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Good news bit: The most wholesome video ever 👏❤️

Well-behaved canine bus riders go viral.

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Good news: See moment 3-year-old realizes her family are in her dance recital audience.

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Eagle appears to clutch baby hawk for dinner, then decides to adopt it. An eagle intended to eat a baby hawk, then decided to adopt it.

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'She's my guardian angel': DoorDasher saves Massachusetts woman's life while delivering pizza.

 

Caryn Hebert Sullivan, left, was on the ground, bleeding from her head when DoorDasher Sophia Furtado, right, arrived with her delivery.

(CNN)When a Massachusetts woman ordered a pizza on a routine Friday evening, she had no idea the quick thinking and kindness of her delivery driver would change her life that night.

Caryn Hebert Sullivan put in the call for a late dinner on February 11, and DoorDash driver Sophia Furtado brought the order to an address in the small community of West Island Fairhaven, located on Buzzards Bay, about 20 miles southeast of Fall River.

"It was a normal night for me," Furtado told CNN Thursday, "I was almost at the end of my shift."

 

But when she got to the house around 10 p.m., she spotted Sullivan lying on the ground outside, bleeding from her head. Sullivan, who had a previous arm injury and a bad knee, had been waiting outside for the delivery.

 

As she turned, she recounted, her arm and knee gave out. She fell and hit her head on the way down.

 

"I just remember laying on my driveway thinking 'This is pretty much over,' " Sullivan recalled. "I was laying there and saw a lot of white clouds."

 

Furtado has previous medical knowledge from her time training as an Emergency Medical Technician, but had failed the National Registry test. She noticed Sullivan's blood was congealing and estimated she had been lying outside for about 15 to 20 minutes.

"Caryn was unresponsive, and her eyes kept rolling to the back of her head," Furtado said, "I felt like I was going to lose her."

 

Sullivan's husband Robert had been asleep inside the house, but awoke to Furtado's calls for help. She told him to get some supplies as she dialed 911.

 

According to Officer Jillian Jodoin of the Fairhaven Police Department, Furtado spoke with the dispatcher while rendering aid.

 

"At that moment Sophia became a part of our team to aid Caryn." Jodoin told CNN, "I asked her if it was possible for her to keep stabilizing Caryn's neck to keep her spine safe, her answer was, 'I'm not going anywhere.' "

 

 

"Thank god she was there, if she wasn't there, I'd be dead." Sullivan told CNN.

 

Soon after, officers and medics began arriving. Furtado stayed with her, until Sullivan was transported to the hospital.

 

Sullivan said she was in the hospital for three weeks following the incident, and suffered from two severe brain bleeds. Robert and her daughter, Veronica, were by her side the entire time. At one point, she said the two of them were waiting until 2 a.m. to hear if she would make it.

 

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A stranger on an airplane gave her $100 years ago and changed her life. Now she's trying to find the mystery woman to thank her.

 

 

(CNN) — Ayda Zugay isn't someone who normally likes to save things.

The walls of her Boston home are bare. She keeps a small bag packed with essential items in case she ever needs to leave quickly.

But for more than two decades, she's held onto an envelope that she hopes will help her unravel a mystery.

 

Zugay says she was a nearly 12-year-old refugee fleeing the former Yugoslavia with her older sister when a stranger handed them the envelope on a flight to the United States in 1999. The woman made them promise not to open it until they got off the plane.

The girls were later shocked to discover dangly earrings and a $100 bill inside.

A note scribbled on the outside of the envelope is signed with only a first name — Tracy. And for almost a decade, Zugay says she's been trying to find her.

 

 

In a video several refugee advocacy organizations are sharing on social media, Ayda Zugay asks for help finding the woman behind the envelope and its welcoming message.

 

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The health benefits of a random act of kindness.

(CNN)This year's Random Acts of Kindness Day falls during a pandemic for a second year in a row, but the foundation behind it wants you to consider being kind every day.

They want you to be a "RAKtivist," or a "Random Acts of Kindness activist."

Here's why: Spreading kindness not only helps others feel better about themselves -- it can also boost the giver's health and happiness, according to research. It's a win-win for all. Here's why.

 

A 'helper's high'

 

 

Putting the well-being of others before our own without expecting anything in return -- or what is called being altruistic -- stimulates the reward centers of the brain, studies show. Those feel-good chemicals flood our system, producing a sort of "helper's high." Volunteering, for example, has been shown to minimize stress and improve depression.

