with Jonah as "awesome as a chocolate bar," which is where he got the title of his book. People in all 50 states and 42 countries have purchased copies of The Chocolate Bar Book, with every cent going to Dr. David Weinstein's Florida lab, where a cure for the disease is apparently near to being reached.

"It is now reality. It's not just a dream that these children can be cured," Dr. Weinstein told ABC affiliate KGO-TV.

Dylan seems to think so, anyway. Asked where he and Jonah would be 10-15 years from now, he told KGO-TV, "Um, high school and probably [Jonah's] disease would be cured."

Jonah's answer to the same question?

"Friends."

Dylan and Jonah http://chocolatebarbook.com/

[kuhio98]

Backes returns from Sochi with stray dogs

ST. LOUIS, MO (KTVI)– A star St. Louis Blues player who was part of Team USA in the Olympics brought back much more from Sochi than just memories of playing on Olympic ice.

Blues captain David Backes and his wife rescued two of the thousands of stray dogs that were all around Sochi.

We were there as the charter plane with the Backes`, the dogs and others landed at Lambert.

Backes says the two dogs he rescued and other animals kept on showing up at the resort where the players` families were staying.

As the days went by, Sochi Junior and Sochi Jake as Backes calls them, just wouldn`t leave.

So the Backes` went through all the red tape to get them out of Russia.

“By the end of it those two were living in hotel rooms where they shouldn`t have been getting baths in bath tubs where they shouldn`t have been,” explained Backes.

The Backes` are animal lovers. In fact, they run a foundation called Athletes for Animals.

Backes says all the stray animals in Sochi and the amount that were reportedly killed or euthanized touched him.

“When they`re timid and you can kind of tell they`ve been mistreated or you see one with mange or that`s really skinny or fighting over some scraps of food that really tears your heart out because we feel that every dog should have a great home that`s well fed,” explained Backes.

The dogs stayed with the Backes` on the 13 hour plane ride home.

They even tweeted out a picture of them smiling with the dogs while on the flight.

“It`s almost like they knew they were going to somewhere where they wouldn`t have to worry about food or fighting over food or worried about who was coming after them next,” said Backes about the dogs.

After a quick potty break when they landed, the dogs were taken away by the Five Acres Animal Shelter from St. Charles.

They will stay there for 30 days to make sure they are healthy before becoming available for adoption.

“We`re going to be caring for them in that time, socializing them, teaching them English, you know fun things like that,” said Brittany Broombaugh with Five Acres.

Backes added, ‘The story being told of how these dogs are just like yours and mine at home and how you know we should treat our animals with respect and be responsible pet owners is a story that a lot of people wanted to tell and I think we`re telling it now.”

[kuhio98]

Taco Restaurant Employee Hailed As Hero For Stopping Kidnapping

WESTCHESTER (CBSLA.com) — Families in Westchester said they are breathing a sigh of relief following a kidnap attempt Wednesday.

The families are crediting an employee of T2 Tacos, a restaurant in the 7100 block of Manchester Drive, for being the hero who stopped the kidnap attempt.

Residents told KCAL9′s Brittney Hopper that a nanny was walking with a 4-year-old boy Wednesday afternoon — in broad daylight — when a man attempted to steal the child.

The employee — a man named Jesus Delgado – intervened, stopped the man and held him until authorities arrived. (The suspect has been arrested and charged with kidnapping.)

On Thursday evening, the boy’s grateful parents and several mothers from the community went to the restaurant to thank Delgado for his efforts.

The mothers told Hopper that crime was increasing in their neighborhood. In addition to praising Jesus, they also asked police for a larger presence in their community.

Hopper spoke to the baby’s emotional father who said he couldn’t ever thank Delgado enough.

“How can you explain, the feeling that you have of gratitude for someone who saved you son’s life? It’s really an amazing thing that he did,” said Tom O’Brien.

The suspect grabbed the boy and started running. The nanny screamed for help and Delgado ran after the suspect.

Delgado, a husband and father of a little girl with special needs, told Hopper running after the suspect was just instinct. He doesn’t think he did anything heroic.

“It’s incredible,” he said, “Never have I [felt] this.”

A group called Moms With Westchester & Playa del Rey heard about Delgado’s act of heroism and wanted to say thank you.

The group started a GoFundMe account to raise money for Delgado and his special needs child.

“We just wanted to say thank you for being alert and being aware,” said mom Jessica Echeverry.

[kuhio98]

Pay It Forward: Texas Woman Returns Habitat for Humanity Home to Help Others

his article was originally published by NationSwell, a website dedicated to sharing the stories of innovative Americans who are working to effect social change and move the country forward.

It’s not every day that a person asks to return a Habitat for Humanity home.

But that's what happened recently in Kerr County, Texas. Laci Kocurek, who built, maintained and lived in the home with her children for many years, called Karen Quanstrom, executive director of Habitat Kerr County, and said she wanted to deed the house back to the organization. "I had to tell [Quanstrom] several times what I really wanted, and even after that first phone conversation, she called me back several times and said, 'I want to make sure you know what you're doing,' " Kocurek told Habitat World. "She was pretty shocked."

