The GOOD NEWS Department

Ellen Degeneres Wins $200,000 Humanitarian Award and Donates All to St.Jude Children's Hospital

I've always liked this lady, funny comedian and a heart of gold. http://www.commercialappeal.com/new...d-forwards-donation-to-St-Jude-364124231.html


Ellen DeGeneres is receiving a humanitarian award, and St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital is reaping the benefits.

Producers of the People’s Choice Awards announced Monday that DeGeneres will be recognized as the Favorite Humanitarian at Wednesday’s ceremony. The honor comes with a $200,000 donation from Walgreens, which DeGeneres is directing toward the Memphis hospital.

She joked that the award “sums me up perfectly as I am both a human and an itarian.”

DeGeneres is also nominated for Favorite Talk Show Host at the fan-voted People’s Choice Awards, which will be presented at the Microsoft Theater in Los Angeles and broadcast on CBS.

This isn’t the first time DeGeneres has steered a large sum to St. Jude. In 2014, a selfie she tweeted from the Oscars award show generated such a stir on social media that Samsung, sponsor of the show, directed $3 million to two charities of DeGeneres’ choice — $1.5 million each to St. Jude and the Humane Society of the United States.

St. Jude, founded in 1962 by entertainer Danny Thomas, doesn’t charge patients or their families and operates solely on donations and grants. Treatments developed there have helped boost the overall survival rate for childhood cancer from 20 percent 50 years ago to 80 percent today. The hospital recently announced a six-year strategic plan that calls for $1.7 billion in capital projects and entails hiring 2,000 more employees.
 
Kudos to Canada!

More here. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/great-bear-rainforest-canada_us_56b18b10e4b01d80b2448824


Canada Just Protected A Rainforest Twice The Size Of Belgium

Great Bear is one of the last temperate rainforests on the planet.
56b18e511f00007f0021739c.jpeg
Environmentalists are hailing the Canadian government's landmark deal to protect 85 percent of the Great Bear Rainforest in British Columbia from logging and development -- an area more than twice the size of Belgium.

The agreement, struck in partnership with First Nations and logging companies, permanently protects a vast swath of the largest coastal temperate rainforest on Earth. Commercial logging will be permitted in 15 percent of the region, but under a sustainable plan that won't remove more wood from the area than the ecosystem can withstand.

"This is huge, the fact that this isn't just a conservation agreement, that we've integrated the concept of an economy that can sustain itself within an ecosystem,"said Valerie Langer, a director at ForestEthics, one of the leading environmental groups behind the deal. "Our goal was to [figure out] how we were going to shift our economy so we don't destroy what we live in."

The 26 indigenous groups that live within the area were prime negotiators surrounding the terms of the agreement for the Great Bear Rainforest, which is home to many of Canada's unique species, including the spirit bear, a rare sub-species of black bear with white fur.

Richard Brooks, forest campaign coordinator for Greenpeace Canada, welcomed the protections that he said took two decades to sort out. For years, Greenpeace staged blockades, protests and hung banners around the forest in an effort to raise public awareness about the plight of the ecosystem.

"In other places in the world, people are fighting to protect 1 or 2 percent [of the environment," he said. "To be able to accomplish something on this scale ... set aside forever, that means the vast majority of the old growth forest will continue will continue to live on."

Jens Wieting, a forest and climate campaigner with the Sierra Club of British Columbia, said the new protections focus on a model "based on science, not bookkeeping" and will hopefully serve as a model for other environmental fights going on around the globe.

"We have very little time to increase protections ... before the impacts of climate change will make it harder for species to adapt," Wieting said. "It should be commonsense, but unfortunately it's not what most of humanity is doing."

But despite the long process towards protections for Great Bear, Brooks said this "really is a good news story," without a "but" attached to the end.
"We have a model now and we have hope," he said. "We need more stories like this -- in the end the forest wins."
 
Bride has small wedding ceremony in an assisted care center so her mother with late stage Alzheimer's can be in attendance. More here with video. http://www.insideedition.com/headli...n-care-facility-whos-stricken-with-alzheimers


julia-3.png



Julia Napolitano's mother no longer recognizes her. But that did not stop the doting daughter from taking her wedding reception to the care facility where her mother is spending her last days in a thick fog delivered by Alzheimer's disease.

"Although Mom wasn't there in the way I had always imagined, she was a part of the most special day of my life and I'm forever grateful that we could share our day with her," Julia told INSIDE EDITION.