 

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Being happier will help you live longer, so learn how to be happier

 

That's not all: The same activity can also reduce the risk for cognitive impairment and even help us live longer.

One reason for this, experts say, is because kindness contributes to our sense of community and belonging. And that, studies have found, is a key contributor to a healthy, longer life.

 

Lower blood pressure

Giving donations to others, or "prosocial spending," has been shown to reduce blood pressure and improve heart health. One study asked a group of hypertensive people to spend $40 on themselves, while another group of people with high blood pressure were told to spend the money on others.

 

Why being an optimist is good for your heart

They found that those who spent money on others had lower blood pressure at the end of the six-week study. In fact, the benefits were as large as those from healthy diet and exercise.

Pain reduction

Giving seems to lessen our pain. A recent study found that people who said they would donate money to help orphans were less sensitive to an electric shock than those who declined to give. In addition, the more helpful people thought their donation would be, the less pain they felt.

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How could this happen? The study found that regions of the brain that react to painful stimulation appear to be instantly deactivated by the experience of giving.

Happiness

In the UK, researchers found that being kind could boost happiness in as little as three days. The study assigned people to three groups: the first group had to do an act of kindness each day; the second group tried a new activity; and the third group did nothing. The groups who were kind and did novel things saw a significant boost in happiness.

 

Spreading kindness doesn't have to be complicated.

You'll experience even greater joy if you're creative with your acts of kindness. Happiness researchers Sonja Lyubomirsky and Kennon Sheldon found that people who did a variety of acts of kindness throughout the week showed greater increases in happiness than those who performed the same activity over and over again.

And here's the good news: It seems acts of kindness can be anonymous or visible, spontaneous or planned, and can be as simple as giving a compliment or opening a door for someone.

Kindness suggestions

OK, you're convinced and want to jump right into being a kinder and more helpful person. There are literally hundreds of ideas on the internet, but here are a few to get you started:

• While driving, make room for the car that wants to enter your lane.
• Give a genuine compliment to a family member, friend or colleague (via text, email or video chat, please).
• Do the same for your boss -- they probably never get compliments!
• Let go of a grudge and tell that person you forgive them (unless telling them makes it worse).
• Be there for a friend having a tough time. Don't try to fix it; just listen.
• Leave your mail carrier a thank you note.
• Overtip your delivery person.

 

But I'm so tired

That's more than fair. Many people are overworked or have lost their jobs during the pandemic and are so worried about their children and their elderly relatives. Consider being kind to yourself (whatever that means) in the midst of this chaos. We all need a break.

Want more ideas? The Random Acts of Kindness Foundation also has lists of kindness ideas, organized by work, community, environment, animals, strangers, kids, seniors and more. If you become a "RAKtivist," you'll get a monthly kindness challenge designed to help a worthy cause or individual.

"You're making the world a better place," they say. But don't forget -- any kindness you give to others is also a gift to yourself.

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Good news: Boy Captured on Video Doing the Right Thing on Halloween.

 

 

Good news: Man becomes legend for extreme acts of kindness toward strangers.

Jon Potter was filling up his car at a Pittsburgh gas station when a woman approached and asked for a ride to battered-women’s shelter. He said no.

© Courtesy of Jon Potter/Courtesy of Jon Potter Jon Potter, 29, fixing rotted porch posts in Pittsburgh for someone for free. (Courtesy of Jon Potter)

She walked away, and he quickly felt a wave of regret. He got out of his car to look for her, but she was gone. Feeling terrible, he vowed to be kinder next time a stranger needed help.

A few weeks later, in the spring of 2015, he saw his opportunity when someone on a Pittsburgh Reddit group needed a hand installing a television antenna. Potter, who is handy, did it for no charge and felt great about it. Then someone on the same Reddit group asked for a cat sitter and he jumped at the chance.

“It snowballed from there,” said Potter, 29. “I decided that for the next year, if anyone asks me for help, as long as it’s legal and as long as it won’t harm anyone else, I’d do it. It sounds ridiculous, but I did it.”

Soon, he was committing near-daily acts of kindness in the Pittsburgh community: helping someone repair vinyl siding, moving furniture, fixing a leaky roof, changing a grandmother’s tire on the side of the road. All for free. He even raised $700 for a teen in his community who was injured while stopping a hate crime.

