The good guys thread

[kuhio98]

Heroes Among Us
Meet Jeff Balek – the Blind YMCA Volunteer Who Teaches Children How to Read

Jeff Balek has never actually seen a book – but that hasn't stopped the blind man from teaching struggling kids how to read.

Growing up learning braille, "I felt pretty empowered thanks to teachers and my family," he tells PEOPLE. "Teachers were very supportive of me, working with me through high school on my braille and computer skills," he says.

So thankful is Balek, 34, to the people that taught him, that when his sister forwarded him an e-mail about volunteering for the Y Readers program at the YMCA of Greater Charlotte in North Carolina two years ago, he signed right up.

"I was really excited to help these kids," he says of joining the after-school program, which aims to boost literacy among first, second and third grade children who are reading below grade level.

"They need help, and I've always been into reading – it's really rewarding," he says.

Balek uses twin vision books to read along with the children, reading a page in braille then listening to them read the next in print.

"They're reading the same thing I'm reading, so I can help them with sounding out or spelling a word," he explains.

Naturally curious, "kids ask me questions about my blindness – how I became blind, the challenges I had to overcome," Balek says.

"They put a lot of confidence in me reading braille; and I think for them, [learning some] braille gives them confidence, too," he says.

The kids like him, too.

"He's so unique," says Michael DeVaul, senior vice president of organizational advancement at the YMCA of Greater Charlotte.

"We hear from a lot of kids about how 'cool' he is," he says. "And he really has a passion for kids, and a passion for reading. I think parents who have met him know that.

He also seems to be the most popular volunteer at the YMCA.

"He doesn't know this, but he usually gets moved around a lot because he's so good at what he does," DeVaul adds.

"Most volunteers see two kids in an hour, but Jeff sees four to five because kids want to touch his books, learn braille," he says. "It's beyond words – it really cements the concept of reading comprehension, which is what we're after."

Though Balek is humble about his contributions – "I'm just glad I got chosen to participate," he demurs – DeVaul contends he's brought more to the table than he'll ever know.

"He's extraordinary in general," he says. "But it goes beyond reading, to this life lesson of pushing through challenges and being resilient. It's powerful."

[kuhio98]

Texas Homecoming Queen Gives Her Crown to Friend Who Was Pranked

Lillian Skinner was thrilled when she was told she'd been nominated for homecoming queen at Grand Prairie High School in North Texas.

But the news turned out to be a cruel joke made by some unnamed girls at her school.

Thankfully two young ladies who were actually nominated have hearts of gold. When Anahi Alvarez and Naomi Martinez, who are longtime friends of Skinner's, heard about the prank, they vowed to give their pal the crown regardless of who won.

"We promised each other and we were like, 'No matter what, no backing down. If one of us wins, we're giving Lillian the crown,' " Martinez told NBC 5 in Dallas.

And when Alvarez was named homecoming queen, that's exactly what happened. She called Skinner up to the stage, much to the teen's surprise.

"I said, 'It's okay. It's okay. It's your crown ... My name is not on the list,' " Skinner recalled.

"Seeing the look on her face and the way she reacted toward it, it was priceless," Martinez said. "I knew it was the right decision."

"For me, I want to say, and I always say, 'Lilly won. I just ran in her place, in her position,' " Alvarez added. "When they ask me, 'Were you homecoming queen?' I say, 'No, Lilly is homecoming queen.' "

From left: Naomi Martinez, Lillian Skinner and Anahi Alvarez

[kuhio98]

Hundreds of 'Tyler's Troops' help celebrate boy's 7th birthday
First responders gather to honor Tyler Seddon

BURRILLVILLE, R.I. —First responders have gathered in Rhode Island Thursday to help a very special boy celebrate his birthday in a big way.

Battling leukemia for a second time, Tyler Seddon turned 7 on Thursday, and the firefighters and police officers he loves so much really came through for him.

Tyler's birthday party began at the police station, where he wore his own uniform as he was sworn in as honorary police chief for a day.

Tyler stopped at his school to see his friends before continuing to another celebration at Wrights Chicken Farm, in Burrillville.

"We have officers in the audience here today who just arrived from Hew Hampshire. We have police officers that arrived here yesterday from Ohio," Burrillville Police Department col. Stephen Lynch said.


Tyler was released from the hospital just in time for the big party. Birthday messages keep pouring in.

Hundreds of first responders gathered to wish Tyler well brought him gifts, cards, patches, uniform and memorabilia.

"My house is full of boxes. We have a 10-by-20 storage unit that's half full. So, we'll have a lot of presents to go through -- probably until next birthday!" Tyler's mother, Rachel Seddon said.

One of the gifts was presented by someone who feels a special kinship. Deborah Hanna-Kearney is the daughter of a Massachusetts State Police trooper killed in the line of duty.