In return, Kocurek wanted something very simple: for the organization to sell the home to another family who needed a place to live.

More from NationSwell: Why Austin, Texas, Is America's Best City for Stray Dogs

Kocurek and her new husband were recently able to buy a home for their expanding family of five. In many cases, Habitat for Humanity will take back homes from owners and return the money that they have put into the mortgage.

But for Kocurek, the family wanted to deed the home back to the organization in order to pass along the positive experience. "That was mine and my kids' first home together – just us – so it was a little sad, but knowing that somebody else who didn’t have a home was going to be moving into it really overpowered that sadness," Kocurek said. "It felt good. It really felt good."

Thanks to the family’s generosity, Habitat Kerr County is able to provide an additional family with a home this year.

"That’s the wonderful joy of it," Quanstrom said.

[kuhio98]

Hingham Bakery Customer Surprises Employees With Large Sum Of Money

HINGHAM (CBS) – You may have heard of the phrase “pay it forward.” The employees of a Hingham bakery just got a good taste of it.

Last week, a man walked into White’s Bakery and ordered a danish. While the employee was wrapping up his treat, he reciprocally treated the employees. He put an envelope on the glass counter, paid for his danish, and quickly walked away.

When employees opened the unmarked envelope, they found thousands of dollars. This act of kindness was no accident.

Security cameras captured the whole interaction. But the man, who is about 55-years-old, saw the camera and turned his back to it, masking his identity.

Nobody has come into the bakery claiming to have lost a large amount of money.

[kuhio98]

Local 'Love Bomb Squad' strikes again
Organization does random acts of kindness for community

LA CROSSE, Wis. (WKBT) -

A group of area kids showed its love for others at the La Crosse Public Library Monday evening.

They are called the "Love Bomb Squad" and they leave handmade gifts as a way to spread kindness, peace and joy to others.

“Random acts of kindness makes other people's days and it makes our day to make their day, so it makes everyone happy,” said Abby Sharp, a member of the Love Bomb Squad.

At the library, the kids left handmade painted rocks and bookmarks for unsuspecting guests to find.

“We keep it simple and inexpensive and we want to bring cheer to people and then inspire them to do the same thing and we hope it’s a ripple effect and so the kindness will spread far and wide,” said Stephanie Sharp, the founder and leader of the Love Bomb Squad, and Abby’s mother.

Stephanie Sharp said she was inspired to create the group because of two organizations in Denver: the Random Acts of Kindess Foundation and The Birthday Project.

“I just wanted to make it a little more personal, so I decided to start my own,” Sharp said.

In November 2013, Sharp and her daughter teamed up with some close friends and family to do something special for someone else. Then they brought up the idea to their church, Unitarian Universalist Fellowship and encouraged everyone, especially Sunday school kids to do random acts of kindness.

“We painted rocks and wrote post-it notes and then during Random Acts of Kindness week, we 'Love Bombed' the (la Crosse) City Hall a couple of meetings there,” Sharp said. “We went to hospitals and nursing homes and a knitting group at church started knitting scarves and we have a person that makes tabs for them and then puts them around downtown for the statues and they say, ‘I’m not lost. If you’re cold, please take me.’”

Sharp said they don’t usually see people’s reaction when they get Love Bombed, but when they do there are mixed reactions.

“Most of the time it’s confusion because I don’t think people expect a stranger to come up and do something kind. I think that sometimes they’re nervous but I think after they realize what it is, it makes them smile.”

"If you were walking home and it was cold and you had a bad day at work and suddenly you found a painted rock that says you are loved, it would make your day a little better," said Abby Sharp.

The members of the Love Bomb Squad hope they inspire people in the community to start doing their own random acts of kindness.

“Keep the kindness going because I think the world needs that,” Stephanie Sharp said.

For more information on the Love Bomb Squad, visit the organization’s website, Lovebombsquad.com or Love Bomb Squad Facebook page.

[kuhio98]

Deer Heroes.

[kuhio98]

An update to this story. Dylan has now raised nearly $1,000,000 for research. And he and Jonah are still best friends. http://losangeles.cbslocal.com/2014/...e/?hpt=us_bn10

7-Year-Old Has Raised Over $600,000 to Help Cure His Best Friend's Disease

The next time you think about the power of friendship, think about Dylan Siegel.

Dylan is 7 years old. His best friend, Jonah, has an extremely rare liver disease, and funding for his treatment almost dried up at one point. So Dylan decided to help by writing a book, The Chocolate Bar Book, which has helped raise over $600,000 for research into Jonah's disease.

Jonah has Glycogen Storage Disease Type 1b, which is a rare liver disorder that causes dangerously low blood sugar. As one of 500 children in the world with the disease, Jonah has to be fed every few hours through a feeding tube in his stomach. There is currently no cure.

