The good guys thread

[kuhio98]

Here Comes the Sunflower
She had no coins for the woman, but her Pomeranian's gift was of more value.
by Kirsten Anderson

“Come on, Sunflower,” I pleaded. “It’s cold!” My orange Pomeranian had sniffed every inch of sidewalk outside the door of my New York City apartment all the way around the block. This was my little angel’s idea of fun, but it was a dark January night and I wanted to get back inside.

Sunflower had other ideas. She headed to the subway entrance and pushed a candy wrapper with her nose. “Any change?” a woman at the top of the steps asked. She held a cup that jingled when she shook it.

I hadn’t brought my purse. Sunflower trotted over to the woman, wagging her tail as if to apologize.

“I love animals!” the woman said, bending down to admire Sunflower. “Animals don’t lie or tell stories or do bad things to you.”

Sunflower popped her paws up on the woman’s knees and gave her a big kiss. “I’m sorry I don’t have any money on me,” I said.

The woman looked up with teary eyes. “That’s okay. This is better than a million dollars,” she said. “Good night, Miss.”

“Good night,” I said, tearing up myself. Sunflower just wagged her tail. She had given what she could–love. The best gift of all.

[lizbud]

Awww, I love that story.

[Karen]

Love the "Dogs on Deployment" one - LH often remarked, when he was stationed at Fort Drum, how sad it was to visit the local shelter and see the dogs of folks he knew had just been deployed overseas, to places like Afghanistan or others where taking a dog was not an option.

It did cause me a bit of pause, though, the reporter used "Dod" as an acronym fr it, and anyone who has family in- or concerns about- the military knows that's the Department of Defense! And I was curious how they got a government agency involved before I realized it was not!

[Taz_Zoee]

Here Comes the Sunflower
She had no coins for the woman, but her Pomeranian's gift was of more value.
by Kirsten Anderson

“Come on, Sunflower,” I pleaded. “It’s cold!” My orange Pomeranian had sniffed every inch of sidewalk outside the door of my New York City apartment all the way around the block. This was my little angel’s idea of fun, but it was a dark January night and I wanted to get back inside.

Sunflower had other ideas. She headed to the subway entrance and pushed a candy wrapper with her nose. “Any change?” a woman at the top of the steps asked. She held a cup that jingled when she shook it.

I hadn’t brought my purse. Sunflower trotted over to the woman, wagging her tail as if to apologize.

“I love animals!” the woman said, bending down to admire Sunflower. “Animals don’t lie or tell stories or do bad things to you.”

Sunflower popped her paws up on the woman’s knees and gave her a big kiss. “I’m sorry I don’t have any money on me,” I said.

The woman looked up with teary eyes. “That’s okay. This is better than a million dollars,” she said. “Good night, Miss.”

“Good night,” I said, tearing up myself. Sunflower just wagged her tail. She had given what she could–love. The best gift of all.

This is great!! It actually reminds me of something that happened to me back in January. I was about to go on vacation and lifted a weight wrong at the gym the day before we were to leave. Luckily, I already had a chiropractor appointment set for lunchtime the day we left. When I walked into the chiropractors office a little Pom (funny, same breed) was in the waiting area. I completely forgot about my pain and knelt down to pet the puppy. It made me so happy!

[kuhio98]

Rescuers Trying to Save One Dog Accidentally Save 12, Thanks to Selfless Stray

In Dallas, Texas, a group of dedicated animal rescuers had pursued an elusive pup who was determined to live in a patch of woods in a city park.

Recently, one of the equally determined rescuers was approached by the very dog she was looking for, who proceeded to bark at her and move deeper into the woods.

The rescuer, Marina, found herself surprised by the dog's behavior. "He's never acted like that before," she said. "I was worried that maybe he was sick or something happened to him."

When Marina followed the pup into the woods, she began to hear yapping, and realized that the stray dog she had intended to rescue knew of a group of pups who needed Marina's help even more than he did.

