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[*]High School Student Awarded $3 Million in Scholarships, Graduates With 4.3 GPA While Homeless
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[size=48]High School Student Awarded $3 Million in Scholarships, Graduates With 4.3 GPA While Homeless
Tupac Mosley earned the millions in scholarships while not having a permanent place to live
By Jason Duaine Hahn
May 21, 2019 04:06 PM
FB[url=https://www.twitter.com/intent/tweet?text=High School Student Awarded %243 Million in Scholarships%2C Graduates With 4.3 GPA While Homeless https://people.com/human-interest/student-3-million-in-scholarships-homeless/%3futm_source=twitter.com%26utm_medium=social%26utm_campaign=social-share-article%26utm_term=7074318]Twitter[/url]
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A Tennesee high school student who graduated at the top of his class earned millions for his college education, all while enduring a family tragedy.
Earlier this month, 17-year-old Tupac Mosley graduated from Raleigh Egypt High School in Memphis with a whopping $3 million in scholarships, FOX 13reported. While the monetary total is astonishing, it’s even more remarkable that Mosley was able to earn the funds while keeping a 4.3 GPA and being homeless.
“When I heard that I got $3 million, I was more than elated and excited and astonished that it was that much,” he told the outlet.
Mosley, who was the school’s valedictorian, explained that his family has struggled since the death of his father this year. After his passing, they had trouble paying bills and rent and were evicted from their home. A permanent living situation soon seemed out of reach, and Mosley began to worry about his goal of attending college.
“After my father passed, [my family] fell behind on bills and we ended up getting evicted from our home Feb. 21 of this year,” Mosley told FOX 13. “So, we went to different homes.”
During a speech at his graduation ceremony, Mosley thanked the nonprofit For the Kingdom, which helps urban youth “get away from city life but not from the city” through camps and workshops, their website says.
Mosley explained that For the Kingdom’s director gave his family a place to stay at the campgrounds, which, in turn, kept his dreams of attending college alive, according to ABC 7.
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“I knew that I had to make them proud,” Mosley said of the people who helped his family during the difficult time, including his teachers and principal. “I knew that their investment was worth it that and just show them that, yes, everything that you poured into me was worth $3 million and counting.”
RELATED: Billionaire Announces He Will Pay Off Class of 2019’s Student Debt During Commencement Speech
Now the teenager will have the opportunity to continue his dream of earning a degree in electrical engineering from Tennessee State University in Nashville.
“Never let your current situation, whatever circumstances you’re going through,” Mosley explained, “be a mountain that you can’t climb.”
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[*]PEOPLE.COM
[*]HUMAN INTEREST
[*]High School Student Awarded $3 Million in Scholarships, Graduates With 4.3 GPA While Homeless
[/list]
[size=48]High School Student Awarded $3 Million in Scholarships, Graduates With 4.3 GPA While Homeless
Tupac Mosley earned the millions in scholarships while not having a permanent place to live
By Jason Duaine Hahn
May 21, 2019 04:06 PM
FB[url=https://www.twitter.com/intent/tweet?text=High School Student Awarded %243 Million in Scholarships%2C Graduates With 4.3 GPA While Homeless https://people.com/human-interest/student-3-million-in-scholarships-homeless/%3futm_source=twitter.com%26utm_medium=social%26utm_campaign=social-share-article%26utm_term=7074318]Twitter[/url]
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A Tennesee high school student who graduated at the top of his class earned millions for his college education, all while enduring a family tragedy.
Earlier this month, 17-year-old Tupac Mosley graduated from Raleigh Egypt High School in Memphis with a whopping $3 million in scholarships, FOX 13reported. While the monetary total is astonishing, it’s even more remarkable that Mosley was able to earn the funds while keeping a 4.3 GPA and being homeless.
“When I heard that I got $3 million, I was more than elated and excited and astonished that it was that much,” he told the outlet.
Mosley, who was the school’s valedictorian, explained that his family has struggled since the death of his father this year. After his passing, they had trouble paying bills and rent and were evicted from their home. A permanent living situation soon seemed out of reach, and Mosley began to worry about his goal of attending college.
“After my father passed, [my family] fell behind on bills and we ended up getting evicted from our home Feb. 21 of this year,” Mosley told FOX 13. “So, we went to different homes.”
During a speech at his graduation ceremony, Mosley thanked the nonprofit For the Kingdom, which helps urban youth “get away from city life but not from the city” through camps and workshops, their website says.
Mosley explained that For the Kingdom’s director gave his family a place to stay at the campgrounds, which, in turn, kept his dreams of attending college alive, according to ABC 7.
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[size]Tupac Mosley
FOX 13
FOX 13
“I knew that I had to make them proud,” Mosley said of the people who helped his family during the difficult time, including his teachers and principal. “I knew that their investment was worth it that and just show them that, yes, everything that you poured into me was worth $3 million and counting.”
RELATED: Billionaire Announces He Will Pay Off Class of 2019’s Student Debt During Commencement Speech
Now the teenager will have the opportunity to continue his dream of earning a degree in electrical engineering from Tennessee State University in Nashville.
“Never let your current situation, whatever circumstances you’re going through,” Mosley explained, “be a mountain that you can’t climb.”
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annemarie- Over the Clooney moon
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[size=48]'Relieved' Kansas Teenager Will Graduate from Harvard Days After Graduating from High School
Braxton Moral will receive his undergraduate degree from the Harvard Extension School on May 30
By Diane Herbst
May 21, 2019 04:53 PM
FB[url=https://www.twitter.com/intent/tweet?text=%27Relieved%27 Kansas Teenager Will Graduate from Harvard Days After Graduating from High School https://people.com/human-interest/teenager-graduating-harvard-high-school-days-apart/%3futm_source=twitter.com%26utm_medium=social%26utm_campaign=social-share-article%26utm_term=7074705]Twitter[/url]
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Braxton Moral
SANDRA J. MILBURN/THE HUTCHINSON NEWS VIA AP
This past Sunday, 17-year-old Braxton Moral graduated from high school in Ulysses, Kansas. At the end of this month, he’s graduating from Harvard, and hopes to start law school.
“When I was younger, school got a little boring for me,” he told CNN. “I needed to stimulate my education, stimulate growth.”
That he certainly did. When he was 11, Braxton started taking classes at Harvard’s extension school — online and, during the last few summers, on campus in Cambridge. Good Morning America reported that he’s taken mostly government classes and hopes to enter politics.
“I’m relieved to have a little bit of a head start,” Braxton told GMA. “I thought it really broadened my horizons. It helped me understand new things and what I want to do [in life].”
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Kevin McGrath, an associate professor in South Asian Studies at Harvard University, told GMA the teen is “a remarkable and unique young scholar.”
“Intellectually, he is extraordinary, but more than that, it is his discipline and endeavor which has enabled him to begin adult life with such startling success,” said McGrath.
His mother, Julie Moral, told the New York Times that her son’s outstanding intellectual abilities became evident around the age of 2 or 3. At his older siblings’ volleyball games, the toddler “calculated mathematical differences in the scores,” the Times reported.
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One of Braxton’s sisters, Brittney Jo Segar, 29, told GMA she first noticed her baby brother’s outsized intellect around 18 months. “He always said big words and was different,” she said.
After skipping fourth grade and continuing to blossom intellectually, Braxton also became depressed. The Duke University Talent Identification Program pinpointed his problem.
“They said he was having existential depression,” his mother told the Times. “It’s where you’re like, ‘What’s my purpose? Is there a God?’ It’s something that most people have — a midlife crisis. He had it like, in fifth grade.”
The Duke program suggested Harvard Extension, reported the Hutchinson News. Through Braxton’s Harvard courses, he discovered his passion for politically related studies. He’s also found inspiration from the entrepreneur Elon Musk and ultimate fighter Conor McGregor, the Times reported.
Braxton has written a book about his experiences, Harvard in the Heartland, with hopes to attend Columbia University’s law school to study constitutional law.
He told GMA his advice to other kids and teens is to explore what you are interested in as early as possible. His mother’s advice? “I told him, he can do whatever he wants,” Julia Moral told the Times, “as long as he changes the world and makes it better.”
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[size=48]'Relieved' Kansas Teenager Will Graduate from Harvard Days After Graduating from High School
Braxton Moral will receive his undergraduate degree from the Harvard Extension School on May 30
By Diane Herbst
May 21, 2019 04:53 PM
FB[url=https://www.twitter.com/intent/tweet?text=%27Relieved%27 Kansas Teenager Will Graduate from Harvard Days After Graduating from High School https://people.com/human-interest/teenager-graduating-harvard-high-school-days-apart/%3futm_source=twitter.com%26utm_medium=social%26utm_campaign=social-share-article%26utm_term=7074705]Twitter[/url]
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Braxton Moral
SANDRA J. MILBURN/THE HUTCHINSON NEWS VIA AP
This past Sunday, 17-year-old Braxton Moral graduated from high school in Ulysses, Kansas. At the end of this month, he’s graduating from Harvard, and hopes to start law school.
“When I was younger, school got a little boring for me,” he told CNN. “I needed to stimulate my education, stimulate growth.”
That he certainly did. When he was 11, Braxton started taking classes at Harvard’s extension school — online and, during the last few summers, on campus in Cambridge. Good Morning America reported that he’s taken mostly government classes and hopes to enter politics.
“I’m relieved to have a little bit of a head start,” Braxton told GMA. “I thought it really broadened my horizons. It helped me understand new things and what I want to do [in life].”
[/size]
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[size]Braxton Moral, right, and a high school classmate
SANDRA J. MILBURN/THE HUTCHINSON NEWS VIA AP
SANDRA J. MILBURN/THE HUTCHINSON NEWS VIA AP
Kevin McGrath, an associate professor in South Asian Studies at Harvard University, told GMA the teen is “a remarkable and unique young scholar.”
“Intellectually, he is extraordinary, but more than that, it is his discipline and endeavor which has enabled him to begin adult life with such startling success,” said McGrath.
His mother, Julie Moral, told the New York Times that her son’s outstanding intellectual abilities became evident around the age of 2 or 3. At his older siblings’ volleyball games, the toddler “calculated mathematical differences in the scores,” the Times reported.