The 30-year-old bride, and her groom Justin Phillips, 28, held a special reception at her mother's nursing home immediately following their November church wedding in Milwaukee.

"I had to figure out how to bring the wedding to her. That's when I came up with the idea of having a mini-reception at the Alzheimer's home ... so mom could be there," she said Thursday.

Her mother was diagnosed with early onset Alzheimer's in 2009, at age 60. Her soul-stealing affliction has moved incredibly fast and Linda Napolitano is in the final stages of the ravaging disease.

"My mom does not recognize me. She doesn't communicate verbally anymore and hasn't known my name or who I am," Julia said.
 
SeaBreeze said:
More here. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/great-bear-rainforest-canada_us_56b18b10e4b01d80b2448824


Canada Just Protected A Rainforest Twice The Size Of Belgium

Great Bear is one of the last temperate rainforests on the planet.


56b18e511f00007f0021739c.jpeg
Environmentalists are hailing the Canadian government's landmark deal to protect 85 percent of the Great Bear Rainforest in British Columbia from logging and development -- an area more than twice the size of Belgium.

The agreement, struck in partnership with First Nations and logging companies, permanently protects a vast swath of the largest coastal temperate rainforest on Earth. Commercial logging will be permitted in 15 percent of the region, but under a sustainable plan that won't remove more wood from the area than the ecosystem can withstand.

"This is huge, the fact that this isn't just a conservation agreement, that we've integrated the concept of an economy that can sustain itself within an ecosystem,"said Valerie Langer, a director at ForestEthics, one of the leading environmental groups behind the deal. "Our goal was to [figure out] how we were going to shift our economy so we don't destroy what we live in."

The 26 indigenous groups that live within the area were prime negotiators surrounding the terms of the agreement for the Great Bear Rainforest, which is home to many of Canada's unique species, including the spirit bear, a rare sub-species of black bear with white fur.

Richard Brooks, forest campaign coordinator for Greenpeace Canada, welcomed the protections that he said took two decades to sort out. For years, Greenpeace staged blockades, protests and hung banners around the forest in an effort to raise public awareness about the plight of the ecosystem.

"In other places in the world, people are fighting to protect 1 or 2 percent [of the environment," he said. "To be able to accomplish something on this scale ... set aside forever, that means the vast majority of the old growth forest will continue will continue to live on."

Jens Wieting, a forest and climate campaigner with the Sierra Club of British Columbia, said the new protections focus on a model "based on science, not bookkeeping" and will hopefully serve as a model for other environmental fights going on around the globe.

"We have very little time to increase protections ... before the impacts of climate change will make it harder for species to adapt," Wieting said. "It should be commonsense, but unfortunately it's not what most of humanity is doing."

But despite the long process towards protections for Great Bear, Brooks said this "really is a good news story," without a "but" attached to the end.
"We have a model now and we have hope," he said. "We need more stories like this -- in the end the forest wins."
Click to expand...

Good for Canada!
 
Lady and Her Husband Shares Their Home With Elderly Dogs Who Need Love in Their Last Years

Great story, love folks like this, read more and see more pictures here.

House With a Heart is an animal sanctuary in Gaithersburg, Maryland, that’s exclusively dedicated to the care of elderly dogs and cats. Founded in 2006 by Sher Polvinale, the shelter regularly rescues senior animals abandoned by their owners, and cares for them until the very end.


Sher and her husband had been working with rescued cats and dogs for nearly 20 years before they had the idea for House With a Heart Senior Pet Sanctuary. Over the years, they had received several calls from people who could no longer care for their aging pets. These animals almost never got adopted again, so they eventually decided to convert their home into a haven dedicated to their care.

House-with-a-heart3-600x800.jpg


 
Texas College Student Sacrifices and Saves to Pay Off His Grandparent's Mortgage

College student sacrifices and saves $15,000 to pay off his grandparent's mortgage. More Here.

329397E900000578-3510645-image-m-88_1459014584785.jpg



Stefun Darts was captured surprising his grandparents with a check to pay off their mortgage in video posted to Facebook on Monday
Darts said he has been eating microwave pizza and not going out in order to pay off their Texas home
For more than two decades, his grandparents have been paying their mortgage but it would have taken four more years to pay it off
During the emotional surprise Darts, who holds down a full-time job, also gifted the couple with a trip to the Bahamas

A full-time college student from Texas has fulfilled a promise he made in the second grade by presenting his grandparents with a check for $15,000 to pay off the mortgage on their home.
The touching moment was captured on camera this week as Stefun Darts wrote his very first check to his grandparents, Cecil and Marilyn Roberts, who were left in tears during the emotional surprise.

