Organ Donor Saves Lives

Family Hears Son’s Heartbeat In Vietnam Veteran’s Chest

Matthew Heisler, 21, a student at the University of North Dakota, died from complications following a house fire. But, Matthew had signed up to be organ donor when he was 16 years old by checking the box on the form for getting his driver’s license.

His father explained to the boy that ‘if life ever slipped away from him, he would give life to someone else’.

Meanwhile, Tom Meeks, a veteran of the Vietnam war, had been waiting nearly three years for a lifeline, after he was diagnosed with a rare and fatal heart disease, reports WFMY News.

Now, eight month’s after Matthew’s death, his parents and younger sister, Casey, got to listen to Matt’s heart beat inside of Tom’s chest.

By checking the box, Matt helped 59 other people, including a 46-year-old woman who received one of Matt’s kidneys and a 61-year-old man who was saved when he received the liver.

Make sure you are registered as an organ donor in the US, by signing up with your state here (below the map).

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Colt's Players Help Charity Founder

Colts Players Treat Veterans’ Charity Founder to Surprise Home Makeover

 

By ABC News

Jul 3, 2014 5:44pm

When Erich Orrick came home from the Army after 12 years of service, he made it his mission to help other soldiers who were coming home too.

But what Orrick, 44, the father of two girls, did not know was that his community had become well aware of all his good deeds — and so had the Indianapolis Colts’ Pat McAfee, who’d met Orrick through Orrick’s charity organization.

“He’s the most selfless person I’ve ever met in my life,” McAfee said in an interview with the IndyStar.

Orrick, a retired veteran and Bronze Star and Purple Heart recipient, started Wish for Our Heroes in 2009, helping service members move, get new appliances, even assist with their childcare. The charity group has given more than $10 million in donations.

McAfee and fellow Colts player Colby Fleener recently were able to turn the tables on Orrick and give him quite the surprise of a lifetime. McAfee, a supporter of Wish for Our Heroes, and Fleener got the wheels in motion to treat Orrick and his family to a home makeover.

“We had to think of an elaborate plan to get Erich out of his house and then to stay out of his house for a few days,” McAfee said.

So Fleener and McAfee orchestrated a road trip to Chicago and sent Orrick and his daughters there to help with a weekend charity event.

While the trio were gone, their home, just outside of Indianapolis, was outfitted with new furniture and kitchen appliances. Orrick’s daughters got a new place to do their homework and Orrick received a new “man cave,” including a new TV.

When Orrick arrived home to the surprise, he was nearly speechless.

“I’m completely spellbound. It’s amazing,” he said. “My life has been focused on helping other people. … It was a very humbling experience, being the person that was being helped. But I don’t want people to miss the story here, that there’s a lot of troops out there that really need help.”

SHOWS: World News

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9 Year Old Collects 400 Pounds of Food

This 9-Year-Old Collected 400 Pounds Of Food For 

The Needy For Thanksgiving

Giving back has become a hobby for Gunner Robinson.

The 9-year-old from Wilmington, North Carolina, has collected 401 pounds of nonperishable food items for those in need, his mother, Kristi, told The Huffington Post. Wanting to help families put food on the table for Thanksgiving, Gunner begancollecting the items on Oct. 13, according to WECT News.

Gunner amassed the donations by reaching out to friends and family, Kristi's work colleagues and the family's church community. All but 15 of the 401 pounds of items have been donated to a soup kitchen and food banks, Kristi told HuffPost on Monday, noting the rest will be given soon.

(Story continues below)

Kristi said her son simply wants everyone to have what he has.

"He says his favorite part of the holiday season is when all [of] his family gets together for the big meal," she wrote on a Facebook page garnering donations from people wanting to help her son's mission. "He hopes other families now will get that same opportunity."

The Facebook group, Gunner's Runners, launched this summer, when Gunner asked others to donate shoes for kids who may need them instead of receiving birthday gifts. He collected more than 400 pairs, CNN reported.

For Christmas, Kristi told HuffPost that Gunner plans to "adopt an angel" by choosing a child in need to provide presents to for the holiday.

To stay in touch with Gunner's progress or donate to his cause, visit the Gunner's Runners page on Facebook.

Full Article Here

"Random Acts of Pasta"

Background

I was sitting at work one day reading usatoday.com and I came across an article about Olive Garden selling a Never Ending Pasta Pass for $100 which entitled the bearer to unlimited pasta for 7 weeks. I debated on getting the pass for a while, but in the end I was going to give it the ol' college try.

I got on olivegarden.com a few minutes before 1:00pm Mountain Standard Time to find that the sale had already begun. I feverishly tried to buy a pass, but the entire site had crashed. I continued trying for nearly 25 minutes and just as I was about to give up hope, it finally let me buy the pass. I thought there was no possible way that any passes were still available after 25 minutes (because they allegedly only sold 1,000 passes nationwide); however, it said it went through.

Before the actual pass arrived, I started wondering if I had made a mistake because I didn't know how I was going to eat enough pasta to justify buying the $100 pass.  I decided it might be fun to randomly take Olive Garden to people--Random Acts of Pasta

Fast forward to Friday, September 19, 2014. Much to my surprise, I arrived home from work to find a little package from the United Parcel Service sitting on my front porch. Inside? My pasta pass. Needless to say, I was pretty excited. I lobbed a phone call to Olive Garden’s customer relations department to inquire as to whether take-out was permitted with my newly obtained pass. The answer? A resounding yes. Holy crap—this was the best news I had ever received. Random Acts of Pasta was now in full effect. Well, technically it wasn't anything until the following Monday because that’s when the promotion started.