Beneath a burned tree near a muddy creek bed, Marina found a litter of cold, hungry puppies. The ten puppies were accompanied by their exhausted mother, all of whom clearly needed shelter and medical attention.

Global News reports that "the puppies and their mom, plus the abandoned dog, now aptly named Hero, are all safe and sound in a foster home." Link to video: http://dfw.cbslocal.com/video?autoSt...lipId=11231024


Another thread on this story with great photos: http://petoftheday.com/talk/showthre...-Huge-Surprise

[cassiesmom]

Fun use of foreign pocket change to aid a charity (from Good News Network)

Ever step off a plane and realize you have a pocket full of foreign change?

The Swedish Red Cross and airport operator, Swedavia, have come up with an idea to take care of those spare coins while supporting a good cause — and letting travelers have a little fun while waiting for buses or baggage.

They’ve turned the vintage arcade games, Ms. Pac-Man, Space Invaders and Galaga, into donation boxes at two airports, Stockholm Arlanda and Göteborg Landvetter. Visitors waiting at baggage claim areas can use their spare quarters and euros to set a new high score. People waiting for a flight can try to top that score while getting rid of unspent krona.

You can use whatever coins you have and every cent, euro, or yen goes straight to the Swedish Red Cross, which had traditional donation boxes in the airports for years.

Red Cross spokesman Morgan Olofsson told Euronews the idea of adding retro arcade games to the mix is “a fun new way to also reward people who make a donation – a win-win, so to speak.”

Well, “win-win” until someone beats your high score.

[kuhio98]

Police Officer Helps Determined Runner Finish Her Race, Instantly Becomes a Viral Hero

Asia Ford finished the Rodes City Run in Louisville, Kentucky, in last place, but to her it's one of her biggest wins.

Ford set out on the 10K with one goal in mind, to complete the race no matter what, reports WHAS 11. After struggling with her weight for years, the mom has been making a concerted effort to shed pounds.

Her weight loss journey was kickstarted after her husband lost a limb to diabetes and she began to worry about what her kids would do if her health started to fail.

"That is when I woke up and I couldn't allow them to be on this earth without my help and the only way I would be able to help them is if I helped myself first," she said.

This determination led Ford – who at her heaviest was 474 lbs., to change her diet, join a exercise boot camp with friends and start training for the Rodes City Run.

After months of working out, Ford arrived at the 10K's start line on Saturday morning 25 lbs. lighter and ready race. She powered through the over six mile course, until reaching mile four, when she started to have trouble breathing. At that point, a car pulled up alongside her.

"I'm not going to let her quit, so I got out and she immediately grabbed my hand," Lt. Aubrey Gregory said.

Seeing that Ford was in need of help, Lt. Gregory stopped his car and offered to drive Ford to the finish line.

"He asked me if I wanted to stop and I was like, 'No,' we have two more miles to go," Ford said.

So the officer joined in, walking hand-in-hand with Ford and her son for the rest of the race. The trio completed the remaining two miles together, sharing stories as they moved towards the finish line.

As they made the final steps, the crowd congregated at the end of the race burst in to cheers.

"Your heart starts to fill up, you get those goose bumps and tingles all over your body," Lt. Gregory said. "When I watched her approach and I started to hear people scream and I let her go right there before the end and to see her raise her hands, there aren't words to express the way I felt seeing her be successful."

The moment not only touched Ford and Lt. Gregory, but thousands of others who heard their story.

Inspired by this touching moment, Louisville Mayor Greg Fischer posted two shots of the pair crossing the finish line on his Facebook, these photos have now been shared over 3,000 times.

Lt. Gregory's simple act of kindness and support moved Ford most of all. After completing the race, she posted a special message about the police officer on her Facebook along with thanks to the countless people who have reached out to her after hearing about her uplifting finish.

"It was really a special moment," Ford said of her interaction with Lt. Gregory.

[Karen]

What a wonderful story, and both the officer and the runner will remember this day forever!

[Taz_Zoee]

I don't know if it's a typo on the article posted above, but she lost 217 pounds before participating in the marathon. It says 25 above.