Darts, who holds down a full time-job while also running two small non-profits, said he has been eating microwave pizza and has not gone out just to save money to pay off their mortgage, according to KHOU.

The Houston college student said he had made a promise in the second grade to pay off his grandparents' house and to also help them retire - a promise he was determined to never break.
In the video shared posted to Facebook on Monday, the couple appear overwhelmed with emotion after learning of the incredibly kind gesture made by their giving grandson.


The grandparents are seen hugging Darts before he reads a letter that he wrote to them, thanking them for everything they have done for him.


After reading the letter, he then tells his grandparents he has one more surprise: a trip to the Bahamas.


'I couldn't believe it,' his grandmother Marilyn Roberts told KHOU. 'To have a grandson like that is a blessing.'


His grandfather, Cecil Roberts, added: 'He's a very special kid and I just love having him in my life.'


His grandparents have been paying their mortgage without fail every month and on time for more than two decades, and to pay it off would have taken another four years, according to KHOU.










 
93 year old lady proudly gets her high school diploma, more here. http://www.ohio.com/news/break-news...e=18961415304345F7517FnewsF7517Fohio%25252525


Liggett’s North High School diploma was hand delivered to her home in Fairlawn by Akron Public Schools Superintendent David W. James. He was moved to makes sure Liggett received her diploma, after reading a letter from her daughter, Janice Larkin, 73, of Monument Beach, Mass.

In the letter, Larkin explained that her mother was a few weeks away from graduation in 1942, when she was expelled, after school officials discovered she was married.

“When I read the letter, and did some follow-up research, I felt terrible for the way Mrs. Liggett was treated all of those years ago and wanted to do what we could to make it up to her,” James said. “To have invested 13 years in school, to have been a good student and still not receive a diploma because of that, was simply wrong."

Liggett and her late husband, John Huston — who had graduated from North High School two years earlier and had been called into the U.S. Army Air Corps. — had run away to Kentucky to be married and discovered a few months later that they were having a baby. Their plan was to have Liggett finish high school and then join her husband wherever he was assigned, after she graduated.

That plan changed when Liggett was belittled by a gym teacher for forgetting her gym suit. When the teacher insisted Liggett go to study hall, the slighted teen blurted: “No. I’m married. I’m going home.”

The heat-of-the-moment admission ended her chance to walk across the stage with her peers. Just two months from graduation, the school acted on its policy that banned married students from attending high school.

“When we were growing up, my mother always insisted that I and my siblings finish school and go to college. She did the same thing with her grandchildren, great grandchildren and even neighborhood children. She would tell us how important education is and say that the worst thing you could do is not finish school,” Larkin said.

“She always felt that by not getting her high school diploma, she had not done what she should have,” Larkin said. “I feel responsible because she was pregnant with me when she was expelled.”

After Larkin was born, she and her mother (against the advice of relatives) rode the Greyhound Bus all over America to join her father on several military bases, where he completed pilot training. Larkin shared that she and her mother slept in some unusual places, including a library in Kansas and a converted chicken coop in Oklahoma.

In addition to mentoring children and youth, Liggett is currently near completion of a mission to read a biography or autobiography on every U.S. president and president’s wife.

Liggett received her diploma surrounded by her five children — Larkin, Huston, Diane Bailey of Uniontown, Carol Weiner of Akron, and John Huston of North Carolina — sons- and daughters-in-law, school representatives and media.

They surrounded her as they coaxed her out of her home to receive the surprise.

“What’s the one thing you never did in your life that you wish you had?” Bailey said as she walked arm-in-arm with Liggett, her mother clearly shocked to find a small crowd assembled in her driveway.
“Graduate,” Liggett replied.

“Well, you are now,” Bailey said as one of her siblings pulled a black graduation cap from a box and placed it on her head.
Superintendent James approached the tearful woman and ended 75 years of longing with a handshake and a diploma.

“I always felt bad not having this,” she said. “Even though I’m 93 years old, I still like having it.”