His one year of goodness was so fulfilling that he’s turned it into a four-year stretch of saying “yes” to random requests from strangers, gaining Potter fame in Pittsburgh for his hundreds — perhaps thousands — of kind acts, winning him awards, and making him the subject of local media attention.

“There is this Reddit lore of him,” said his friend Johann Guldenschuh, who met Potter when Potter agreed to help Guldenschuh and his wife move to the Pittsburgh area in 2017. “There are all these legends of these cool things he’s done, and they’re true.”

On Reddit, person after person gushes about how Potter (username pghparagliding) offered to help when it was most needed. Guldenschuh is one of them, writing:

“I cannot say enough about u/pghparagliding - he has helped my wife and I on numerous occasions. He helped me out by finding a temp place to stay when my job was transferred & other housing fell through; then arranged for permanent housing in a situation that has been incredible in so many ways (not to mention being a couple of blocks from this amazing guy)! Jon, it is an honor to have you in my life and to consider you a friend!”

Another user wrote:

“Hey, about two and a half years ago you bought me groceries during what was the de-facto darkest point in my life. I’m sure I’ve gotten lost in the sea of good deeds, but that little moment helped me bounce back in a big way, and I just wanted to say thank you one last time.”

Potter upped the ante on his generosity last week, donating a kidney to a stranger after seeing on Reddit that a Pittsburgh father of two was in need of a transplant.

The man, Michael Moore, 57, had put out a plea on social media through his daughters.

© Michael Moore/Michael Moore Michael Moore and his daughter Sara Moore at a Pittsburgh Penguins game in January. (Courtesy of Michael Moore)

“What are the repercussions of giving a kidney to someone?” responded Potter, who saw the post late at night. “I’m at the point in the night where I’d be open to giving a kidney to a stranger.”

Never one to back down from a good deed, he found out he could live a long and healthy life with one kidney. Then he got tested and learned he was a perfect match for the man in need.

He had to do some convincing to get his wife of about year, Rachel Adler, on board, but she came around to the idea. The surgery was Aug. 13, and both men are in recovery and doing great.

© Rachel Adler/Rachel Adler Jon Potter, on Aug. 13, after donating a kidney to Michael Moore. (Courtesy of Rachel Adler)

“I’m just blown away by the fact he was willing to do it,” Moore said, detailing the many appointments, tests and rigorous screening process Potter went through.

In the months before the donation, the two men met and became close friends. Per doctors orders, Potter had to lose 20 pounds before the surgery, which he did. He also overheard Moore saying he was going to install a French drain in his backyard and offered to help.

“He goes, ‘I won’t charge you anything for it,’ ” Moore said, laughing. He insisted on paying Potter for his work.

Before Potter’s do-gooder lifestyle began four years ago, he was a paragliding flight instructor, and most of his work hours fell on weekends. He was generally free on weekdays and had what he described as a bare-bones lifestyle. Instead of trying to earn more money during the week, he made the decision to dedicate himself to helping others.

It’s had a profound effect on Potter, who says he has struggled with depression and anxiety since he was 8 years old. Last year, he was diagnosed with high-functioning autism and said the realization was a “huge puzzle piece” in his life. He said that pushing himself to interact with people by helping them has given him new appreciation for others.

“I trust a lot more now than I did in the past,” he said. “I trust people’s intentions more.”

Two years ago, he formalized what he does by creating the website Pittsburgh Good Deeds, where people can ask for help and also volunteer their services. Potter now works as a handyman, and when he quotes his clients a price, he tells them to pay what they can. He said enough people pay the full price to keep him afloat.

“I get what I need,” he said. “I’m not very religious, but at this point I definitely believe there’s an order to my life and there’s an order to the universe, and I believe the order is good.”

Are some people he’s helping scamming him? Maybe. He said it doesn’t matter.

“It’s worth the risk of getting scammed compared to the possibility of helping someone or saving somebody’s life,” he said.

He gave a recent example of a father who posted on Reddit that he was thinking of killing himself because he was going through a separation from his wife and he needed an immediate $2,000 to pay his bills.

