The good guys thread

[kuhio98]

Acts of kindness from the web:

Doughnuts in the ER

I'm involved in a college campus ministry group in my town. One of our recent activities was to break up into smaller groups and use a single $20 bill to "make the nights" of at least three people. My group decided to go with the idea of buying as many doughnuts as we could and taking them to the staff in the emergency department in a local hospital. We explained what we were doing to the manager on duty at the doughnut shop; he was happy to give us a great deal on the doughnuts. When we brought the doughnuts in to the hospital, the staff was so excited, thankful and grateful for the kindness. Several of them even said that they'd been having a rough night so it meant a lot to them. Here's the thing- It just so happens that I'm a volunteer in that same emergency department. So to see their responses and hear that some had been having a rough night, I could really empathize and tell how much it meant to them. It was so great to be able to kind of see and understand both the giving and receiving sides of things, and it really made my day. Trust me, that sort of thing is appreciated so much!

[kuhio98]

Cancer survivor beats odds, runs 2,000 miles to Maine
Helene Neville hoping to run entire perimeter of United States


A four-time cancer survivor made Portland part of her iconic mission Sunday to run the entire perimeter of the United States.

Helene Neville left Scarborough Sunday morning on the final leg of her 2,000 mile run from Marathon, Florida to Portland, Maine.

Neville has already run from California to Florida and Vancouver, Canada to Tijuana, Mexico.

What is even more impressive are the health battles she has fought just to get to this point.

Neville was diagnosed with Hodgkins lymphoma in the 1990s and T-Cell lymphoma just two years ago. She has survived three brain surgeries, chemotherapy and radiation.

Now, she hopes to inspire other cancer survivors to not give up.

"I just wanted to go out and originally inspire nurses," said Neville. "I'm a nurse, and to be better ambassadors for healthy living, to inspire health in their patients, and it's just so much bigger. I stop and talk to school children, just the general public, and I just try and get everyone to think about health and inspire the next person."

Neville has one more task to accomplish in her 10,000-mile journey. She will now run approximately 3,200 miles from East Coast to West Coast, a run that is scheduled for 2015.

[kuhio98]

REOPENING SCHOOLS AFTER A TORNADO

C.J. Huff, 41

Joplin, Mo.

After a massive tornado killed 160 people and ripped Joplin apart on May 22, school district superintendent C.J. Huff kept a round-the-clock vigil at the North Middle School shelter, directing school buses to serve as ambulances and comforting those who lost everything. Weeping, he lay on a cot in the dark and made a vow. "I love these kids," he remembers thinking. "We've got to reopen these schools." And in only 87 days, he did. Thanks to thousands of volunteers and creative thinking, 4,200 students moved into 260 classrooms, with a warehouse becoming a middle school and a vacant department store turning into a high school. Says Huff: "Never underestimate the ability of people to accomplish anything." joplinschools.org

[cassiesmom]

Target school supplies- I just heard about this on the radio. I copied this from their press release. I'm not a student anymore but I can probably find a reason to purchase school supplies And there's almost always something I need from Target, shampoo or dishwashing liquid or greeting cards or some such thing.


When Guests Buy Select up&up School Supplies, Target Gives Up to $25 Million


For every select up&up school supply purchased, Target will give one school supply to a student in need, potentially impacting nearly two million kids this back-to-school season

MINNEAPOLIS — July 09, 2014

Target Corp. (NYSE: TGT) announced today that for every select up&up school supply purchased at Target stores from July 13 through August 2, Target will donate one school supply item to a student in need. Through these purchases, Target’s goal is to donate up to $25 million in supplies and potentially impact nearly two million kids as they head back to school. up&up is a Target owned brand that offers more than 1,200 everyday essentials from across the store, including a line of colorful and stylish school supplies, at a fraction of the price of national brands.