"I was given this jacket and I want to give it to you. This is a real State Police jacket," she said.

Hanna-Kearney loves the police as much as Tyler, but she also understands his illness.

"It touches me because I'm a carcinoid lung cancer survivor. So, I wish Tyler the very best of luck," she said.

"Honestly, I think the whole world needs to see something positive in the news and I'm glad that we're part of it. I think it's amazing that there's so much support out there one child," Seddon said.

The celebration has grown out of Rachel Seddon's Facebook post that asked first responders to send cards to Tyler to make his seventh birthday special. He's had a tough fight with leukemia.

"He touched our heartstrings. It was something we wanted to do," said Deputy Rhonda Rose, of Fairfield, Ohio. "We are 700 miles (away)."

Tyler is also in need of a bone marrow transplant, and party guests can sign up to be possible donors.

[kuhio98]

People.com Heroes Among Us
Teenager Nicholas Lowinger Gives Thousands of Shoes to Homeless

Laid off from her job at a grocery store just before Thanksgiving, Brittany Taylor, 28, and her children John, 7, and Johneya, 5, soon found themselves at a homeless shelter in frosty Providence, R.I.

Among needs the shelter couldn't fulfill were children's shoes. With a snowy winter approaching, Johneya only had flat, ballet-style shoes that were peeling, and John's sneakers were dirty and worn out.

Within days, however, the children were handed new sneakers and new winter boots by local teen Nicholas Lowinger, whose Gotta Have Sole foundation has distributed nearly 16,000 pairs of shoes in 32 states.

"It definitely made me happy to see my children in a better mood, and it took a little stress off of me," Taylor says. "It warmed my heart."

Nicholas, 16, says his interest in helping homeless children started at age 5, when his parents took him to visit a homeless shelter. His excitement over a new pair of shoes with lights turned to sympathy for children who barely had anything to wear.

"I couldn’t imagine how some kids were unable to make it to school because their shoes were falling apart," Nicholas says.

Nicholas started donating his outgrown shoes to shelters, but realized it's uncomfortable to wear shoes broken in by someone else. For a community-service project tied to his bar mitzvah four years ago, he created a project to donate new shoes to homeless children, and what started as one bin in one temple dedicated to one shelter has grown into a national operation with several shoe retailers (including 6pm, Timberland, Stride Rite and Walmart) as sponsors.


A Homespun Operation
Although the base of the operation is the Lowinger family garage in Cranston, R.I., the effort is extremely well-organized. Shelters turn in orders for shoes, and Lowinger and his volunteers fill them using shoes provided by sponsors. If he doesn't have the right shoes handy, Nicholas will buy them, using donations. If the shelters are local, Nicholas will hand out the shoes in person.

The gift packages include socks and messages personally written by Nicholas on cards shaped like shoes, saying things like, "This is a gift because you're worthy."

Nicholas says he's "trying to also change people’s mindsets about homeless people, that they're just people who have fallen on hard times."

Lori Lowinger says she's blown away by her son's service to others.

"I look at this young man here whose heart is bigger than anything I've seen," she tells PEOPLE. "He's changed who I am as a person."


Stepping Things Up
Gotta Have Sole has chapters in Florida, Connecticut, Massachusetts and South Carolina, with a rotating roster of roughly 2,000 volunteers participating at any given time.

Rachael Kaplan, 38, is one of several moms in Rhode Island who bring their children to Nicholas's home to volunteer. Her daughter, Madelyn, was 6 the first time she volunteered (she's now 9 and still volunteers), and Kaplan wanted to "teach her to feel lucky with what she has." They picked up one of the many orders sent to Gotta Have Sole, had Madelyn buy shoes that her family paid for, and brought the shoes to Nicholas, who explained what he was trying to do. Madelyn also helped design and write several cards.

"Through opportunities like that, we are becoming better people," Kaplan says.

In February 2014, Nicholas received a Charlotte Bacon Act of Kindness Award, named after one of the children killed in the Newtown shootings.

As he accepted the award, Nicholas told the crowd: "I just have a challenge to all of you … to find some way to be a kinder person or be a peacemaker, and make the world a better place. I think there's a peacemaker in all of us."

[kuhio98]

Paying it forward: Stranger picks up $93 tab for Maumee woman's groceries

Jessica Wagner had her young children with her in line at register nine at Kroger when she realized her wallet was at home.

"I sort of panicked," Wagner said. "I've never done that before."

She turned to the cashier, Emily Gratcl, embarrassed.

"[I said,] ‘I'm sorry. I live about 10 minutes down the road. I'm going to have to run home,'" Wagner recalled.

The store was ready to hold her groceries, but another customer decided to "Pay it Forward."

"The lady behind her just inched forward and swiped her card," Gratcl said. "And she was like, ‘It's OK. It's on me. I got this.'"