“While it may be an honor for Dorothy, for us it is a long overdue recognition of her achievement from her days as a student at APS,” James said. “While any day certainly would have been suitable, we feel her birthday is the perfect occasion — what better gift for a life-long learner and one who has given so much to so many?”
 
Grateful For The American Dream - Immigrant CEO Gives Back to Employees

Turkish born CEO of Chobani Yogurt (which I eat often), gives his employees ownership stake in yogurt empire.

 
Homebound elderly seniors get a some much appreciated puppy love, thanks to a caring organization. More here.


Alice-and-dog-CaregiverCannines-submitted.jpg


Many homebound elderly people are deprived of the simple joys of puppy love, but this heartbreaking fact is about to change for some American seniors.
Lacking the financial means or physical ability to care for a pet meant they had to give up the companionship they enjoyed for so many years. Fortunately, a nonprofit called Caregiver Canines is officially going national, and will be connecting four-legged visitors with seniors in Texas and Pennsylvania beginning this week.
 
I'm so glad I got a chance to catch up on all these great news stories! Thanks for all of them. :love_heart: Sometimes we just forget to seek out the happy things in the midst of all the tragic news.

I feel good! :D
 
The America I Know, the Humanity I Know

SOURCE

This is how I see her. This is the America I got to know.

Late one evening years ago, during the depths of a difficult winter in New York, my car got stuck in the snow. Without me asking, two young men pulled over and pushed the car out.

For many years I lived without family nearby. A co-worker, who has four great sons, treated me like his fifth. I was invited to Thanksgiving and Christmas dinners, helped countless times with my house, and shared precious uninhibited moments discussing favorite scenes from the latest animated movie. Hilarious impressions ensued.

I worked at a university. A kind-hearted man who held meditation sessions on campus became a friend. We often talked long after the sessions ended. He listened when I needed help with some old wounds. This is the America I got to know. Perhaps not the America many outside of her borders know of.

I stopped watching and reading the news weeks ago. There is only one source that I go to. A girl asks her mother’s boyfriend of 17 years to be her dad. He breaks down in tears.

An 86-year-old man is paying for the college tuition of eight high school students he’s never known.

An 11-year-old boy has donated 6425 smoke detectors to families across Texas. He dreams of one day becoming a firefighter.

This is the America I got to know. Perhaps not the America many outside of her borders know of. Many inside may not either.


I am not a citizen of America. But I lived on her shores. And how blessed I was. Whether I get to set foot on her hallowed soil again or not, whether I have the opportunity to give back even a fraction of what I received, I wish upon her the words — a prayer — of a Nobel laureate published more than a hundred years ago.


“Where the mind is without fear and the head is held high; Where knowledge is free;
Where the world has not been broken up into fragments by narrow domestic walls;
Where words come out from the depth of truth;
Where tireless striving stretches its arms towards perfection;
Where the clear stream of reason has not lost its way into the dreary desert sand of dead habit;
Where the mind is led forward by thee into ever-widening thought and action –
Into that heaven of freedom, my Father, let my country awake.”


Indeed, it is a prayer I wish upon every nation.

It’s late in the evening now. I go back to my one source before going to bed. A homeless man offers money to pay a student’s bus fare.

A Chinese billionaire donates $2 billion to support educational, medical and environmental causes.

A teacher in Afghanistan turns his bike into a mobile library and cruises the countryside, giving kids a chance to read.

Syrian refugees are giving back to their host country Canada and those affected by the Alberta wildfire – money, hampers of toys, clothes, food, provisions, and furniture that they received only months before.

This is how I see humanity. This is the humanity I know. Perhaps not the humanity visible to those distracted by the dissonance. But clear as day to those returning her sacred embrace.
Click to expand...
 
87 Year Old Lady Stuck in Her Bathtub for Four Days

Rescued when a caring concerned waitress missed her presence at a neighborhood café.

 
Poor lady, good she was a nice person, had she been a complainer, no one would have missed her. Living alone does cause concerns as we age. We could fall or become ill and be unable to get to a phone.

Have to tell you though, not all appreciate our concerns. A few years ago, newspapers began piling up in my elderly neighbor's yard. I know he has a friend at the top of the street so I called him to see if he knew if he was OK. Word got back to this man and he said something to me like "Oh, I didn't think it necessary to notify you when I go away". I was not being nosy, just concerned, yet it was not appreciated.
 

You must log in or register to reply here.

Back
Top