“Everyone was like, ‘This guy is a scam,’ ” Potter said. “I was like, ‘It might be true. What if he’s really going to kill himself?’ ”

Potter ended up going to the man’s house and lending him the money — the most he’s ever lent out — and said the man was extremely grateful and is already starting to pay him back.

“It’s very sobering,” Potter said. “No one else was going to help this guy. In the past, I never would have said yes.”

Another example: Early in his kindness blitz, someone posted on Reddit at 1 a.m. that a friend who had just graduated from high school had lost his wallet, was stuck at a party and needed a ride home in the sweltering summer heat. Potter said other Reddit users were giving the guy a hard time, saying “find your own ride” and “who is going to give you a ride at 1 a.m.?”

“Everyone was bashing on him,” Potter said.

But Potter had a feeling about it. He put his Rottweiler in his car in case he needed protection and picked up the teen. On the ride home, Potter ended up talking through some of the teen’s problems with him.

“He said he didn’t want to go to college — he just wanted to stay around town and sell drugs. I told him, ‘Maybe you don’t want to do that,’ ” Potter said. “We talked for 30 minutes about his doubts. He sent me a note later and said thank you.”

And Potter’s generosity has inspired others. When a local group awarded him $500 for being an exemplary community member, he posted about it on Reddit — “I have $1500 that I’m giving away” — and asked who needed the money.

Several people responded that they needed help, and others contacted him to donate more money. In the end, he had $1,500 to distribute. He posted that he used the funds to help two people get bus passes for work transportation, buy groceries for several other people, pay a gas bill for another, fund new shoes for a struggling nurse with foot troubles, contribute to a service trip in Costa Rica — and for many other causes.

© Courtesy Rachel Adler/Courtesy Rachel Adler Jon Potter and Rachel Adler eating cake at their wedding celebration in June 2018 (Courtesy of Rachel Adler)

Potter said helping others has brought on a big turn for the better in his own life, especially by keeping his depression and anxiety at bay. He highly recommends his unusual lifestyle and likes encouraging others to help people when they can.

“Even me, with all these hindrances,” he said, referring to his autism and anxiety. “If I can do it, you can too.”

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/good-news/i-have-dollar1500-that-im-giving-away-man-becomes-legend-for-extreme-acts-of-kindness-toward-strangers/ar-AAGaMxk?li=BBnb7Kz

Good news: Viral Video shows Uber Driver Performing Random Act of Kindness for Passenger.

 

 

 

 

 

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This was on my mind from the moment she got out my car, so I had to contribute can u imagine waiting till Christmas just to get a robe, house shoes and a outfit for church, we tend to take things for granted, but why not help someone else if u can #helper #Christmas #timhortons #oldnavy #uber #rides #conversation #lovethyneighbor #bekind #respect #alllove #goodspirits #goodvibes #love #makesomeonesday #buffalo #ny #716 #gooddeeds #smiled #ismiledtoday #depression #uber

A post shared by Miyah_jabs (@miyah_jabs) on Aug 3, 2019 at 8:51pm PDT

Good news: Woman Buys Out Entire Payless Store, Worth Almost $21K, and Donates 1.5K Shoes to Students.

An Arkansas woman went to a local Payless that was closing down and walked away with more than just a few pairs of shoes for her three children.

Carrie Jernigan, of Alma, was checking out at the store in May when her oldest daughter, who “has the biggest heart,” asked her if they could buy a pair of Avengersshoes for a fellow student whose shoes were too small for him, according to CBS affiliate KFSM.

“I was like, ‘Of course,’ ” Jernigan told the news outlet. “I just said, ‘How much for the rest of the shoes in the store?’ I was almost joking and I could see the clerk’s face and her wheels start to turn and she finished checking me out. She said, ‘Can I have your number?’ “

The district manager then called Jernigan — who expected there to be around 200 to 300 shoes left — and told her that there were almost 1,500 shoes she could purchase because of a new shipment they received that day.

“I always tell my kids, if you ask them what they want to be when they grow up, they say be kind, and so I don’t care what they do in life as long as they are kind and good people,” Jernigan told KFSM. “And so it just reiterates to me that their hearts are in the right place, and if it’s in the right place they can do amazing things.”

According to Money, the 37-year-old lawyer and local school board’s president “took home nearly $21,000 worth of merchandise — the majority of which she saved from the store’s blowout sale.”

Jernigan “intends to donate roughly 1,100 pairs to kids and local schools and give the remaining shoes to adults in need,” Money reported.

