The good guys thread

[kuhio98]

Real-Life 'Rapunzel' Gets First-Ever Haircut for Kids with Cancer

Growing up, Britain's Charlie Tillotson swore a vow against haircuts. For years, she declined even the smallest of trims, and by the age of 6, her blond locks had grown so long that they reached all the way down her back.

All that changed after Charlie watched a television documentary about children with cancer. She threw aside her hatred of scissors and decided to cut her hair off in order to donate it to the Little Princess Trust, where it would be used to make wigs for kids who needed them.

"I welled up," Charlie's father Steve told the Sidmouth Herald.

Inspired by their daughter's dedication, Charlie's parents set up a JustGiving page to publicize her efforts and asked fans to raise money for Children with Cancer UK.


The support they received dwarfed the family's expectations – they raised more than £1,300 ($2,200) – greater than double their goal. Once they reached the thousand-pound mark, Charlie's parents posted a video of her thanking everyone who donated:



On July 14, Charlie received the first haircut of her young life from family friend Rianne Woodruff, who transformed her Rapunzel-style locks into a sleek bob.

[kuhio98]

Carmel autism center donates "nice bucket" to teen prank victim

CARMEL, Ind. - First there was national outrage. Now a local center for children with autism is sending messages of support to an Ohio teenager duped into a fake ALS "ice bucket challenge."

Instead of ice, the 15-year old's classmates dumped urine and tobacco on him.

The story has prompted action at the Little Star Center in Carmel where students have created a "nice bucket" for the 15-year-old who also has autism.

Little Star's Executive Director Mary Rosswurm came up with the idea after hearing about what happened.



Children at the center made special cards and filled a huge bucket with fun and special treats.



Rosswurm says she was heartbroken to see the video that went viral on the internet. She and her staff want the student to know he has support in Indiana.



"As a mom of a child with autism and just working with these wonderful children with autism it just broke my heart. I thought, 'Gosh, why can't we be nice to each other?' and I thought why can't we send him a nice bucket and it started as simple as that," Rosswurm explained.

Ohio prosecutors are now reviewing evidence to determine if charges should be filed against the teens behind the prank. As many as 350,000 people have signed petitions asking that charges be filed.



Little Star is a not-for-profit center that provides Applied Behavioral Analysis for children with autism. The center provides scholarships for treatment for children without insurance. The scholarships are provided with gifts from individual donations.

If you'd like to give to the "nice bucket" or the scholarship fund, you can contact the center:

Little Star Center
12726 Hamilton Crossing Blvd.
Carmel, IN 46032
(317) 249-2242

[kuhio98]

Mayors in 55 Cities Fill Backpacks with Food for Hungry Children

Thousands of students across the country this weekend will bring home backpacks filled not just with textbooks, but with plenty of food to carry them through to Monday.

Blessings in a Backpack, a nonprofit based in Louisville, Kentucky, provides food-filled backpacks every Friday for children in hundreds of schools across 45 states. PEOPLE introduced readers to the organization in 2012 as part of the PEOPLE First: Help Feed a Child initiative.

Mayors Jim Schmitt of Green Bay, Wisconsin, and Greg Stanton of Phoenix, Arizona, sponsored the resolution made by the United States Conference of Mayors that declares Sept. 18 "Blessings in a Backpack Day."

In 55 cities, mayors stepped out into their communities Thursday and packed backpacks for hungry children.

"If a child doesn't come to school well-feed and with a nutritious meal, that affects every aspect of their life," Stanton tells PEOPLE.

Stanton, the father of two young children, says childhood hunger "is not an acceptable situation in the most prosperous nation on earth."

Backpacks were also filled yesterday in Arab, Alabama, a city with roughly 9,000 residents.

"A lot of students here come from [troubled] homes," Mayor Bob Joslin tells PEOPLE. "They don't have food on the weekend, so these backpacks are so important."

Every Friday during the school year, three churches in the area hand out 470 backpacks to children who need them. "Our community takes care of its own," Joslin says.

When the organization was first featured in PEOPLE in 2012, it comprised 329 schools helping 23,490 students. It now has 696 schools feeding 65,000 students.

Blessings board member Richard Gordon says the PEOPLE First initiative helped to raise more than $1.5 million in direct donations and local funds to start new community programs.

Michael Gouloff, an architect, started a program at four elementary schools in Fort Wayne, Indiana in 2006. All together, these programs send home 1,750 backpacks every Friday.

"It's so important we are feeding these kids," Gouloff says. "But the real message is that people in their community care about them."

[momcat]

We live on a rather quiet street in Trenton. There are also a lot of kids with not much room to play other than in the street. There's a young high school student that really deserves a shout out. Just about every day this fine young man is outside teaching the smaller kids how to shoot a basketball and how to play football. He gives a lot of time to the younger ones helping them learn and sharpen their skills. They're getting pretty good too. Right now 5 or 6 of them are playing football.
The good kids, like this high school student, are the ones that belong on the front page of the newspaper. One day I thanked him for what he does with the smaller children and his humility was an inspiration. The good kids far outnumber the bad but seldom get the recognition they're due.

[kuhio98]

... The good kids, like this high school student, are the ones that belong on the front page of the newspaper. One day I thanked him for what he does with the smaller children and his humility was an inspiration. The good kids far outnumber the bad but seldom get the recognition they're due.

I agree 100%. Why our society is fascinated with bad boys, bad behavior and Kardashians, I'll never understand.

The good guys go about their lives quietly making the world a better place. The bad ones are always in the news shouting LOOK AT ME, LOOK AT ME. Most of us are the good ones and we desire to leave a situation better than how we found it.

It's just the little things. I thanked a young man for holding the door open for me at the post office the other day and he looked shocked. It made me wonder how many times we forget to acknowledge a kindness.

[kuhio98]

Moms Stitch Together Memories To Fight Gun Violence

DENVER, Colo. (CBS4) – Mothers across Colorado are using quilting to fight gun violence.

The group called Moms Demand Action is stitching together memories and a message as part of their Mother’s Dream Quilt Project.

Each quilt will contain meaningful fabric from a victim or survivor of gun violence.

“It was really hard to cut up her shorts,” volunteer April Rodgers said, while stitching fabrics that belonged to Jessica Ghawi.

Ghawi was killed in the Aurora theater shooting.

“This teal was her favorite color,” Rodgers said.

Another block of fabric was made from the wedding dress of Mary Sherlach, the school psychologist killed at Sandy Hook Elementary.

Jennifer Hope of Moms Demand Action said the group will make a series of quilts using a quilting pattern known as Mother’s Dream. The pattern represents the bonds of grief shared by mothers, families and friends of gun violence victims, Hope said.

The victims’ fabrics will be surrounded by blocks donated by supporters of the group.

The group, that has chapters across the nation, is making quilts to send a message to everyone.

“(That) we can we do more to prevent gun violence,” Hope said.

Hope said the Colorado chapter of Moms Demand Action will make their own quilt to tour nationally before it goes on display back home.

“Generations ago this was a way that moms were able to come together,” Hope said. “I really think that quilting is very healing.”

It’s healing that volunteers like Rodgers say takes time, dedication and patience — the same things required to sew a quilt.

“It makes me sad but it’s the least I can do,” she added.

[kuhio98]

These Surfers Went Out For A Morning Of Surfing And Ended Up Being Heroes To This Wallaby!
Adam G. I knew wallaby’s liked to swim, but this little guy tried to go out into the ocean and bit off more than he could chew! Two surfers saw him and put their aquatic skills to work bringing him to safety. Talk about a stroke of luck! This is a great example of people helping an animal and releasing them the right way.

Watch the heroic event below!