[/size]
[url=https://www.pinterest.com/pin/create/link/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fpeople.com%2Fhuman-interest%2Fteenager-graduating-harvard-high-school-days-apart%2F%3Futm_source%3Dpinterest.com%26utm_medium%3Dsocial%26utm_campaign%3Dsocial-share-article%26utm_content%3D20190522%26utm_term%3D7074705&media=https%3A%2F%2Fpeopledotcom.files.wordpress.com%2F2019%2F05%2Fbraxton-moral-3.jpg&description=%27Relieved%27 Kansas Teenager Will Graduate from Harvard Days After Graduating from High School][/url]
[size]Braxton Moral
SANDRA J. MILBURN/THE HUTCHINSON NEWS VIA AP
SANDRA J. MILBURN/THE HUTCHINSON NEWS VIA AP
One of Braxton’s sisters, Brittney Jo Segar, 29, told GMA she first noticed her baby brother’s outsized intellect around 18 months. “He always said big words and was different,” she said.
After skipping fourth grade and continuing to blossom intellectually, Braxton also became depressed. The Duke University Talent Identification Program pinpointed his problem.
“They said he was having existential depression,” his mother told the Times. “It’s where you’re like, ‘What’s my purpose? Is there a God?’ It’s something that most people have — a midlife crisis. He had it like, in fifth grade.”
The Duke program suggested Harvard Extension, reported the Hutchinson News. Through Braxton’s Harvard courses, he discovered his passion for politically related studies. He’s also found inspiration from the entrepreneur Elon Musk and ultimate fighter Conor McGregor, the Times reported.
Braxton has written a book about his experiences, Harvard in the Heartland, with hopes to attend Columbia University’s law school to study constitutional law.
He told GMA his advice to other kids and teens is to explore what you are interested in as early as possible. His mother’s advice? “I told him, he can do whatever he wants,” Julia Moral told the Times, “as long as he changes the world and makes it better.”
[/size]
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annemarie- Over the Clooney moon
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https://people.com/human-interest/grandmother-of-11-mba-age-59/
[size=48]Grandmother of 11 Earns Her MBA at Age 59: It's a 'Real Confidence Booster'[/size]
"I walk with my chest higher," Qadirah Bridgeman says 37 years after first going to college
By Gillian Telling
May 21, 2019 02:40 PM
QUADIRAH BRIDGEMAN
It’s never too late to go back to school.
So proved one grandmother, Qadirah Bridgeman, who recently got her MBA at age 59, nearly 37 years after she first graduated from Adelphi College and was planning to go on to law school.
Instead, she got married and then pregnant with her first child, and put her career aspirations on hold so she could raise her family, which eventually grew to four children. Bridgeman home-schooled all four of her kids, all the while working at a call center in Tennessee.
In a new article for T-Mobile Stories, where Bridgeman works, she said she’d always dreamed of going back to school to get her master’s but lacked the confidence. Still, after learning of T-Mobile’s tuition assistance program, she decided to take a leap of faith.
“Finally, I said to myself, ‘You know, there’s nothing else going on in my life right now that is really stopping me,’ ” the grandmother of 11 told the wireless provider’s publication.
Last fall, Bridgeman walked down the graduation aisle at Ashford University in a cap and gown with her parents and siblings in attendance — and she said she couldn’t be more proud of what she accomplished, despite her age.
“The step toward education was a real confidence booster,” she said. “I walk with my chest higher.” She adds that she’s not even sure she’s done with studying yet.
“I would love to go back for another degree,” she said. “Especially now I know I can do it.”
[size=48]Grandmother of 11 Earns Her MBA at Age 59: It's a 'Real Confidence Booster'[/size]
"I walk with my chest higher," Qadirah Bridgeman says 37 years after first going to college
By Gillian Telling
May 21, 2019 02:40 PM
QUADIRAH BRIDGEMAN
It’s never too late to go back to school.
So proved one grandmother, Qadirah Bridgeman, who recently got her MBA at age 59, nearly 37 years after she first graduated from Adelphi College and was planning to go on to law school.
Instead, she got married and then pregnant with her first child, and put her career aspirations on hold so she could raise her family, which eventually grew to four children. Bridgeman home-schooled all four of her kids, all the while working at a call center in Tennessee.
In a new article for T-Mobile Stories, where Bridgeman works, she said she’d always dreamed of going back to school to get her master’s but lacked the confidence. Still, after learning of T-Mobile’s tuition assistance program, she decided to take a leap of faith.
“Finally, I said to myself, ‘You know, there’s nothing else going on in my life right now that is really stopping me,’ ” the grandmother of 11 told the wireless provider’s publication.
Last fall, Bridgeman walked down the graduation aisle at Ashford University in a cap and gown with her parents and siblings in attendance — and she said she couldn’t be more proud of what she accomplished, despite her age.
“The step toward education was a real confidence booster,” she said. “I walk with my chest higher.” She adds that she’s not even sure she’s done with studying yet.
“I would love to go back for another degree,” she said. “Especially now I know I can do it.”
By Gillian Tellinggilliantelling@gmail.com
annemarie- Over the Clooney moon
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Join date : 2011-09-11
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Kids like this give me hope. They're the ones who'll change the world. Too bad there aren't more like them.
LizzyNY- Casamigos with Mr Clooney
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Re: The Good News
[size=34]Entire elementary school learns sign language and invites a Cinderella character actor to sing with ASL to welcome deaf kindergartner[/size]
- Dayton Consolidated School in Maine invited the Cinderella on Wednesday
- Kindergartner Morey Belanger, 6, is the school's only deaf student
- To welcome her all of the students have been learning American Sign Language
- Most students have learned at least 20 words and are working to learn more
By KEITH GRIFFITH FOR DAILYMAIL.COM
PUBLISHED: 15:15 EDT, 1 June 2019 | UPDATED: 15:15 EDT, 1 June 2019
The students and staff at an elementary school have all begun learning sign language in order to welcome a deaf kindergarten student.
The Dayton Consolidated School in Maine invited a Cinderella character actor to sing as she signed in American Sign Language to honor new student Morey Belanger, age six.
Morey is the first deaf student to ever attend the school, and teachers have responded by teaching the rest of the student body sign language.
'Morey -- without even knowing it -- has taught us so much,' said school Principal Kimberly Sampietro told CNN. 'She has brought a culture to our building that we didn't have before.'
[size=10][size=18]Elementary school learns sign language to welcome deaf student
Lo[/size][/size]
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Morey Belanger, age six, was thrilled on Wednesday when the Dayton Consolidated School in Maine invited a Cinderella character actor to sing as she signed in American Sign Language
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Morey, seen with her mom, is the school's first deaf student. All of the students and teachers have begun learning sign language
Teachers have posted placards around the school showing the signs for different objects, and say that most of the students have learned at least 15 or 20 words so far.
Morey herself has helped teach her own kindergarten class.
'Morey helped all of them to learn the alphabet,' Sampietro said. 'The kids have just really embraced her. They look up to her, they want her around, and they want to partner with her.'
The school has also installed a hearing assistive system and implemented extra teacher training to incorporate sign language into every classroom.
Sampietro said many teachers also began using their free time to watch sign language videos and read books on special education.
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A local high school student who hopes to some day work as an American Sign Language Interpreter in a school performed as Cinderella
At Wednesday's princess party, Morey was thrilled when Cinderella began using sign language as she sang.
The Disney princess was played by a local high school student who hopes to some day work as an American Sign Language Interpreter in a school.
Morey, who was dressed as Belle from Beauty And The Beast, ran up to the front and helped sign along to the song.
'I absolutely feel like it makes her feel welcomed,' Morey's mom Shannon Belanger told CNN.
'I think all the kids feel excited that they know another language and I think they think it's fun.'
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The Dayton Consolidated School in rural Maine has a student body of about 140
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- Entire school learns sign language to welcome deaf kindergartener - CNN
annemarie- Over the Clooney moon
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The Trump Baby Blimp has been given permission today to fly during his visit in central London. The owners said they would only fly it if they raised enough money to give to charity. That has now been raised
https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/trump-uk-visit-baby-blimp-protest-london-sadiq-khan-parliament-square-a8940576.html
(I see he has denied saying anything 'nasty' about the Duchess of Sussex - except it's on record!!!!)
Pretty sure that the Palace will already have noted it. Personal remarks are not appreciated no matter who he is
https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/trump-uk-visit-baby-blimp-protest-london-sadiq-khan-parliament-square-a8940576.html
(I see he has denied saying anything 'nasty' about the Duchess of Sussex - except it's on record!!!!)
Pretty sure that the Palace will already have noted it. Personal remarks are not appreciated no matter who he is
party animal - not!- George Clooney fan forever!
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Re: The Good News
Well PAN the truly good news in that story is that money was raised for some well deserving charities before permission was given to fly nappy Trump! What a great idea.
Donnamarie- Possibly more Clooney than George himself
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https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/trump-uk-visit-penis-stansted-airport-protest-climate-change-real-essex-a8941271.html
party animal - not!- George Clooney fan forever!
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Re: The Good News
Leave it to the Brits! I love it! Too bad he was so polite.
LizzyNY- Casamigos with Mr Clooney
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Yes indeed. Trump is a giant dick! The Brits get it.
Donnamarie- Possibly more Clooney than George himself
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Re: The Good News
Love that the Queen is making him stand for long periods watching soldiers march and play instruments - at the same time! Very tongue in cheek - he is now being given a tour by her of the Queens Gallery of Art with priceless works of art by the likes of Leonardo.
party animal - not!- George Clooney fan forever!
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Awww. Poor President Bone-Spurs, I hope his feet are killing him. I can't wait to see how he embarrasses us all on D-Day. Maybe it will rain and he'll have to skip the ceremonies to protect his hair.
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https://people.com/human-interest/michigan-couple-adopts-6-siblings/
[size=48]Michigan Couple Adopts 6 Siblings, Keeping the Kids Together: 'There's Never a Dull Moment'
Gabrielle and Shannon Fessenden initially adopted three siblings, and eventually went on to adopt their three siblings, too
By Rachel DeSantis
August 08, 2019 03:03 PM[/size]
FB[url=https://www.twitter.com/intent/tweet?text=Michigan Couple Adopts 6 Siblings%2C Keeping the Kids Together%3A %27There%27s Never a Dull Moment%27 https://people.com/human-interest/michigan-couple-adopts-6-siblings/%3futm_source=twitter.com%26utm_medium=social%26utm_campaign=social-share-article%26utm_term=7190956]Twitter[/url]
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PAWPRINTS PHOTOGRAPHY
A Michigan couple says their house is full of “love and chaos” after they took six siblings under their wing and adopted them as their own.