Random Acts
A few interesting things I learned from this experience: Nobody is ever home when you randomly stop by. Some people I tried 6 times and they were never there. Not one person was pissed that I brought them free Olive Garden.  Homeless people vanish at night  Always check soup lids to make sure they're on tight or your back seat will hate life. Also, I feel that I should note that I used the pass on myself 14 times.

Find original article here

"Guardian of the Golden Gate."

Heroes Among Us

Sgt. Kevin Briggs Stops Suicides on San Francisco's Golden Gate Bridge

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Sgt. Kevin Briggs (left), with Kevin Berthia

WINNI WINTERMEYER

BY CATHY FREE AND KEN LEE

 

UPDATED 10/12/2013 AT 11:00 AM EDT 

•ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED 10/03/2013 AT 09:40 AM EDT

More than twice a month, on average, those who've lost all hope come to San Francisco's Golden Gate Bridge, climb over the railing and, tragically, plunge 220 feet into the Pacific Ocean to end their pain. 

That number would be higher, if not for California Highway Patrol Sgt. Kevin Briggs, nicknamed the "Guardian of the Golden Gate." Since 1994, through sheer compassion and expert listening skills, Sgt. Briggs has helped convince more than 200 people on the precipice of death not to take their lives (so far, he's only lost one). 

"People who come to jump don't necessarily want to die," explains Briggs, 50, who calmly introduces himself just a few feet away to the despondent person, often standing for hours in bone-chilling wind or heavy fog.  

"I try to find out what brought them to this point," says Briggs, a cancer survivor and father of two boys. "If I can get them to break down, that's a good sign, it shows they're listening and thinking. If someone says they have no plan for tomorrow, I say, 'OK, let's make one.' " 

"Sgt. Briggs not only saves lives, he inspires us all with his compassion and dedication," says Robert Gebbia, American Foundation for Suicide Preventiondirector. "He's a true American hero."  

In March 2005, Kevin Berthia, then 22, a former postal worker who'd battled lifelong depression and was overwhelmed as a new father, was about to jump when Briggs, who happened to be passing by, spotted him. 

Sgt. Briggs (far left, with another officer) helping Kevin Berthia climb to safety in 2005

JOHN STOREY / SAN FRANCISCO CHRONICLE / CORBIS

"I know you must be in tremendous pain," Briggs told him. "If you want to talk, I'm here to listen." 

It was a life-changing moment for Berthia. 

"Sgt. Briggs got me to open up about stuff I'd never dealt with before, like not knowing my real parents," says Berthia, an adoptee, who now takes medication for depression. "He made me realize we're all here for a purpose, and life is about finding just what that purpose is. I owe every bit of my second chance to him." 

More Heroes Among Us:

Original Story Here

Hero Saves women

Hero Saves Woman; Anonymous Donor Pays His Medical Bill

Published: February 18, 2009 | 7379th good news item since 2003

Dutch information technology executive Filip Lou, 34, was visiting Singapore Sunday when he saw a woman jump into the Singapore River .

Filip didn’t hesitate; he quickly stripped down to his shorts and jumped in after her.

By the time emergency services arrived at the scene he had already brought the woman back to land.

His jump into the water resulted in several cuts on his hands and feet caused by the rough stones at the river’s edge.

After being treated for the superficial wounds at Singapore General Hospital he was then presented with a bill of $90.

After reading about his heroics readers of the newspaper The Straits Times offered to pay the bill on his behalf but they were a bit too late.

Wednesday morning an anonymous donor walked into the hospital and reimbursed Filip Lou for his medical expenses.

The money was later on collected by Filip’s wife as he himself had to attend a business conference.

Filip has been given an award by the Singapore Civil Defence Force.

Full article here

Ferguson Library

The Ferguson Public Library is just a block away from the center of demonstrations at the Ferguson Police Department. As we've reported, when violent protests this week led to the burning of more than a dozen businesses and the uncertainty caused schools to close, the library stayed open.

It has become a quiet refuge for adults and children alike in this St. Louis suburb. And the nation has taken notice. The outpouring of support for the library has reached "orders of magnitude" more than any previous amount, says library Director Scott Bonner.

He's the only full-time librarian there — and he started his job in July, just weeks before the town became an internationally known name. Bonner says the donations may allow him to hire another person to help.

i

Scott Bonner, the Ferguson Public Library's director and its only full-time librarian, holds one of the "healing kits" that kids can check out.

Elise Hu/NPR

For community leaders and business owners, the library has become a place to convene.

"Whenever businesses have been hit, North County Incorporated needed a meeting space, and I said, of course, yes. Small Business Administration came in and did staging of emergency loans out of the library," Bonner says. "When there's a need, we try to find a way to meet it. I have a very broad definition of librarianship."

Since the latest unrest began Monday night, more than $175,000 has poured in. More than 7,000 people had given something as of Wednesday afternoon, many in $5 and $10 amounts. Donations so far this week are 10 times what they were during protests in August.

It all started with a few tweets from the library's account, which Bonner's wife helps with in her free time.

"Before I knew it, [there were] thousands of tweets with encouragements to donate, including retweets from people such as Neil Gaiman and LeVar Burton," Bonner said.

With the donations this week, Bonner plans to purchase more "healing kits" for children to check out. The kits include books about dealing with traumatic events and a stuffed animal that they can keep.

The level of support the library has seen this week can buy even more than healing kits.

"It means we can do a whole lot more programming that's focused on the community, [and] long overdue updates to the library. We have infrastructure needs that should have been taken care of 10 years ago. But what I really hope I can do is to get a full-time children's or programming librarian," Bonner says.

"No matter how much I work," he says, "it's not anywhere what a dedicated person who thinks about community all the time can do."

link to original story Here