The program was inspired by Yoobi, a Target-exclusive brand of school supplies with a “One for You, One for Me” mission, and builds on Target’s longstanding community partnership with the Kids In Need Foundation. Target will distribute the school supply donations through the Kids In Need Foundation, which operates a national network of Resource Centers that provide free school supplies for in-need students. The donations will be made to Resource Centers beginning in August and provide an optimized assortment of the school supplies students need for the year ahead.

“For millions of kids living in poverty, the right school supplies often become a luxury instead of a necessity,” said Laysha Ward, president, Community Relations, Target. “We know that giving is important to Target’s guests. This program gives them an opportunity to make a positive impact on the lives of others and set kids up for success through the simple act of buying school supplies.”

[kuhio98]

From People's Heroes Among Us

FINDING HOMES FOR RETIRED GREYHOUNDS

Dennis Tyler, 64

Melbourne, Fla.

Dennis Tyler looks deep into the eyes of each greyhound needing a new life after retiring from Florida's busy racetracks and gets inspired all over again. "It's looking at all those faces," he says, "that drives me to keep doing this."

Since 1991, Tyler, a retired mechanic from Kennedy Space Center, has found adoptive homes for some 7,200 greyhounds who are no longer able to compete on the track. He pays veterinary bills, matches dogs with loving families and drives them to their new homes, mostly on the East Coast. New owner Sharon Bell of Rochester, N.Y., says 5-year-old Koa works magic with her 25-year-old daughter Danielle, who has special needs. "Dennis," she says, "is incredible." floridagreyhounds.com

[kuhio98]

Heroes Among Us
Family of Eight Travels Cross-Country Helping Others

Most families spend their summer vacation at the beach – not traveling across the country to help families in need.

Meet the Mursets.

Gregg, 40, his wife Kami, 37, and their six kids ranging in age from 7 to 16, left Phoenix in their motor home on June 29 to spend 20 days on the road volunteering their time to help 25 families in need.

"I told the kids and my wife over breakfast that I wanted to do this," Gregg Murset, 40, tells PEOPLE.

"They all looked at me like I was crazy," he says, "but when we started to read the stories of people we were going to help, their attitudes completely changed."

Gregg is the founder of My Job Chart, a company with 725,000 users that teaches children about work ethics and money management.

The company partners with Autism Speaks, The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society, and three more organizations that helped to connect the Mursets with families who have children with cancer, genetic disorders and other illnesses.

"When you have a kid who is struggling, the last thing you're thinking of is pulling weeds, vacuuming or dusting," says Gregg.

"It's been amazing to watch my own children open their eyes and see that the world is bigger than they are," he says. "Even the little kids are learning from this experience."

So far, they have stopped in Albuquerque, Denver, Kansas City, Chicago, Detroit and Buffalo on their 6,500-mile journey.

One family in Warren, Michigan, says it was a blessing to have the family stop by their home.

"They showed up at 8 a.m. and we had a list of things we needed help with," says Jim Spencer, 61, whose 12-year-old daughter Lexi has Down syndrome and was diagnosed with leukemia a couple years ago.

"I was very impressed with how professional the kids were," he says. "They just wanted to help."

They were on ladders, cleaning windows and in the yard doing manual labor.

As the Mursets make their way around the country, the kids are visiting places they've never seen.

They stopped at Niagara Falls already, and will see the Statue of Liberty when they're in New York City.

"There is nothing wrong with your kid getting off the couch, doing some work and sweating," says Gregg. "It's good for the kid and it's good for the soul."

[kuhio98]

Internet story

Birthday Present for Others

Today I turned 63. For years I have been giving special birthday gifts through my church, but this year after hearing other stories of random kindness, I decided that my present this year should be for strangers. My husband took me to lunch at a restaurant we had never been before in Hilo "the Burger Joint". After we had placed our order a group of 9 coast guarders came in. They were seated close to us and as I heard them place their orders, I leaned over and told my husband I wanted to pick up there tab. I went to the waitress and told her it was my birthday present and she immediately said. "Oh it's your birthday, your meal will be free." So my bill was cut in half, but I gave 9 young men I never met a big Mahalo for their service to our community and country. It's been a great Birthday.