Gabrielle and Shannon Fessenden were already parents to two children but had always wanted to adopt, too, Gabrielle told Good Morning America.
While browsing through the Michigan Adoption Resource Exchange website, Gabrielle stumbled upon photos of three siblings — Jordan, Jay and Myah — who were to be separated if they were unable to find a home in the coming weeks.
The Fessendens quickly made moves, and the children were welcomed into their home in November 2012 and adopted a year later.
Gabrielle told GMA she was quickly sold on the kids’ personalities. She described Myah, now 9, as “full of spunk and spice and sugar,” adding that she has the “best belly laugh on the face of the planet.”
“Jordan was spunky, athletic — his dream was to play soccer. Giving him permanency allowed him to be able to be part of a sports team,” she said of the 15-year-old.
“Jay was very quiet and reserved, but he is amazing now,” she said of her son, now 10. “He has high-functioning autism, but he’s insanely smart and incredibly social.”
RELATED: Kristin Davis Tears Up Recalling Her Black Daughter Experiencing Racism — as a Baby
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By May 2014, the children’s mother had had another child, Jericho, now 5, who was adopted that December.
According to GMA, the kids, who all share the same mother, had come from an “unstable environment,” and their biological parents’ rights were terminated.
RELATED VIDEO: Jonathan Scott Reveals He’ll Adopt Children If He Doesn’t Find the Right Partner
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Briella, 4, was born shortly after Jericho’s first birthday, and Gabrielle and Shannon finalized her adoption in December 2015.
Two years later, Mason was born with multiple birth defects, including fetal alcohol syndrome.
The Fessendens welcomed him into the family, too, and his adoption was finalized in June.
RELATED: Mariska Hargitay and Peter Hermann Open Up About Adoption and Their Unique Brood
“Our oldest Jordan said, ‘Mason is hilarious and fun and a missing piece. He filled the void I didn’t know I had,’ ” Gabrielle recalled. “That, of course, made us all sob. It was another link for us to keep these kids together.”
The new additions have fit seamlessly into the couple’s lives with biological children Scott, 11, and Giana, 8, with Gabrielle joking that the family’s hashtag is inspired by the saying “There’s never a dull moment.”
“It’s never quiet. There’s lots of love and chaos,” she told GMA. “There’s always scampering feet, laughing and giggling, running[/size]
[size=48]Michigan Couple Adopts 6 Siblings, Keeping the Kids Together: 'There's Never a Dull Moment'
Gabrielle and Shannon Fessenden initially adopted three siblings, and eventually went on to adopt their three siblings, too
By Rachel DeSantis
August 08, 2019 03:03 PM[/size]
FB[url=https://www.twitter.com/intent/tweet?text=Michigan Couple Adopts 6 Siblings%2C Keeping the Kids Together%3A %27There%27s Never a Dull Moment%27 https://people.com/human-interest/michigan-couple-adopts-6-siblings/%3futm_source=twitter.com%26utm_medium=social%26utm_campaign=social-share-article%26utm_term=7190956]Twitter[/url]
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PAWPRINTS PHOTOGRAPHY
A Michigan couple says their house is full of “love and chaos” after they took six siblings under their wing and adopted them as their own.
Gabrielle and Shannon Fessenden were already parents to two children but had always wanted to adopt, too, Gabrielle told Good Morning America.
While browsing through the Michigan Adoption Resource Exchange website, Gabrielle stumbled upon photos of three siblings — Jordan, Jay and Myah — who were to be separated if they were unable to find a home in the coming weeks.
The Fessendens quickly made moves, and the children were welcomed into their home in November 2012 and adopted a year later.
Gabrielle told GMA she was quickly sold on the kids’ personalities. She described Myah, now 9, as “full of spunk and spice and sugar,” adding that she has the “best belly laugh on the face of the planet.”
“Jordan was spunky, athletic — his dream was to play soccer. Giving him permanency allowed him to be able to be part of a sports team,” she said of the 15-year-old.
“Jay was very quiet and reserved, but he is amazing now,” she said of her son, now 10. “He has high-functioning autism, but he’s insanely smart and incredibly social.”
RELATED: Kristin Davis Tears Up Recalling Her Black Daughter Experiencing Racism — as a Baby
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[size]The Fessenden family
THE FESSENDEN FAMILY
THE FESSENDEN FAMILY
By May 2014, the children’s mother had had another child, Jericho, now 5, who was adopted that December.
According to GMA, the kids, who all share the same mother, had come from an “unstable environment,” and their biological parents’ rights were terminated.
RELATED VIDEO: Jonathan Scott Reveals He’ll Adopt Children If He Doesn’t Find the Right Partner
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[size=32][size=32]Play Video[/size][/size]
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Briella, 4, was born shortly after Jericho’s first birthday, and Gabrielle and Shannon finalized her adoption in December 2015.
Two years later, Mason was born with multiple birth defects, including fetal alcohol syndrome.
The Fessendens welcomed him into the family, too, and his adoption was finalized in June.
RELATED: Mariska Hargitay and Peter Hermann Open Up About Adoption and Their Unique Brood
“Our oldest Jordan said, ‘Mason is hilarious and fun and a missing piece. He filled the void I didn’t know I had,’ ” Gabrielle recalled. “That, of course, made us all sob. It was another link for us to keep these kids together.”
The new additions have fit seamlessly into the couple’s lives with biological children Scott, 11, and Giana, 8, with Gabrielle joking that the family’s hashtag is inspired by the saying “There’s never a dull moment.”
“It’s never quiet. There’s lots of love and chaos,” she told GMA. “There’s always scampering feet, laughing and giggling, running[/size]
annemarie- Over the Clooney moon
- Posts : 10309
Join date : 2011-09-11
Re: The Good News
https://people.com/human-interest/boy-uses-disney-trip-money-to-help-hurricane-dorian-evacuees/
[size=48]6-Year-Old Boy Uses Money He Saved for Disney Trip to Help Hurricane Dorian Evacuees[/size]
“I wanted to be generous and live to give,” the boy said
By Helen Murphy
September 05, 2019 03:02 PM
FB[url=https://www.twitter.com/intent/tweet?text=6-Year-Old Boy Uses Money He Saved for Disney Trip to Help Hurricane Dorian Evacuees]Twitter[/url]
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Jermaine Bell will spend his seventh birthday helping those affected by Hurricane Dorian.
According to WJBF, the 6-year-old had been saving up his money in order to spend his birthday at Disney World later this week. Instead, he’s now using the money to help evacuees in South Carolina.
“The people that are traveling to go to places, I wanted them to have some food to eat, so they can enjoy the ride to the place that they’re going to stay at,” he told the outlet.
Bell spent his birthday money on hot dogs, chips and water, and stood alongside a highway in Allendale, South Carolina to give the free food to coastal evacuees as they headed inland.
According to CNN, he served over 100 evacuees on Monday, his first day out on the highway, but Bell said he’s helped “a lot” more in the days since.
“I wanted to be generous and live to give,” he told WJBF.
RELATED: Florida Deputies Name Adorable Puppy Rescued from Flooded Car After Hurricane Dorian
“I am very proud,” Bell’s grandmother Aretha Grant told CNN. “We knew Jermaine was very special, but we didn’t know he was special in this way to be such a giver like this.”
After the storm passes, Bell told WJBF that he hopes his trip to Disney World can still happen, explaining that he wants to go to “Animal Kingdom and see lots of lions and have a Lion King party.”
Hurricane Dorian devastated the Bahamas earlier this week, passed Florida on Tuesday and Wednesday, and is now hitting the Carolinas as the storm moves up the east coast of the United States.
More than one million people in North and South Carolina were forced to evacuate as the Category 2 storm inched closer, according to CNN.
[size=48]6-Year-Old Boy Uses Money He Saved for Disney Trip to Help Hurricane Dorian Evacuees[/size]
“I wanted to be generous and live to give,” the boy said
By Helen Murphy
September 05, 2019 03:02 PM
FB[url=https://www.twitter.com/intent/tweet?text=6-Year-Old Boy Uses Money He Saved for Disney Trip to Help Hurricane Dorian Evacuees]Twitter[/url]
More
Jermaine Bell will spend his seventh birthday helping those affected by Hurricane Dorian.
According to WJBF, the 6-year-old had been saving up his money in order to spend his birthday at Disney World later this week. Instead, he’s now using the money to help evacuees in South Carolina.
“The people that are traveling to go to places, I wanted them to have some food to eat, so they can enjoy the ride to the place that they’re going to stay at,” he told the outlet.
Bell spent his birthday money on hot dogs, chips and water, and stood alongside a highway in Allendale, South Carolina to give the free food to coastal evacuees as they headed inland.
According to CNN, he served over 100 evacuees on Monday, his first day out on the highway, but Bell said he’s helped “a lot” more in the days since.
“I wanted to be generous and live to give,” he told WJBF.
RELATED: Florida Deputies Name Adorable Puppy Rescued from Flooded Car After Hurricane Dorian
“I am very proud,” Bell’s grandmother Aretha Grant told CNN. “We knew Jermaine was very special, but we didn’t know he was special in this way to be such a giver like this.”
After the storm passes, Bell told WJBF that he hopes his trip to Disney World can still happen, explaining that he wants to go to “Animal Kingdom and see lots of lions and have a Lion King party.”
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Jermaine Bell
FOX NEWS
FOX NEWS
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RELATED: Hurricane Dorian Causes ‘Historic Tragedy’ — Here, Some of the Most Devastating PhotosHurricane Dorian passes Florida
ADAM DELGIUDICE/AFP/GETTY
ADAM DELGIUDICE/AFP/GETTY
Hurricane Dorian devastated the Bahamas earlier this week, passed Florida on Tuesday and Wednesday, and is now hitting the Carolinas as the storm moves up the east coast of the United States.
More than one million people in North and South Carolina were forced to evacuate as the Category 2 storm inched closer, according to CNN.
annemarie- Over the Clooney moon
- Posts : 10309
Join date : 2011-09-11
Re: The Good News
https://people.com/human-interest/boy-disney-vacation-hurricane-dorian-money/
[size=48]Boy, 7, Gets Dream Trip After Using Money Saved for Disney Vacation to Feed Hurricane Evacuees[/size]
Jermaine Bell will get to go to Disney World after all!