Payless announced earlier this year that they will be shutting down all 2,100 of its stores in the U.S. and Puerto Rico.

“Payless will begin liquidation sales at its U.S. and Puerto Rico stores on February 17, 2019, and is winding down its e-commerce operations,” a Payless spokesperson confirmed to CNN Business, adding that “this process does not affect the Company’s franchise operations or its Latin American stores, which remain open for business as usual.”

KFSM reported that Jernigan’s story has inspired others to donate, and the family is now throwing a back-to-school bash on Aug. 10 at 2 p.m. at the Alma Middle School Gym.

“They will be partnering with Kibler Baptist Church and will also be giving away school supplies,” KFSM reported.

https://www.yahoo.com/entertainment/woman-buys-entire-payless-store-192614663.html

Good news: A carpenter saved his whole life to fund college scholarships and helped 33 strangers go to school for free.

© KCCI

Four years ago, one of the happiest days of Kira Conard's life carried a cloud of sadness.

At a high school graduation party, her friends were buzzing with excitement about their next steps. Many were going to college, but the aspiring therapist in Des Moines, Iowa, scarcely had the heart to tell them she couldn't go. Her family just couldn't afford it.

© KCCI After having their college educations funded by a man they never met, "Dale's Kids" talk at a dinner and honor the Des Moines carpenter who helped their dreams come true.

Raised by a single parent with three older sisters, "paying for all four of us was never an option," she told CNN affiliate KCCI. But then she got a call from a stranger offering a scholarship.

"I broke down into tears immediately," she said.

The man on the other end of the line told her that her dreams would be funded by an angel named Dale Schroeder.

A lifetime of honest work now benefits others

Born in 1919, Schroeder worked as a carpenter for 67 years at the same business in Des Moines. When he died in 2005, he had amassed almost $3 million in savings.

Schroeder had owned two pairs of jeans, one for work and one for church, his friend Steve Nielsen, a lawyer, told KCCI. He never married and had no living descendents.

Before his death, Schroeder walked into Nielsen's office and told him he wanted to start a scholarship. He hadn't had the chance to go to college but wanted others to be able to get an education.

Nielsen described Schroeder as a "blue-collar, lunch-pail kind of guy."

Since his death in 2005, that money has been doled out to 33 Iowans.

"Dale's Kids" met for dinner on Saturday to catch up on each other's lives and to honor the man who made their dreams possible. They sat around the old carpenter's lunch pail to share updates on their lives. Many are now doctors, teachers and therapists.

Conard, whose dream of becoming a therapist has been financed by the fund, is the last person to receive one of Schroeder's scholarships; after putting 33 students through school, his fund is finally tapped out.

"For a man that would never meet me to give me basically a full ride to college, that's incredible. That doesn't happen," she said.

Schroeder's legacy lives on as Dale's Kids are making their mark on the world.

"All we ask is that you pay it forward," Nielsen said. "You can remember him, and you can emulate him."

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/good-news/a-carpenter-saved-his-whole-life-to-fund-college-scholarships-and-helped-33-strangers-go-to-school-for-free/ar-AAEA80e?li=BBnb7Kz

Baby fitted for hearing aids listens to mom’s voice for 1st time.

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Woman, 88, Has Been Waving from Her Window for 12 Years — Now 400 Kids Give Their Final Goodbye.

For over 12 years, Tinney Davidson, of Comox, British Columbia, had a tradition of waving to the hundreds of students who walked by her home on their way to school.

So when they heard that she was moving into an assisted living home, they decided that it was the 88 year old who deserved one very large — and memorable — wave goodbye.

Davidson has been waving to the kids since moving into her home in 2007 with her husband, according to CBC News, and she didn’t stop after he passed away.

“I just liked the look of the children,” she told the news outlet in 2014. “They all looked in and I thought, ‘If they’re looking in, I’ll wave to them,’  and that’s how it started.”

Last Thursday, over 400 students showed up on her front lawn and gave her not only a wave goodbye, but flowers and handmade signs.

“I was shocked again that there’s so many kids that want to say goodbye to me,” she said of the moment, which was captured on video.

In 2014, Highland Secondary School held an assembly in her honor to recognize what she’s done for the community, and in 2016, 70 teenagers from school brought her cookies and Valentine’s Day cards, according to CBC.

