For the past month, the Charlotte Observer has run a series of stories on particular struggling families who signed up to get toys from the Salvation Army's annual Christmas program. And dozens of readers responded to the stories with offers of cash, toys, furniture and groceries.
Remember the Virginia homelessman who only wanted a family for Thanksgiving? The kindness he received from all over the country spurred him to want to help hundreds of other homeless guys in Norfolk.
A deluge of love and compassion has reached a 54-year-old homeless man who had the courage to put into action the Christian tenet, "Ask and it is given." Neil Shytles posted an ad on community Facebook pages around Virginia Beach asking for someone to invite him for Thanksgiving dinner. "I was very alone last Thanksgiving. PLEASE, if you have room in your home and in your heart to share your Thanksgiving, I not only (would) be thankful, but also consider myself blessed to spend this time with you."
Teacher Karen Swartz Larsson led children in two of her classes (comprised of fourth to seventh-graders), in making valentines for strangers. This Friday, they set out to leave the handmade cards in random public places around Stockholm. On buses, subway trains, and a hospital, they cards spread uplifting messages like, 'You are loved,' and 'You are perfect the way you are!'
Michigan's Shop with a Hero program allows police officers and firefighters to take children Christmas shopping. In Ingham County, 55 children were able to be shoppers this year strolling the aisles of a department store and picking out items totaling $100. With additional donations, each family also received a ham, turkey, milk, and food, a $25 Meijer gift card and more. One woman described what it meant for her and her family.
When Christopher Kiezek sat on Santa's knee recently, like a lot of kids, he asked for an Xbox One. But he also asked for a new arm so he could play it. He was born without fingers and his mother says the insurance company won't pay for a prosthetic device because it wasn't necessary for the boy's life. A family friend, moved by the boy's Christmas wish, set about to touch others with the story.
After a Greensboro woman had her Christmas decorations stolen, strangers replaced them, giving her home more Christmas cheer than ever.
Two programs underway aim to bring holiday cheer to seniors who may not otherwise receive Christmas gifts. In the last nine years, the Be a Santa to a Senior program hosted by Home Instead Senior Care has provided holiday gifts to more than 4,400 seniors
Yellowstone, the Grand Canyon, Badlands, and Gettysburg: all of these parks, and hundreds more will have free admission for National Parks Week in April.
Chinese welcomed the arrival of the Year of the Snake with raucous celebrations on Saturday. Practitioners of the ancient art of feng shui say the year ahead will see financial markets slither higher as optimism grows.
The adorable kids in the fifth grade chorus of PS 22 in Staten Island talk about the importance of Valentine's Day and cheer up senior citizens with songs and cards.
The U.S. Navy Blue Angels squadron transformed its C-130 aircraft into a modern-day Santa's sleigh in support of the U.S Marine Corps' Toys for Tots Program, hauling several pallets of toys to children affected by Superstorm Sandy. The Blue Angel crew arrived from Florida in Wrightstown, N.J., where many residents have needed to forestall celebrating the holidays because the hurricane forced upon them more pressing concerns.
Dozens of homeless Milwaukeeans are improving their self-esteem with professional portraits from Help-Portrait Milwaukee, a local branch of the global initiative that arranges for photography sessions to benefit those in need. Worldwide, more than 200,000 portraits have been taken by more than 16,000 volunteer photographers in 60 countries, according to the international organization.
More than 1,700 children and spouses of American soldiers killed in action were treated to an all-expense-paid visit to the Dallas/Fort Worth area for the seventh annual Snowball Express – a five day event to honor their sacrifice and bring joy and new memories to the families during the holidays. Their partners, American Airlines, donated nine chartered aircraft to bring families from 54 cities.
Even those hit hard financially by the devastation of Hurricane Sandy themselves, were reaching out to help families in Queens, N.Y., who are still in need 17 days later. One businessman who lost $160,000 in inventory still thought to use his Thanksgiving as a time to serve those worse off.
A group of prisoners at New York City's Rikers Island jail were let out for a day so they could deliver 700 Thanksgiving meals to the needy. The men cooked up the hundreds of turkey dinners in a jail kitchen for delivery to two churches, according to an AP report. That's not the only example this month of Riker's prison helping New Yorkers in need. A New York Times story today tells how, after Hurricane Sandy tore through nearby neighborhoods, the island inmates did 6,600 pounds of laundry for people in emergency shelters.
Someone called The Turkey Fairy has been leaving blankets, hats and gloves at a Cleveland bus stop in the middle of the night. On Monday morning, the items were discovered with a note that read, "Happy Thanksgiving. Take gloves, hats, blankets, & stay warm. Love, The Turkey Fairy."
This year, front row seats to see the marching bands and massive balloons of the iconic Macy's Day Thanksgiving Day parade will be occupied not by diplomats or corporate titans and their families, but by thousands of New Yorkers hardest hit by Hurricane Sandy.
After nearly 15 years of looking at the bright side as publisher of the Good News Network, I instinctively knew over the last 5 days that no matter how much hardship was thrown at me, it would only make things worse to complain. With each mishap or misfortune, celebration was warranted because inevitably "something good" showed up.
Chinese around the world will be wearing lots of red today, to celebrate the Lunar New Year marking the end of the disaster-filled Year of the Rabbit and to usher in a new year with more prosperity. January 23 begins the Year of the Dragon, which should bring relief following 2011, which was foreseen by the Chinese calendar as a very bad year.
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