By Char Adams
September 09, 2019 05:43 PM
[url=https://www.pinterest.com/pin/create/link/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fpeople.com%2Fhuman-interest%2Fboy-disney-vacation-hurricane-dorian-money%2F%3Futm_source%3Dpinterest.com%26utm_medium%3Dsocial%26utm_campaign%3Dsocial-share-article%26utm_content%3D20190910%26utm_term%3D7276164&media=https%3A%2F%2Fpeopledotcom.files.wordpress.com%2F2019%2F09%2F0908zr_0610afn.jpg&description=Boy%2C 7%2C Gets Dream Trip After Using Money Saved for Disney Vacation to Feed Hurricane Evacuees][/url]
Jermaine Bell (left) with Mickey
DISNEY
Jermaine Bell kissed his dreams of exploring Walt Disney World goodbye after saving for about a year to visit the theme park. Instead of taking the dream vacation, the 7-year-old used the roughly $500 to provide Hurricane Dorian evacuees in South Carolina with food and water. Now, the little boy will get to go to Disney after all.
“We were contacted by a team from Disney … and they were able to surprise him for his birthday with Mickey and a cake and some gifts,” Bell’s mother, 31-year-old Lauren Creech, tells PEOPLE. “We’re coordinating with them to go [to Disney] later this month!”
Disney officials learned of Bell’s good deed and went to the family’s Jacksonville, Florida, home on Sunday and broke the news that they were sending Bell and his family on a VIP getaway at Disney’s vacation kingdom.
“His jaw just dropped open and he was smiling from ear to ear,” Creech says of Bell’s reaction to the news. “He was really happy. He was very grateful for what they did. They gave him an animated Simba toy and he was just like, ‘This is my favorite Simba toy ever. I think I’m gonna sleep with it, it’s gonna go everywhere I go.’ ”
It all began earlier this month while Bell was visiting his grandparents in Allendale. Gov. Henry McMaster ordered the coast to evacuate as the storm approached. With that, evacuees began heading inland, and Bell told his grandmother he wanted to help.
RELATED: 6-Year-Old Boy Uses Money He Saved for Disney Trip to Help Hurricane Dorian Evacuees
With the help of his grandparents and a few local residents, Bell set up a tent along Highway 125, where he served hot dogs, water and chips to more than 100 evacuees.
“He is really a selfless, selfless child and it’s overwhelming but it’s not shocking because to know him, this is exactly who he is,” Creech tells PEOPLE. “I have a budding philanthropist! I just really want him to know that I am extremely proud of him. I don’t even think I could put it into words.”
VIDEO: Rihanna Pledges to Help Victims of Hurricane Dorian in the Bahamas: ‘It Truly Breaks My Heart’
Bell’s act of kindness has gone viral, with news outlets across the country highlighting the good deed. Creech says Bell has been “embracing” all the attention, though he never set out to go viral.
“The people that are traveling to go to places, I wanted them to have some food to eat, so they can enjoy the ride to the place that they’re going to stay at,” Bell told WJBF. “I wanted to be generous and live to give.”
Creech says Bell wants to continue helping those impacted by the storm, specifically children in the Bahamas — where at least 45 people have died but thousands are missing, according to The Weather Channel.
“He wants to hopefully be able to donate some proceeds or purchase care packages,” Creech says of Bell. “I’m hoping that this is just the beginning for him.”
[size=48]Boy, 7, Gets Dream Trip After Using Money Saved for Disney Vacation to Feed Hurricane Evacuees[/size]
Jermaine Bell will get to go to Disney World after all!
By Char Adams
September 09, 2019 05:43 PM
[url=https://www.pinterest.com/pin/create/link/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fpeople.com%2Fhuman-interest%2Fboy-disney-vacation-hurricane-dorian-money%2F%3Futm_source%3Dpinterest.com%26utm_medium%3Dsocial%26utm_campaign%3Dsocial-share-article%26utm_content%3D20190910%26utm_term%3D7276164&media=https%3A%2F%2Fpeopledotcom.files.wordpress.com%2F2019%2F09%2F0908zr_0610afn.jpg&description=Boy%2C 7%2C Gets Dream Trip After Using Money Saved for Disney Vacation to Feed Hurricane Evacuees][/url]
Jermaine Bell (left) with Mickey
DISNEY
Jermaine Bell kissed his dreams of exploring Walt Disney World goodbye after saving for about a year to visit the theme park. Instead of taking the dream vacation, the 7-year-old used the roughly $500 to provide Hurricane Dorian evacuees in South Carolina with food and water. Now, the little boy will get to go to Disney after all.
“We were contacted by a team from Disney … and they were able to surprise him for his birthday with Mickey and a cake and some gifts,” Bell’s mother, 31-year-old Lauren Creech, tells PEOPLE. “We’re coordinating with them to go [to Disney] later this month!”
Disney officials learned of Bell’s good deed and went to the family’s Jacksonville, Florida, home on Sunday and broke the news that they were sending Bell and his family on a VIP getaway at Disney’s vacation kingdom.
“His jaw just dropped open and he was smiling from ear to ear,” Creech says of Bell’s reaction to the news. “He was really happy. He was very grateful for what they did. They gave him an animated Simba toy and he was just like, ‘This is my favorite Simba toy ever. I think I’m gonna sleep with it, it’s gonna go everywhere I go.’ ”
It all began earlier this month while Bell was visiting his grandparents in Allendale. Gov. Henry McMaster ordered the coast to evacuate as the storm approached. With that, evacuees began heading inland, and Bell told his grandmother he wanted to help.
RELATED: 6-Year-Old Boy Uses Money He Saved for Disney Trip to Help Hurricane Dorian Evacuees
With the help of his grandparents and a few local residents, Bell set up a tent along Highway 125, where he served hot dogs, water and chips to more than 100 evacuees.
“He is really a selfless, selfless child and it’s overwhelming but it’s not shocking because to know him, this is exactly who he is,” Creech tells PEOPLE. “I have a budding philanthropist! I just really want him to know that I am extremely proud of him. I don’t even think I could put it into words.”
VIDEO: Rihanna Pledges to Help Victims of Hurricane Dorian in the Bahamas: ‘It Truly Breaks My Heart’
Bell’s act of kindness has gone viral, with news outlets across the country highlighting the good deed. Creech says Bell has been “embracing” all the attention, though he never set out to go viral.
“The people that are traveling to go to places, I wanted them to have some food to eat, so they can enjoy the ride to the place that they’re going to stay at,” Bell told WJBF. “I wanted to be generous and live to give.”
Creech says Bell wants to continue helping those impacted by the storm, specifically children in the Bahamas — where at least 45 people have died but thousands are missing, according to The Weather Channel.
“He wants to hopefully be able to donate some proceeds or purchase care packages,” Creech says of Bell. “I’m hoping that this is just the beginning for him.”
By Char Adams
annemarie- Over the Clooney moon
- Posts : 10309
Join date : 2011-09-11
Re: The Good News
Thanks annemarie for this story. A very selfless act by such a young boy. I hope he uses this special trait to do something very special with his life. Good move by Disney.
Donnamarie- Possibly more Clooney than George himself
- Posts : 5881
Join date : 2014-08-26
Location : Washington, DC
Re: The Good News
What a terrific kid! He could teach drumpf a thing or two about being a decent human being. Imagine. A 6 year old doing what a grown man hasn't got the compassion to do. I hope he has a great time at Disney World.
LizzyNY- Casamigos with Mr Clooney
- Posts : 8189
Join date : 2013-08-28
Location : NY, USA
Re: The Good News
https://people.com/human-interest/all-women-delta-crew-passengers-nasa-headquarters/
[size=48]All-Women Delta Crew Flies 120 Girls to NASA Headquarters to Empower Female Aviators
The flight was the fifth-annual WING Flight, meant to help close the aviation gender gap
By Rachel DeSantis
October 11, 2019 01:25 PM[/size]
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Delta's fifth annual WING Flight
DELTA
Delta is soaring to new heights in its efforts to close the aviation gender gap.
In honor of International Girls in Aviation Day, the airline launched a flight from Salt Lake City to NASA in Houston that was made up exclusively of female crew members and passengers.
The fifth-annual WING flight (Women Inspiring our Next Generation) carried 120 girls aged 12-18 to Texas, and was arranged and orchestrated entirely by women, from the pilots and ramp agents to the gate agents, Delta said in a statement.
The initiative was first launched in 2015 as a means of exposing young girls to STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math) careers, as those industries are largely male-dominated.
This year, the group toured NASA’s Mission Control Center, Building 9, Johnson Space Center and Space Center Houston, and also ate lunch with NASA astronaut and aerospace engineer Jeanette Epps.
RELATED VIDEO: New Survey Finds That Nearly Half of Men Believe the Gender Pay Gap Is ‘Made Up’
“It didn’t seem realistic to go after a career in aviation, but today I realized, ‘Hey, I can do this too,’” 12th-grader Katelyn J., 17, said.
In addition to their tours and getting to meet Epps, the girls were also introduced to mentors from other aviation workgroups that are typically male-dominated, like Delta’s technical operations team.
RELATED: Hero Pilot Who Landed Deadly Southwest Flight Was One of Navy’s First Female Fighter Pilots
“We know representation matters. At Delta, we believe you have to see it to be it,” General Manager of Pilot Development Beth Poole said in a statement. “We’re taking ownership to improve gender diversity by exposing young girls at a young age and providing a pipeline so that 10 years from now, they will be the pilots in the Delta cockpit inspiring generations of women who follow.”
Approximately five percent of pilots in the industry are women, according to the release, and over the past four years, 7.4 percent of Delta’s new hire pilots have been women.
[size=48]All-Women Delta Crew Flies 120 Girls to NASA Headquarters to Empower Female Aviators
The flight was the fifth-annual WING Flight, meant to help close the aviation gender gap
By Rachel DeSantis
October 11, 2019 01:25 PM[/size]
[url=https://www.pinterest.com/pin/create/link/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fpeople.com%2Fhuman-interest%2Fall-women-delta-crew-passengers-nasa-headquarters%2F%3Futm_source%3Dpinterest.com%26utm_medium%3Dsocial%26utm_campaign%3Dsocial-share-article%26utm_content%3D20191011%26utm_term%3D7356214&media=https%3A%2F%2Fpeopledotcom.files.wordpress.com%2F2019%2F10%2Fwing-flight-selfie-2000px.jpg&description=All-Women Delta Crew Flies 120 Girls to NASA Headquarters to Empower Next Generation of Female Aviators][/url]
Delta's fifth annual WING Flight
DELTA
Delta is soaring to new heights in its efforts to close the aviation gender gap.