“I was just enthused by them. They’re just wonderful children. They just make me feel so good,” she told the news outlet at the time. “You know, it’s just, ‘Love you, you’re wonderful, you’re amazing,’ love and kisses and everything else.”

She added: “Well, I think I’m just the luckiest lady alive, really and truly. I have so much joy from them.”

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/good-news/woman-88-has-been-waving-from-her-window-for-12-years-%E2%80%94-now-400-kids-give-their-final-goodbye/ar-AAAKLlb?li=BBnb7Kz

Kid Heroes for the Planet.

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40 Happy Facts That Will Put a Smile on Your Face.

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Elderly Man Relives 'Lifetime of Memories' Thanks to eBay Purchase.

Rewind, Fast Forward, Play. Those buttons mean the world to a man named who bought a VCR from eBay.

Rewind, Fast Forward, Play. Those buttons mean the world to a man who bought a VCRfrom eBay.

Matt Shoukry sold it to the man, only identified as Don. He said he was finally able to play videos on it he he hadn't seen in years.

The 86-year-old was so filled with gratitude, he decided to send the St. Louis, Missouri, resident a letter.

"I watched tapes of my retirement party, which I had never seen before. Jeez, were we young. Then a tape of my wedding with all the family and friends, many of which are no longer around," Don wrote.

"Then skiing trips, kids growing up, travels, and most importantly the gentle maturing of my family, each one more fun than the last, all thanks to your generous selling of the VHS player.  I thought you would appreciate how much someone has enjoyed your offer. Best regards, Don."

Shoukry told KTVI he didn’t expect to receive the response, but he says he wants to write Don back and let him know he will digitize his VHS tapes, so he can relive his fondest memories whenever he likes. 

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/good-news/elderly-man-relives-lifetime-of-memories-thanks-to-ebay-purchase/ar-BBU26rV?li=BBnb7Kz

Good news: A bookstore owner was in the hospital. So his competitors came and kept his shop open.

© Vanessa Diaz/ Book Catapult owners Seth Marko and Jennifer Powell (Vanessa Diaz)

Hearing that your husband needs immediate open-heart surgery is terrifying, especially when he’s been healthy his whole life.

When Jennifer Powell heard the sudden news about her husband, Seth Marko, 43, she spun into action. First, she found care for their 3-year-old daughter, Josephine, so she could be at the hospital for her husband’s 10-hour surgery.

 

Then Powell’s mind went to their “second kid” — the Book Catapult — the small independent bookstore the couple owns and runs in San Diego. Their only employee had the swine flu and would be out for at least a week.

Powell, 40, closed the store to be with her husband in the hospital. She didn’t know for how long.

Her close friend Scott Ehrig-Burgess and his wife were watching Josephine. But Ehrig-Burress, who works at another bookstore in town, wanted to help more.

“We were all sort of overwhelmed and in shock,” Ehrig-Burgess said.

He thought maybe he could help with the Book Catapult. He had worked there a few times when his friends first opened the store, in late 2017. He still had the keys, he knew how to work the register. He could try to keep it afloat.

“I thought, ‘I’ll pretend this is my store for the week,’ ” Ehrig-Burgess said.

He started calling mutual friends in the book-selling community to tell them that Marko was in surgery.

“People were like, ‘What can I do to help? Do you need somebody to be in the store?’ ” Ehrig-Burgess recalled. “I called four booksellers and had four volunteers.”

Within a day of Marko’s Jan. 27 surgery, Ehrig-Burgess had eight volunteers to help him keep the store open. They all worked at competing bookstores in the San Diego area and were willing to juggle their schedules or work during their free time to pitch in. One couple came down from Los Angeles.

“Once I started to tell our book-selling friends what was going on, I had an entire roster,” Ehrig-Burgess said.

Each morning, he would go to the bookstore he manages, the Library Shop. Then at noon, he’d race across town to the Book Catapult to open it and give instructions to the volunteer. Then he’d head back to work.

“I’d train them how to use the point of sale, wait a few minutes to be sure nothing caught on fire, then leave,” he said. “I’d call every hour to be sure everything was okay.”

Then he’d return at 6 p.m. to close up.

“The customers didn’t even know,” Ehrig-Burgess said.

Marko’s surgery was a success. Ehrig-Burgess went to visit his friend in the intensive care unit and told him the Book Catapult was open.