"And I'm like, ‘No, no. I can't let you do that,'" Wagner said.

The kind stranger not only saved Wagner the trouble of running home, she also saved her a significant amount of money. Her total for groceries was $93.

"I got tears in my eyes. I started crying," Wagner said. "I was so overwhelmed that somebody would just do something like that, without asking anything back."

"It was an emotional fest after that, and we were just all in tears," Gratcl said. "Thank God for people like that!"

Even the Kroger employee bagging the groceries was crying, according to Wagner and Gratcl.

Wagner says she tried to get the stranger's name and address to pay her back, but the woman would only accept a hug as thanks. She just wanted Wagner to take her groceries home and enjoy time with her children.

"That's a lot!" Wagner said. "I mean, imagine someone, like I said, like a stranger, just handing you $100. Like, what? That doesn't happen!"

Wagner says she plans to pay it forward to someone else in need, and so does Gratcl. They hope others are inspired to do the same.

[kuhio98]

Family kicked out of Racine homeless shelter receives a new home

RACINE-- A father and daughter were kicked out of a Racine homeless shelter left with no place to go, but thanks to the kindness of many strangers-- tonight, they have a place to call home.

"It's going to be filled with so much warmth and love," said Derreck Gray, inside his new home.

Candles light the way through Derreck and his daughter's new home. Their family is still waiting for power, but Derreck says they're just lucky to have a roof over their head.

"I was kind of speechless, overjoyed," said Derreck.

A generous stranger gave them the house after they were told to leave the Halo homeless shelter Monday.

"I had no idea where I was going to go, I have no family out here," said Derreck.

Derreck says they were kicked out of the shelter after a dispute over lunch. We asked Halo for comment, but officials declined our request.

"It wouldn't have been a bad idea if they put me out," said Derreck, "but putting my daughter out on the streets, that's what really upset me."

The single father and his ten year old daughter, Alexis, soon met a woman who would put a roof over their head.

"I'm just so glad she opened her heart," said Derreck, "and welcomed us into this nice, beautiful house."

Together, Derreck and Alexis walked into a two bedroom house to call their own.

Not long after opening the door, Alexis picked out her bedroom upstairs.

When she saw the pink sticker on the wall that said "Girly," she knew the room was hers.

The sticker was pink-- Alexis' favorite color.

"When I get it all situated, I want to paint my room pink," said Alexis.

The woman who gave Derreck and Alexis their home, only would be the first of many generous strangers.

There was the person who gave Derreck a new bed, the people who filled their kitchen cupboards with food, and the ones who gave their family some of the things-- many of us take for granted, like hygiene products.

For The Grays, the community's generosity has been overwhelming, and once they settle in-- they plan to pay it forward.

"I can share the opportunity by helping other people out," said Derreck.

Derreck says he will open his home to friends from Halo who need a place to go during the day. He says he also plans to donate some of his daughter's old clothes to help other children in need.

[cassiesmom]

Doctor uses social media to help her patients

Krupali Tejura, MD, a radiation oncologist, treats patients at the Corona Cancer Clinic in Corona, Calif. And via the internet, she channels another powerful form of energy on behalf of patients with advanced-stage cancer — the goodwill and kindness of other people.

Krupali uses the tools of social media to fulfill the wishes of patients, many of them with terminal conditions. Tweeting and posting on her blog, which reads like an open letter to the world, Krupali has fulfilled patients’ dreams as varied as—attending a taping of the Ellen DeGeneres show and meeting a famous violinist—to seeing a Pittsburgh Steelers football game at Heinz Field.

“My wife is a big Steelers fan, and Dr. Tejura arranged an all-expenses-paid trip and even got NFL Hall of Famer Lynn Swan to meet my wife and sign her jersey,” writes Chuck Chavez, whose wife has late-stage breast cancer. “It was the best medicine for my wife.”

On her blog, Krupali writes, “I honestly don’t do anything but put out a call to the world and at times the world responds.”

Krupali describes how it all started: “I have a patient support group called Ruby Red Slippers, and at one of our meetings, I heard a young patient with Stage IV cancer say she wanted to go to the Ellen show (Ellen Degeneres’ talk show). I went on the Ellen’s website but I could not get any tickets.

“So I put it out on Twitter, and a follower of mine who is a breast cancer survivor who works in the industry—she’s a makeup artist—got two VIP tickets so I could take my patient. When I first met this girl, she was metastatic and couldn’t walk because her knee was riddled with cancer. But by the time we went to the show, she was walking on her own, which was amazing.”

Through her unique care of terminally ill patients, Dr Tejura is showing us how to transform a seemingly hopeless situation into one filled with joy and caring.

For Dr Tejura social media has been an incredible tool to change the lives of her patients.