In honor of International Girls in Aviation Day, the airline launched a flight from Salt Lake City to NASA in Houston that was made up exclusively of female crew members and passengers.
The fifth-annual WING flight (Women Inspiring our Next Generation) carried 120 girls aged 12-18 to Texas, and was arranged and orchestrated entirely by women, from the pilots and ramp agents to the gate agents, Delta said in a statement.
The initiative was first launched in 2015 as a means of exposing young girls to STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math) careers, as those industries are largely male-dominated.
This year, the group toured NASA’s Mission Control Center, Building 9, Johnson Space Center and Space Center Houston, and also ate lunch with NASA astronaut and aerospace engineer Jeanette Epps.
RELATED VIDEO: New Survey Finds That Nearly Half of Men Believe the Gender Pay Gap Is ‘Made Up’
“It didn’t seem realistic to go after a career in aviation, but today I realized, ‘Hey, I can do this too,’” 12th-grader Katelyn J., 17, said.
In addition to their tours and getting to meet Epps, the girls were also introduced to mentors from other aviation workgroups that are typically male-dominated, like Delta’s technical operations team.
RELATED: Hero Pilot Who Landed Deadly Southwest Flight Was One of Navy’s First Female Fighter Pilots
“We know representation matters. At Delta, we believe you have to see it to be it,” General Manager of Pilot Development Beth Poole said in a statement. “We’re taking ownership to improve gender diversity by exposing young girls at a young age and providing a pipeline so that 10 years from now, they will be the pilots in the Delta cockpit inspiring generations of women who follow.”
Approximately five percent of pilots in the industry are women, according to the release, and over the past four years, 7.4 percent of Delta’s new hire pilots have been women.
annemarie- Over the Clooney moon
- Posts : 10309
Join date : 2011-09-11
Re: The Good News
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-7590357/Michael-Jordan-opens-hometown-health-clinic-serve-uninsured-donated-7million.html
By MATTHEW WRIGHT FOR DAILYMAIL.COM
PUBLISHED: 22:23 EDT, 18 October 2019 | UPDATED: 05:22 EDT, 19 October 2019
Sports legend Michael Jordan gave an emotional speech and shed a tear as he opened a $7 million clinic that would guarantee health care for the uninsured in his hometown of Charlotte.
The Novant Health Michael Jordan Family Medical Clinic held its ribbon cutting ceremony Thursday, which was attended by the athlete turned business mogul.
'This is a very emotional thing for me to be able to give back to a community that has supported me over the years,' Jordan said during the ceremony.
[size=10][size=18]Michael Jordan opens a $7 million medical clinic in North Carolina
Lo[/size][/size]
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The Novant Health Michael Jordan Family Medical Clinic in Charlote held a ribbon cutting ceremony Thursday attended by the athlete turned business mogul
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'This is a very emotional thing for me to be able to give back to a community that has supported me over the years,' Jordan said during the ceremony
The center has been in operation about three weeks, and more than 300 people have already been seen by staff doctors, social workers and other health-care professionals.
'It's ... from the heart,' Jordan, owner of the Charlotte Hornets, told the crowd gathered at the grand opening about the gift.
'I stand here before you as a proud parent, son, obviously a member of this community,' Jordan, 56, said, adding his extended family deserves as much credit as he does for the clinic. .'..You see my name, but yet you see a lot of people behind me and the commitment, especially from my mom, about caring for other people and being a part of a community that matters.'
Two years ago, Jordan donated $7 million to get the center funded.
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Two years ago, Jordan donated $7 million to get the center funded
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The center has been in operation about three weeks, and more than 300 people have already been seen by staff doctors, social workers and other health-care professionals
His donation was designed to benefit financially struggling residents of the Charlotte area and improve the community's access to medical care. He is a longtime resident of the state and played college basketball at North Carolina before launching his Hall of Fame career with the Chicago Bulls.
'Today we celebrated the grand opening of the Novant Health Michael Jordan Family Medical Clinic,' the center said on social media. 'With Michael's generous $7 million donation, low-income Charlotte residents of all ages now have access to get the affordable medical care they need, with or without insurance.'
In a press release, the center shared that it 'will also offer additional comprehensive care, including behavioral health and social support services, to more directly address health equity gaps and social determinants of health in our communities.'
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In a press release , the center shared that it 'will also offer additional comprehensive care, including behavioral health and social support services, to more directly address health equity gaps and social determinants of health in our communities'
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Jordan walks through the halls of the new center that is named after him
'At Novant Health, we are deeply committed to caring for patients beyond our walls,' said Carl Armato, CEO and president of Novant Health, in the release. 'This clinic will not only provide access to medical care for those who need it most, but it will connect them to resources to ensure their health extends beyond the doctor's office. We are so grateful for Michael Jordan's continued partnership and generous gift, which will transform thousands of lives in the west Charlotte community.'
The release further states that the clinic aims to improve access to care in 'an area identified as having high priority public health concerns by a Health Needs Assessment'
The release continues: 'This assessment was conducted not long after Charlotte was ranked 50th out of 50 in economic mobility for children born into poverty by a 2014 Harvard University/UC Berkeley study.'
The center will be open Mondays through Fridays from 8am to 5pm. Walk-ins are accepted along with same day appointment scheduling.
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'It's from the heart,' Jordan, owner of the Charlotte Hornets, told the crowd gathered at the grand opening about the gift
[size=34]'It's from the heart!' Michael Jordan bursts into tears as he opens a health clinic in his hometown of Charlotte guaranteed to care for the uninsured after he donated $7MILLION of his own money[/size]
- The Novant Health Michael Jordan Family Medical Clinic in Charlotte held a ribbon cutting ceremony Thursday attended by the athlete
- 'This is a very emotional thing for me to be able to give back to a community that has supported me over the years,' Jordan said during the ceremony
- Center has been in operation about three weeks
- More than 300 people have already been seen by staff doctors, social workers and other health-care professionals.
- Two years ago, Jordan donated $7million to get the center funded
- The center will be open Mondays through Fridays from 8am to 5pm
- Walk-ins are accepted along with same day appointment scheduling
By MATTHEW WRIGHT FOR DAILYMAIL.COM
PUBLISHED: 22:23 EDT, 18 October 2019 | UPDATED: 05:22 EDT, 19 October 2019
Sports legend Michael Jordan gave an emotional speech and shed a tear as he opened a $7 million clinic that would guarantee health care for the uninsured in his hometown of Charlotte.
The Novant Health Michael Jordan Family Medical Clinic held its ribbon cutting ceremony Thursday, which was attended by the athlete turned business mogul.
'This is a very emotional thing for me to be able to give back to a community that has supported me over the years,' Jordan said during the ceremony.
[size=10][size=18]Michael Jordan opens a $7 million medical clinic in North Carolina
Lo[/size][/size]
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The Novant Health Michael Jordan Family Medical Clinic in Charlote held a ribbon cutting ceremony Thursday attended by the athlete turned business mogul
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'This is a very emotional thing for me to be able to give back to a community that has supported me over the years,' Jordan said during the ceremony
The center has been in operation about three weeks, and more than 300 people have already been seen by staff doctors, social workers and other health-care professionals.
'It's ... from the heart,' Jordan, owner of the Charlotte Hornets, told the crowd gathered at the grand opening about the gift.
'I stand here before you as a proud parent, son, obviously a member of this community,' Jordan, 56, said, adding his extended family deserves as much credit as he does for the clinic. .'..You see my name, but yet you see a lot of people behind me and the commitment, especially from my mom, about caring for other people and being a part of a community that matters.'
Two years ago, Jordan donated $7 million to get the center funded.
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Two years ago, Jordan donated $7 million to get the center funded
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The center has been in operation about three weeks, and more than 300 people have already been seen by staff doctors, social workers and other health-care professionals
His donation was designed to benefit financially struggling residents of the Charlotte area and improve the community's access to medical care. He is a longtime resident of the state and played college basketball at North Carolina before launching his Hall of Fame career with the Chicago Bulls.
'Today we celebrated the grand opening of the Novant Health Michael Jordan Family Medical Clinic,' the center said on social media. 'With Michael's generous $7 million donation, low-income Charlotte residents of all ages now have access to get the affordable medical care they need, with or without insurance.'
In a press release, the center shared that it 'will also offer additional comprehensive care, including behavioral health and social support services, to more directly address health equity gaps and social determinants of health in our communities.'
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In a press release , the center shared that it 'will also offer additional comprehensive care, including behavioral health and social support services, to more directly address health equity gaps and social determinants of health in our communities'
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Jordan walks through the halls of the new center that is named after him
'At Novant Health, we are deeply committed to caring for patients beyond our walls,' said Carl Armato, CEO and president of Novant Health, in the release. 'This clinic will not only provide access to medical care for those who need it most, but it will connect them to resources to ensure their health extends beyond the doctor's office. We are so grateful for Michael Jordan's continued partnership and generous gift, which will transform thousands of lives in the west Charlotte community.'
The release further states that the clinic aims to improve access to care in 'an area identified as having high priority public health concerns by a Health Needs Assessment'
The release continues: 'This assessment was conducted not long after Charlotte was ranked 50th out of 50 in economic mobility for children born into poverty by a 2014 Harvard University/UC Berkeley study.'
The center will be open Mondays through Fridays from 8am to 5pm. Walk-ins are accepted along with same day appointment scheduling.
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'It's from the heart,' Jordan, owner of the Charlotte Hornets, told the crowd gathered at the grand opening about the gift
annemarie- Over the Clooney moon
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Amazing...
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https://people.com/human-interest/single-father-adopts-5-siblings-under-5/
[size=48]Single Father Adopts 5 Siblings Under 5: 'They Deserve to Be Raised as Siblings'[/size]
A father of 12, Lamont Thomas previously fostered the children's dad
By Rachel DeSantis
October 25, 2019 03:39 PM
A long-time foster father added five more children to his brood when he took in a group of siblings under the age of five as his own.