Marko said he was overwhelmed.

“I probably cried a little bit,” he said. “The bookstore is like having a kid. You put so much into it.”

After about a week, the Book Catapult’s full-time employee, Vanessa Diaz, recovered from the swine flu and came back. Powell and Marko’s parents flew in to help out.

Marko was in the hospital for 11 days and is now home recuperating. He fatigues easily and is unable to lift more than a few pounds, so the friend-volunteers are still around when needed. Marko plans to return to his second job, as a sales representative for a book publisher, in April.

“We’re slowly pivoting toward putting it back on them,” said Ehrig-Burgess, who also started a GoFundMe for Powell and Marko. “They’re doing 80 percent now.”

Julie Slavinsky, 57, who works at the independent bookstore Warwick’s, is one of the volunteers who helped out. Slavinsky said when Ehrig-Burgess called to let her know about Marko’s heart, she offered to volunteer at the Book Catapult that Saturday. She and Marko used to work together at Warwick’s.

“People don’t like to ask for help. You have to say, ‘Hey, I have a few hours, do you need me?’ ” Slavinsky said.

While she was volunteering at the store, she rang up some customers and suggested titles to others. When a rainstorm caused water to leak through a window, she moved book displays around. Then she came back the following week to run an event, a reading from an author.

Slavinsky said although the Book Catapult is, strictly speaking, a competitor to her employer, she doesn’t see things that way.

“The book world is a little bit different,” she said. “I see this as helping somebody in the community. It’s the community coming together.”

Powell said she can’t offer enough thanks to all those who have helped her and her husband.

“Seth is the guy who is always the reliable one,” she said. “It’s bouncing back to him when he most needs it. It’s nice to see that happen.”

Powell also said the past few weeks have been an affirmation that she and her husband “did the right thing.”

“Maybe opening a bookstore wasn’t as crazy as we thought,” she said.

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/good-news/a-bookstore-owner-was-in-the-hospital-so-his-competitors-came-and-kept-his-shop-open/ar-BBU3vNa?li=BBnb7Kz

Heartwarming Photos of Acts of Kindness.

The audience at a 2011 thrash metal concert in Yankee Stadium hoisted a Megadeth fan in a wheelchairfor a better view. The "Big 4" show also featured Metallica, Anthrax, and Slayer.

 

Frida the rescue dog and her trainer Israel Arauz Salinas went viral for their life-saving efforts during the 7.1 magnitude earthquake that shook Mexico City last year. The 9-year-old Labrador has detected the bodies of 52 people during her career, and the duo recently received their own statue for their service to the Mexican navy.

American Abbey D'Agostino and New Zealander Nikki Hamblin won a special Olympic commendationfor their sportsmanship at the 2016 Rio Games. After Hamblin tripped in a 5,000-meter heat, and brought D'Agostino down with her, the American helped her competitor to her feet. Later on in the race, D'Agostino fell again as a result of her twisted leg, but Hamblin stayed by her side until the finish line.

A lucky dog got a ride from some unnamed helpers in the aftermath of Hurricane Matthew two years ago. Photographer Sean Rayford caught these two men pushing a makeshift boat through the floodwaters in Lumberton, North Carolina.

With Hurricane Rita set to pound Houston just weeks after Hurricane Katrina, residents evacuated in what became the worst traffic jam in the city's history. Instead of worrying about his own safety, however, generous resident Daniel Flynn actually gave out free gas to a needy motorist before the storm hit.

Natalie Hutchison had just finished a double-shift at work when she left her purse on a Toronto bus. She then frantically tried to track down the bag containing her wallet and new iPad in the pouring rain, but ended up returning home without it. When she reached the front steps, the bag was there waiting for her.

Steve St. Bernard was returning home from his job as an MTA bus driver on July 17, 2012, when children outside alerted him to an alarming sight: his 7-year-old autistic neighbor had climbed onto her apartment air conditioner three stories above. St. Bernard stood below the unit for an excruciating seven minutes before he caught the girl, tearing a tendon in his hand. "I asked God ... I said, 'Let me catch her, please. Don't let me miss,'" he told CNN. "I don't play baseball. I'm not a sportsman. I don't want to miss."