Dylan describes his friendship with Jonah as "awesome as a chocolate bar," which is where he got the title of his book. People in all 50 states and 42 countries have purchased copies of The Chocolate Bar Book, with every cent going to Dr. David Weinstein's Florida lab, where a cure for the disease is apparently near to being reached.

"It is now reality. It's not just a dream that these children can be cured," Dr. Weinstein told ABC affiliate KGO-TV.

Dylan seems to think so, anyway. Asked where he and Jonah would be 10-15 years from now, he told KGO-TV, "Um, high school and probably [Jonah's] disease would be cured."

Jonah's answer to the same question?

"Friends."

Dylan and Jonah http://chocolatebarbook.com/

[Karen]

Aww that's fun - and I like both boys' answers to the question at the end!

[kuhio98]

Tattoo artist pays it forward to help baby who must wear helmet

An Eastlake (Ohio) tattoo artist used his time and talents to help a five-month-old boy suffering from a unique disorder.

“Well everyone thought it was his Halloween costume when he was wearing it cause he has an aviator jacket that he wore with it,” said Lauren Rowan of Perry.

It’s not a Halloween costume but a special cranial helmet that Talen Rowan is wearing. Talen suffers from Plagiocephaly which causes flat spots on his head. He has to wear the helmet for seven months.

“So we took him to specialists and they said this helmet was the right treatment for it. He’s gotta wear it 23 hours a day, seven days a week,” said Rowan.

The Rowan family was looking for an artist to customize Talen’s helmet so they posted an ad online and that’s when tattoo artist Greg Chadwick came forward and gave them a great offer.

“If I can make somebody’s day better, opening a door, saying something nice, I’m just doing what I do,” said Greg Chadwick of Eastlake.

Chadwick spent more than 12 hours airbrushing Talen’s cranial helmet to look like an aviator helmet complete with goggles and Talen’s name on the back. Chadwick usually gets $100 an hour for his work at Iron Clad Tattoos, but he airbrushed the helmet for free.

“I contacted Lauren and Matt and said I’d like to do it no charge. Don’t worry about it, just pay it forward or just do something nice for somebody down the road when you can you know and here we are,” said Chadwick.

The family can’t thank Greg enough.

[Karen]

Chadwick spent more than 12 hours airbrushing Talen’s cranial helmet to look like an aviator helmet complete with goggles and Talen’s name on the back. Chadwick usually gets $100 an hour for his work at Iron Clad Tattoos, but he airbrushed the helmet for free.

“I contacted Lauren and Matt and said I’d like to do it no charge. Don’t worry about it, just pay it forward or just do something nice for somebody down the road when you can you know and here we are,” said Chadwick.

The family can’t thank Greg enough.

Hee hee - and maybe he will grow up to be a pilot - you never know!

[kuhio98]

BARRE, Vt. - It was a secret act of kindness that lifted spirits in Barre and has been shared more than 5,000 times on Facebook.

Kathleen Connors has a thing for bingo and doing good.

"I have been on a lucky streak with bingo and I had a pocket full of money and I like to pay it forward," said Connors, a Central Vermont Medical Center nurse.

And Saturday morning over breakfast at the L&M diner in Barre she had an idea.

"I said to the waitress 'I think I'll take care of their bill.' She says, 'do you know them?' I said, 'no, I just wanted to do it,'" Connors explained.

But when she left what she didn't realize was that her simple act of picking up the tab for a father and son she didn't know would take off in a big way. Nearly 50 additional tables followed her lead, treating folks to a meal on the house.

"Like I said before I only thought a couple tables did it, but as the day went on it kept going and going and going," said Tayler Merriam, a waitress at L&M.

"I am speechless, I'm euphoric. It's just insane," said Connors.

When Connors returned to work at CVMC Sunday night after a weekend in Massachusetts she was in for a surprise.

"I came in to work the other night and everyone was giving me kudos and high-fives. I'm like what are you talking about and then it got back to me and I was like I never told anyone," said Connors.

But when co-workers and friends heard a nurse was behind the simple act of kindness they knew it had to be Connors.

"She always has a great personality when she comes in. Always wicked bubbly, always good morning and a smile on her face," said Merriam

The constant optimism, caring heart and generous spirit might be hard to come by for those in similar shoes. Connors made the move to Barre from Massachusetts looking for a fresh start after more than a year without work.

"I came here 10 months ago because I had no job and I took on a big move and I had nothing when I came here and it was my way of wanting to pay it forward and make someone else feel good the way I feel good. I am very grateful," said Connors.

She says buying breakfast for a family she didn't know was the least she could do for a community that's welcomed her as one of its own.

"This is my way of showing my appreciation for Vermont. I love Vermont and I couldn't be happier. I love where I work, I love where I live and I love the people around me," said Connors.

It's love that started in a dinner and is now inspiring others all over the world.

[kuhio98]

This put a smile on my face today.