Lamont Thomas became a father of 12 when he adopted Zendaya, 5, Jamel, 4, Nakia, 3, Major, 2, and Michaela, 1, in Buffalo, New York on Oct. 17, Good Morning America reported.
“I was fighting to keep back the tears,” Thomas told the morning show. “Every day I think about it, my eyes swell up. All that we endured to make this happen, it was something.”
Thomas began fostering children in 2000 and has since welcomed more than 30 kids into his home.
“In the beginning, I was helping out some friends. They had lost their child to the system. I went on and got certified and became a foster parent. I haven’t stopped since,” he told GMA.
He first learned of the siblings’ plight because their father was one of the many Thomas once fostered.
“I fought for close to two-and-a-half years just to be able to get them together, and we won, we got it,” he told NBC affiliate WGRZ. “I wanted to be the difference, I wanted to make a difference by being a difference for these youth.”
Zendaya, Jamel, Nakia, Major, and Michaela join Thomas’ other children, twins Germayne and Tremayne, Jamie, German and Michael, the first child he ever fostered, as well as his biological kids Anthony and LaMonica.
“Lamont never turned [a child] away,” Michael, now 27, told GMA. “They either aged out or went back home to their own families.
Thomas joked that expanding his family with the energy of toddlers means he’s “come out of retirement.”
“They bring new energy to me,” he told GMA. “They’re lovable kids, very affectionate. They deserve to be raised as siblings, and that was my fight.”
[size=48]Single Father Adopts 5 Siblings Under 5: 'They Deserve to Be Raised as Siblings'[/size]
A father of 12, Lamont Thomas previously fostered the children's dad
By Rachel DeSantis
October 25, 2019 03:39 PM
A long-time foster father added five more children to his brood when he took in a group of siblings under the age of five as his own.
Lamont Thomas became a father of 12 when he adopted Zendaya, 5, Jamel, 4, Nakia, 3, Major, 2, and Michaela, 1, in Buffalo, New York on Oct. 17, Good Morning America reported.
“I was fighting to keep back the tears,” Thomas told the morning show. “Every day I think about it, my eyes swell up. All that we endured to make this happen, it was something.”
Thomas began fostering children in 2000 and has since welcomed more than 30 kids into his home.
“In the beginning, I was helping out some friends. They had lost their child to the system. I went on and got certified and became a foster parent. I haven’t stopped since,” he told GMA.
He first learned of the siblings’ plight because their father was one of the many Thomas once fostered.
[url=https://www.pinterest.com/pin/create/link/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fpeople.com%2Fhuman-interest%2Fsingle-father-adopts-5-siblings-under-5%2F%3Futm_source%3Dpinterest.com%26utm_medium%3Dsocial%26utm_campaign%3Dsocial-share-article%26utm_content%3D20191026%26utm_term%3D7389992&media=https%3A%2F%2Fpeopledotcom.files.wordpress.com%2F2019%2F10%2Flamont-thomas-adopts-5-siblings-1.jpg&description=Single Father Adopts 5 Siblings Under 5%3A %27They Deserve to Be Raised as Siblings%27][/url]
They had been separated for more than a year-and-a-half and had spent time in four different homes in four different cities before Thomas swooped in two years ago and took them in as foster children.Lamont Thomas and his children
WGRZ
WGRZ
“I fought for close to two-and-a-half years just to be able to get them together, and we won, we got it,” he told NBC affiliate WGRZ. “I wanted to be the difference, I wanted to make a difference by being a difference for these youth.”
Zendaya, Jamel, Nakia, Major, and Michaela join Thomas’ other children, twins Germayne and Tremayne, Jamie, German and Michael, the first child he ever fostered, as well as his biological kids Anthony and LaMonica.
“Lamont never turned [a child] away,” Michael, now 27, told GMA. “They either aged out or went back home to their own families.
Thomas joked that expanding his family with the energy of toddlers means he’s “come out of retirement.”
“They bring new energy to me,” he told GMA. “They’re lovable kids, very affectionate. They deserve to be raised as siblings, and that was my fight.”
- By Rachel DeSantis@Santis_DeRachel
annemarie- Over the Clooney moon
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Lovely story, Annemarie
party animal - not!- George Clooney fan forever!
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Re: The Good News
What a humane and giving person he is. Thanks for sharing this story annemarie.
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Re: The Good News
Think this is in the right place..............
https://twitter.com/JesseYomtov/status/1188623566369165314
Look at the number of views! And this is only one of many posts on many networks
https://www.newsweek.com/jose-andres-donald-trump-world-series-washington-nationals-houston-astros-1468046
https://twitter.com/JesseYomtov/status/1188623566369165314
Look at the number of views! And this is only one of many posts on many networks
https://www.newsweek.com/jose-andres-donald-trump-world-series-washington-nationals-houston-astros-1468046
party animal - not!- George Clooney fan forever!
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Re: The Good News
SPORTS
[size=38]JOSE ANDRES THANKS MLB FOR 'INVITING AN IMMIGRANT TO THROW FIRST PITCH' AFTER DONALD TRUMP GETS BOOED AT WORLD SERIES[/size]
BY DAN CANCIAN ON 10/28/19 AT 4:53 AM EDT
SPORTSMLBMLB POSTSEASONWORLD SERIESHOUSTON ASTROS
Jose Andres thanked the Washington Nationals for giving him the chance to represent the immigrant community after he was chosen to throw the ceremonial first pitch in Game 5 of the World Series.
Donning the same kind of tinted sunglasses normally sported by Nationals pitcher Anibal Sanchez, Andres was looked emotional as he took to the mound, thumping his chest and pointing towards the crowd.
He was treated to a rousing reception at Nationals Park as he threw the first pitch on Sunday night before the Washington Nationals took on the Houston Astros.
Who Is Jose Andres? Trump Critic to Throw Pitch in World Series Game 5
READ MORE
The 50-year-old restaurateur, who owns restaurants in Washington, D.C., Los Angeles, Las Vegas, South Beach, Florida, Orlando, New York City, and Frisco, Texas, is the founder of World Central Kitchen, a non-profit devoted to providing meals in the wake of natural disasters.
The organisation rushed to help victims of Hurricane Maria, which struck Puerto Rico in 2018, and of Hurricane Dorian, which hit the Bahamas in September.
Born in Spain, Andres is a naturalized U.S. citizen and said his appearance on the mound recognized the work of millions of first responders.
[ltr]
26.2K people are talking about this
[/ltr]
"Thank you @Nationals @MLB @astros For inviting an immigrant!" he tweeted. "To throw first pitch! In a game full of immigrants! Inviting me representing millions of first responders doing amazing work helping everyone! Specially @WCKitchen today we pass 1.5 million meals in Bahamas alone."
While Andres' ceremonial pitch was greeted with cheers, President Donald Trump's appearance in Game 5 received an altogether different response.
A New York Yankees fan, Trump sat with five wounded veterans and he attended his first major league game since becoming president in January 2017.
He also became the first sitting president to attend a Fall Classic game since George W. Bush threw out the ceremonial first pitch at Yankee Stadium before Game 3 of the 2001 series between the Yankees and the Arizona Diamondbacks.
Loud boos and chants of "Lock him up" met Trump when he was shown on the stadium's giant screen during the third inning.
[ltr]
8,018 people are talking about this
[/ltr]
The boos subsided once the video screen showed U.S. service members waving to the crowd, but resumed just before the beginning of the fourth inning.
Later in the game, fans behind home plate were spotted holding placards calling for Trump to be impeached.
The president's appearance added a layer of intrigue to the Nationals' choice of having Andres throwing the ceremonial first pitch.
The restaurateur is an outspoken critic of Trump and decided to shelf plans to open a restaurant in the Trump International Hotel in Washington, D.C., in response to Trump's comments over Mexican immigrants in 2015.
Trump Old Post Office, which acts as the hotel landlord, subsequently sued Andres' companies for breach of contract and claimed damages in the excess of $10 million.
Andres' companies filed a counter-claim, before the case was settled by the superior court in D.C. in 2017.
MLB commissioner Rob Manfred said he had discussed with Trump the possibility to have him throw first pitch, but the president declined citing logistical issues.
"His view was that in order to make the fan experience as positive as possible, he would arrive at Game 5 sometime after the game began so it wouldn't interfere with fans getting into the stadium," Manfred told the Associated Press.
"Quite frankly, we were very grateful for that. We thought it was a great decision on the president's part."
The Astros won a third consecutive game on the road to take a 3-2 lead in the series and can clinch a second World Series title in three seasons with a win on Tuesday night.
Spanish-American chef and philanthropist Jose Andres throws the ceremonial first pitch prior to Game Five of the 2019 World Series between the Houston Astros and the Washington Nationals at Nationals Park on October 27 in Washington, DC.ROB CARR/GETTY
[size=38]JOSE ANDRES THANKS MLB FOR 'INVITING AN IMMIGRANT TO THROW FIRST PITCH' AFTER DONALD TRUMP GETS BOOED AT WORLD SERIES[/size]
BY DAN CANCIAN ON 10/28/19 AT 4:53 AM EDT
[url=https://www.pinterest.com/pin/create/button/?url=https://www.newsweek.com/jose-andres-donald-trump-world-series-washington-nationals-houston-astros-1468046&media=https://d.newsweek.com/en/full/1540243/jose-andres-world-series.jpg&description=Jose Andres thanks MLB for "Inviting an immigrant to throw first pitch" after Donald Trump gets booed at World Series][/url]
[url=http://reddit.com/submit?url=https://www.newsweek.com/jose-andres-donald-trump-world-series-washington-nationals-houston-astros-1468046&title=Jose Andres thanks MLB for][/url]
SPORTSMLBMLB POSTSEASONWORLD SERIESHOUSTON ASTROS
Jose Andres thanked the Washington Nationals for giving him the chance to represent the immigrant community after he was chosen to throw the ceremonial first pitch in Game 5 of the World Series.
Donning the same kind of tinted sunglasses normally sported by Nationals pitcher Anibal Sanchez, Andres was looked emotional as he took to the mound, thumping his chest and pointing towards the crowd.
He was treated to a rousing reception at Nationals Park as he threw the first pitch on Sunday night before the Washington Nationals took on the Houston Astros.