A Portland, Maine, man made several dozen commuters' holiday wishes come true when he went around the city handing out $100 bills in 2012. The regular anonymous giver told the Portland Press Herald that about half of the recipients informed him via email they gave the money to someone else who needed it more.

Click here for more.

Good news: Customers Buy Out Doughnut Shop Early Every Day So Owner Can Be With Sick Wife.

 

SEAL BEACH (CBSLA) — Donut City owner John Chhan just wants more time with his ailing wife, so his customers are helping out, a dozen doughnuts at a time.

Chhan and his wife, Stella, have owned Donut City in Seal Beach for three decades. The couple came to Orange County as refugees from Cambodia in 1979. Since then, they’ve worked side by side every morning to serve doughnuts at their Pacific Coast Highway shop – until recently.

“Hey come and support this guy’s donuts,” one customer said, flashing a thumbs up sign. “He’s a great man, great cause.”

Customers who missed Stella Chhan’s presence behind the counter were shocked to discover she had suffered an aneurysm. She’s alive, but is weak and in rehab, and John Chhan rushes home every day to be with her as soon as the shop sells out of doughnuts.

Chhan declined customers’ offer to set up a GoFundMe account for the couple, saying he simply wants more time with his wife. Instead, customers have endeavored to help Donut City sell out early every day so he can return to the rehabilitation center where she is recovering.

“She can talk, she can write,” Chhan said of his wife’s progress. “Right now she’s trying to start…eat something.”

The shop’s customers spread the word on newsletters and by word of mouth, and have asked everyone buying doughnuts to buy a dozen at a time.

“It’s a blessing really,” the unidentified customer said. “We need more people like that to just help everybody out in whatever need they have.”

https://losangeles.cbslocal.com/2018/11/02/customers-help-doughnut-shop-owner/

Woman's act of kindness for blind Cubs fan goes viral.

For several minutes, Ryan Hamilton watched as a blind man tried to hail a cab while Chicago Cubs fans poured out of Wrigley Field.

The Chicago resident was on a rooftop across the street when he noticed thousands of people passing the man, who was holding a walking stick and waving his hand in an attempt to stop a taxi. 

Not one car stopped -- but luckily, a pedestrian did.

Casey Spelman, of Indianapolis, was visiting friends in the area and spotted the blind man, who was identified as Yusef Dale, an assistant U.S. attorney in Chicago, as she walked out of a Wrigleyville restaurant. Without a word, Spelman split from her friends, walked over to Dale and tapped him on the shoulder.

"Do you want some help getting a cab?" Spelman asked.

"He said, 'Yeah, you sound pretty, so cabs will probably stop for you before me,'" Spelman recalled Dale joking.

They chatted about baseball and how crowded the area was after a Saturday afternoon game as Spelman stepped out into the street to flag down a cab. Within minutes, a taxi pulled up and Spelman helped Dale inside, giving him a hug goodbye in the process.

"We laughed and exchanged goodbyes and went our separate ways," Spelman told CBS News.

The 26-year-old didn't think anything of her encounter with Dale. But Hamilton, who was watching from above, was so touched by the kind gesture he posted pictures of the pair on Facebook, praising the woman for lending a helping hand.

"There was a blind Cubs fan trying to hail a cab for several minutes until the lady came up and asked him if he needed help hailing a cab. She stood there with him until one pulled up," Hamilton wrote in the post that has since gone viral with nearly 8,000 shares. "Awesome to see such kindness in a world."

The next day, Spelman was surprised to see photos of herself and Dale online.

"It was a strange feeling to see photos of yourself that you did not know were taken," Spelman said. "Not only did I not realize anyone was watching, but I had no idea it would have such an impact on people."

Hundreds of people commented on Hamilton's post, thanking Spelman for stopping.

"Such a simple pure gesture of true genuine humanity as it should be, virtuous. Kudos! An honor to witness," one Facebook user wrote.

"As a person who is legally blind and in a wheelchair myself, God bless you," another commented. "It's not as easy as one thinks asking for help or hailing a taxi."

Spelman is glad her post is inspiring others and hopes others will step outside of their comfort zones if they encounter a similar situation.

"It's OK if you are unsure of how to interact with someone, but do your best, be brave, and just be willing to help," she said. "I think if you treat someone with respect it will always be appreciated."

DC Eagle Cam captures rescue and return of eaglet after its leg gets stuck in nest.

 

 

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