Who Is Jose Andres? Trump Critic to Throw Pitch in World Series Game 5
READ MORE
The 50-year-old restaurateur, who owns restaurants in Washington, D.C., Los Angeles, Las Vegas, South Beach, Florida, Orlando, New York City, and Frisco, Texas, is the founder of World Central Kitchen, a non-profit devoted to providing meals in the wake of natural disasters.
The organisation rushed to help victims of Hurricane Maria, which struck Puerto Rico in 2018, and of Hurricane Dorian, which hit the Bahamas in September.
Born in Spain, Andres is a naturalized U.S. citizen and said his appearance on the mound recognized the work of millions of first responders.
José Andrés
@chefjoseandres
[ltr]Thank you @Nationals @MLB @astros For inviting an immigrant! To throw first pitch! In a game full of immigrants! Inviting me representing millions of first responders doing amazing work helping everyone! Specially @WCKitchen today we pass 1.5 million meals in Bahamas alone...[/ltr]
144K
10:51 PM - Oct 27, 2019
Twitter Ads info and privacy
[ltr]
26.2K people are talking about this
[/ltr]
"Thank you @Nationals @MLB @astros For inviting an immigrant!" he tweeted. "To throw first pitch! In a game full of immigrants! Inviting me representing millions of first responders doing amazing work helping everyone! Specially @WCKitchen today we pass 1.5 million meals in Bahamas alone."
While Andres' ceremonial pitch was greeted with cheers, President Donald Trump's appearance in Game 5 received an altogether different response.
A New York Yankees fan, Trump sat with five wounded veterans and he attended his first major league game since becoming president in January 2017.
He also became the first sitting president to attend a Fall Classic game since George W. Bush threw out the ceremonial first pitch at Yankee Stadium before Game 3 of the 2001 series between the Yankees and the Arizona Diamondbacks.
Loud boos and chants of "Lock him up" met Trump when he was shown on the stadium's giant screen during the third inning.
Gabe Lacques
@GabeLacques
[ltr]There it is.[/ltr]
29.9K
9:08 PM - Oct 27, 2019
Twitter Ads info and privacy
[ltr]
8,018 people are talking about this
[/ltr]
The boos subsided once the video screen showed U.S. service members waving to the crowd, but resumed just before the beginning of the fourth inning.
Later in the game, fans behind home plate were spotted holding placards calling for Trump to be impeached.
The president's appearance added a layer of intrigue to the Nationals' choice of having Andres throwing the ceremonial first pitch.
The restaurateur is an outspoken critic of Trump and decided to shelf plans to open a restaurant in the Trump International Hotel in Washington, D.C., in response to Trump's comments over Mexican immigrants in 2015.
Trump Old Post Office, which acts as the hotel landlord, subsequently sued Andres' companies for breach of contract and claimed damages in the excess of $10 million.
Andres' companies filed a counter-claim, before the case was settled by the superior court in D.C. in 2017.
MLB commissioner Rob Manfred said he had discussed with Trump the possibility to have him throw first pitch, but the president declined citing logistical issues.
"His view was that in order to make the fan experience as positive as possible, he would arrive at Game 5 sometime after the game began so it wouldn't interfere with fans getting into the stadium," Manfred told the Associated Press.
"Quite frankly, we were very grateful for that. We thought it was a great decision on the president's part."
The Astros won a third consecutive game on the road to take a 3-2 lead in the series and can clinch a second World Series title in three seasons with a win on Tuesday night.
Spanish-American chef and philanthropist Jose Andres throws the ceremonial first pitch prior to Game Five of the 2019 World Series between the Houston Astros and the Washington Nationals at Nationals Park on October 27 in Washington, DC.ROB CARR/GETTY
annemarie- Over the Clooney moon
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Re: The Good News
https://www.nst.com.my/world/world/2019/10/533846/67-year-old-gives-birth-becomes-chinas-oldest-new-mother
67-year-old gives birth, becomes China's oldest new mother
[url=https://web.whatsapp.com/send?text=67-year-old gives birth, becomes China%27s oldest new mother https://www.nst.com.my/world/world/2019/10/533846/67-year-old-gives-birth-becomes-chinas-oldest-new-mother][/url][url=https://twitter.com/intent/tweet?text=67-year-old gives birth, becomes China%27s oldest new][/url]
[url=https://www.linkedin.com/shareArticle?mini=true&url=https://www.nst.com.my/world/world/2019/10/533846/67-year-old-gives-birth-becomes-chinas-oldest-new-mother&title=67-year-old gives birth, becomes China%27s oldest new mother][/url]
The woman, surnamed Tian, delivered a healthy girl by Caesarean section on Friday, Zaozhuang city’s Maternity and Child Health Care Hospital told AFP. (Image by Pixabay: For illustration purposes only)
By AFP - October 28, 2019 @ 3:48pm
BEIJING: A 67-year-old woman has given birth in China, a hospital said Monday, with the parents claiming they are the country’s oldest couple to have a natural birth.
The woman, surnamed Tian, delivered a healthy girl by Caesarean section on Friday, Zaozhuang city’s Maternity and Child Health Care Hospital told AFP.
“The child was bestowed on the two of us by heaven,” Tian’s 68-year-old husband, surnamed Huang, told Chinese news site guancha.cn.
The Global Times reported the new baby girl was called “Tianci“, meaning “gift from heaven.”
The Jinan Times said Tian already had two children, including a son born in 1977, two years before China imposed a one-child policy to control its burgeoning population.
Reports of the birth drew criticism on China’s Twitter-like Weibo platform.
“The parents are too selfish,” one commenter wrote. “At their advanced age they have no ability to take care of a kid, and the pressure will be on the older siblings.”
Others wondered if Tian and Huang would be penalised for having more than the current allowance of two children.
In 2016, Beijing relaxed the one-child policy, allowing families to have two.
While Tian’s age makes her an outlier, women in China are increasingly delaying childbirth or choosing not to have children after decades of strict family planning policies that have made small families the norm.
The age at which the average Chinese woman has her first child rose from 24.3 years in 2006 to 26.9 years in 2016, according to a report this year by the Economist Intelligence Unit.
While the two-child policy has had a smaller effect on China’s birth count than expected, it has prompted more older women to consider having second children.
Around 51 per cent of newborns in 2017 were second children, compared to around 40 per cent in 2016, the Economist Intelligence Unit report said. - AFP
67-year-old gives birth, becomes China's oldest new mother
[url=https://web.whatsapp.com/send?text=67-year-old gives birth, becomes China%27s oldest new mother https://www.nst.com.my/world/world/2019/10/533846/67-year-old-gives-birth-becomes-chinas-oldest-new-mother][/url][url=https://twitter.com/intent/tweet?text=67-year-old gives birth, becomes China%27s oldest new][/url]
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The woman, surnamed Tian, delivered a healthy girl by Caesarean section on Friday, Zaozhuang city’s Maternity and Child Health Care Hospital told AFP. (Image by Pixabay: For illustration purposes only)
By AFP - October 28, 2019 @ 3:48pm
BEIJING: A 67-year-old woman has given birth in China, a hospital said Monday, with the parents claiming they are the country’s oldest couple to have a natural birth.
The woman, surnamed Tian, delivered a healthy girl by Caesarean section on Friday, Zaozhuang city’s Maternity and Child Health Care Hospital told AFP.
“The child was bestowed on the two of us by heaven,” Tian’s 68-year-old husband, surnamed Huang, told Chinese news site guancha.cn.
The Global Times reported the new baby girl was called “Tianci“, meaning “gift from heaven.”
The Jinan Times said Tian already had two children, including a son born in 1977, two years before China imposed a one-child policy to control its burgeoning population.
Reports of the birth drew criticism on China’s Twitter-like Weibo platform.
“The parents are too selfish,” one commenter wrote. “At their advanced age they have no ability to take care of a kid, and the pressure will be on the older siblings.”
Others wondered if Tian and Huang would be penalised for having more than the current allowance of two children.
In 2016, Beijing relaxed the one-child policy, allowing families to have two.
While Tian’s age makes her an outlier, women in China are increasingly delaying childbirth or choosing not to have children after decades of strict family planning policies that have made small families the norm.
The age at which the average Chinese woman has her first child rose from 24.3 years in 2006 to 26.9 years in 2016, according to a report this year by the Economist Intelligence Unit.
While the two-child policy has had a smaller effect on China’s birth count than expected, it has prompted more older women to consider having second children.
Around 51 per cent of newborns in 2017 were second children, compared to around 40 per cent in 2016, the Economist Intelligence Unit report said. - AFP
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https://people.com/human-interest/st-louis-mom-feeds-hungry-kids-every-day/
[size=48]St. Louis Mom of 6 Has Been Feeding Hundreds of Hungry Neighborhood Kids Each Day for 5 Years[/size]
"I can barely pay [my own bills], but I was blessed enough to have a little spare change leftover to provide this," says Champale Anderson
By Rachel DeSantis
October 31, 2019 02:59 PM
[url=https://www.pinterest.com/pin/create/link/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fpeople.com%2Fhuman-interest%2Fst-louis-mom-feeds-hungry-kids-every-day%2F%3Futm_source%3Dpinterest.com%26utm_medium%3Dsocial%26utm_campaign%3Dsocial-share-article%26utm_content%3D20191101%26utm_term%3D7404363&media=https%3A%2F%2Fpeopledotcom.files.wordpress.com%2F2019%2F10%2Fimg-0040.jpg&description=St. Louis Mom of 6 Has Been Feeding Hundreds of Hungry Neighborhood Kids Each Day for 5 Years][/url]
Champale Anderson
CHAMPALE ANDERSON
As a mom of six, Champale Anderson has long had her finger on the pulse of what’s going on among the kids in her St. Louis neighborhood.
And when she realized that many of those kids were coming home from school hungry, she took it upon herself to develop a solution.
“I’m always the one that kids come to whenever they’re in trouble, [when] they need somewhere to stay, I’m usually the one that they can come stay with,” Anderson, 48, tells PEOPLE.
With that generous spirit in mind, Anderson has been packing bags filled with sandwiches and snacks for hundreds of neighborhood kids for the past five years, making sure their bellies are filled with things like peanut butter and jelly and chips each and every day.
“I get off of work to come to work to finish doing this for them,” says Anderson, who spends her mornings working in home health care. “They look forward to it, I can’t disappoint them.”
RELATED: Texas Teen Helps Feeds the Hungry in His Hometown: ‘Nobody Should Have to Go Without Food’
As for what’s in a typical bag, Anderson says she likes to mix it up, but typically includes a sandwich — either peanut butter and jelly, turkey, or bologna — and various other add-ons, like juice, fruit snacks, fruit, chips and cookies.
“Every day it’s something different,” she says.
The added help has allowed Anderson to expand her operation to another four tables in different areas, which she runs with the help of her aunt and sister under the names Champ’s Teardrops, because “it’s a sad situation.”
RELATED: Liev Schreiber, Leighton Meester and More Team Up to Help End Hunger in Feeding America PSA
Her help has certainly had an impact, like on the little girl Anderson says had to build up the nerve to ask for a second bag because she had nothing to eat at home, and on parents unable to feed their children themselves.
As for what’s next, Anderson hopes to continue growing her initiative because “this is our future and nobody [should] go hungry.”
“We have enough money in this world to provide this,” she says. “If they can build new buildings, they can go buy bread and bologna and stuff for certain neighborhoods to help them. And that’s my goal. I want to reach everything.”
[size=48]St. Louis Mom of 6 Has Been Feeding Hundreds of Hungry Neighborhood Kids Each Day for 5 Years[/size]
"I can barely pay [my own bills], but I was blessed enough to have a little spare change leftover to provide this," says Champale Anderson
By Rachel DeSantis
October 31, 2019 02:59 PM
[url=https://www.pinterest.com/pin/create/link/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fpeople.com%2Fhuman-interest%2Fst-louis-mom-feeds-hungry-kids-every-day%2F%3Futm_source%3Dpinterest.com%26utm_medium%3Dsocial%26utm_campaign%3Dsocial-share-article%26utm_content%3D20191101%26utm_term%3D7404363&media=https%3A%2F%2Fpeopledotcom.files.wordpress.com%2F2019%2F10%2Fimg-0040.jpg&description=St. Louis Mom of 6 Has Been Feeding Hundreds of Hungry Neighborhood Kids Each Day for 5 Years][/url]
Champale Anderson
CHAMPALE ANDERSON
As a mom of six, Champale Anderson has long had her finger on the pulse of what’s going on among the kids in her St. Louis neighborhood.
And when she realized that many of those kids were coming home from school hungry, she took it upon herself to develop a solution.
“I’m always the one that kids come to whenever they’re in trouble, [when] they need somewhere to stay, I’m usually the one that they can come stay with,” Anderson, 48, tells PEOPLE.
With that generous spirit in mind, Anderson has been packing bags filled with sandwiches and snacks for hundreds of neighborhood kids for the past five years, making sure their bellies are filled with things like peanut butter and jelly and chips each and every day.
[url=https://www.pinterest.com/pin/create/link/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fpeople.com%2Fhuman-interest%2Fst-louis-mom-feeds-hungry-kids-every-day%2F%3Futm_source%3Dpinterest.com%26utm_medium%3Dsocial%26utm_campaign%3Dsocial-share-article%26utm_content%3D20191101%26utm_term%3D7404363&media=https%3A%2F%2Fpeopledotcom.files.wordpress.com%2F2019%2F10%2Fimg-7585.jpg&description=St. Louis Mom of 6 Has Been Feeding Hundreds of Hungry Neighborhood Kids Each Day for 5 Years][/url]
The operation started with just 15 bags, but her reach doubled within a week through word of mouth, and now, Anderson estimates that 130 kids come by each day seeking a bag.CHAMPALE ANDERSON
“I get off of work to come to work to finish doing this for them,” says Anderson, who spends her mornings working in home health care. “They look forward to it, I can’t disappoint them.”
RELATED: Texas Teen Helps Feeds the Hungry in His Hometown: ‘Nobody Should Have to Go Without Food’
As for what’s in a typical bag, Anderson says she likes to mix it up, but typically includes a sandwich — either peanut butter and jelly, turkey, or bologna — and various other add-ons, like juice, fruit snacks, fruit, chips and cookies.
“Every day it’s something different,” she says.
[url=https://www.pinterest.com/pin/create/link/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fpeople.com%2Fhuman-interest%2Fst-louis-mom-feeds-hungry-kids-every-day%2F%3Futm_source%3Dpinterest.com%26utm_medium%3Dsocial%26utm_campaign%3Dsocial-share-article%26utm_content%3D20191101%26utm_term%3D7404363&media=https%3A%2F%2Fpeopledotcom.files.wordpress.com%2F2019%2F10%2Fimg-7590.jpg&description=St. Louis Mom of 6 Has Been Feeding Hundreds of Hungry Neighborhood Kids Each Day for 5 Years][/url]
For the first five years, Anderson paid for all of her materials out of pocket, though an August segment on the local Fox affiliate KTVI ushered in a wave of attention — and donations.Champale Anderson
CHAMPALE ANDERSON
CHAMPALE ANDERSON
The added help has allowed Anderson to expand her operation to another four tables in different areas, which she runs with the help of her aunt and sister under the names Champ’s Teardrops, because “it’s a sad situation.”
RELATED: Liev Schreiber, Leighton Meester and More Team Up to Help End Hunger in Feeding America PSA
Her help has certainly had an impact, like on the little girl Anderson says had to build up the nerve to ask for a second bag because she had nothing to eat at home, and on parents unable to feed their children themselves.
[url=https://www.pinterest.com/pin/create/link/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fpeople.com%2Fhuman-interest%2Fst-louis-mom-feeds-hungry-kids-every-day%2F%3Futm_source%3Dpinterest.com%26utm_medium%3Dsocial%26utm_campaign%3Dsocial-share-article%26utm_content%3D20191101%26utm_term%3D7404363&media=https%3A%2F%2Fpeopledotcom.files.wordpress.com%2F2019%2F10%2Fimg-0056.jpg&description=St. Louis Mom of 6 Has Been Feeding Hundreds of Hungry Neighborhood Kids Each Day for 5 Years][/url]
“So many of them, they come up to me and tell me that they really appreciate it, because a lot of people assume that the kids are suffering because parents maybe be on drugs or anything. It’s really not all about that,” she tells PEOPLE. “A lot of it is, but a lot of them just can barely pay their bills. Hell, I can barely pay mine, but I was blessed enough to have a little spare change left over to provide this.”As for what’s next, Anderson hopes to continue growing her initiative because “this is our future and nobody [should] go hungry.”
“We have enough money in this world to provide this,” she says. “If they can build new buildings, they can go buy bread and bologna and stuff for certain neighborhoods to help them. And that’s my goal. I want to reach everything.”
- By Rachel DeSantis@Santis_DeRachel
annemarie- Over the Clooney moon
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Join date : 2011-09-11
Re: The Good News
Soldier stationed in Afghanistan raises thousands to bring home his buddy, Sully the cat
See article on: www.usatoday.com
Shannon McNaught, Dover Post
:copyright: Submitted photo to Dover Post Dan Brissey and his pal Sully in Kabul, Afghanistan.
DOVER, Del. – Dogs and cats have always been a great source of comfort for soldiers.
Sgt. Stubby, the terrier mutt, alerted soldiers to poison gas and incoming artillery shells in World War I. Tiddles the cat was on several British ships, logging over 30,000 miles at sea during his career. Both animals retired to a home with a soldier.
Nowadays, it’s more common than ever for soldiers to bring home pets adopted while deployed. In fact, a Delaware man in Afghanistan is raising money to bring home his buddy, Sully the cat.
Dan Brissey is on his fourth overseas tour as part of the National Guard. He started in the military later in life than most. When he joined in 2000, at age 31, he was one of the oldest in his basic training class. He spent a year working at the Pentagon as military police immediately following 9/11.
[size=17]:copyright: Submitted photo to Dover Post Sully being vaccinated and spayed at the clinic in Kabul, Afghanistan.[/size]
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Re: The Good News
Thank you heartlove that is so wonderful.
annemarie- Over the Clooney moon
- Posts : 10309
Join date : 2011-09-11
Re: The Good News
https://people.com/politics/barack-obamas-sister-maya-soetoro-ng-shares-childhood-photos-memories/
[size=48]Barack Obama's Sister Reflects on Rare Childhood Photos and Lessons Learned About Leadership & Love[/size]
Speaking with PEOPLE, Barack Obama's younger sister remembers their childhood and the life lessons that have shaped how they are teaching the next generation of leaders
By Sandra Sobieraj Westfall and Adam Carlson
December 12, 2019 07:00 PM
The roots of Barack Obama‘s family tree grow deep and wide — Hawaii, Kansas, Kenya, Indonesia — and his post-presidential life has been similarly expansive.
On Friday morning, he and younger sister Maya Soetoro-Ng will appear in Malaysia at his eponymous foundation’s 2019 Asia-Pacific leaders program. Their talk, which can be watched here, will focus on what it means to lead and the multicultural childhood they shared, which inspired the belief that leadership — good leadership — is fearless, humble, collaborative and creative.
“We’re really looking for leaders who are embedded, who are grassroots leaders who understand that although they may have a great many skills and accomplishments, that we accomplish more together,” Soetoro-Ng says.
An adviser to The Obama Foundation, Soetoro-Ng, 49, spoke with PEOPLE ahead of her Friday conservation with her brother. She previewed some of the childhood memories and rare photos that she and Obama, 58, will discuss. And she reflected on the legacy of the mother who raised them both — who was always “brave about loving people who were very different from her.”
• First Lady Michelle Obama has been on her own trip to Vietnam this week, to focus on girls’ education. For more, subscribe now to PEOPLE or pick up this week’s issue, on newsstands Friday.
Last year, the foundation mentored leaders in Africa. This year’s class of 200, from the private and public sectors, come from 33 nations and territories across the Asia-Pacific region who have been meeting in Kuala Lumpur this week.
“We can’t afford to move in isolation,” Soetoro-Ng says. “We need to be promoting and supporting rich dialogue and understanding. And so we hope that this program is a demonstration of that commitment between the United States and the Asia-Pacific region. Our desire to continue to support and learn from one another and to grow with mutual health and happiness and peace.”
The first photo she talks about is the earliest, in Hawaii, “an important starting point” where “so much of our family story takes place.”
“We really feel that although we’re in Southeast Asia now that so much of our program is infused with the spirit of aloha and the Pacific and we really want to uplift the Pacific Islands and shine a light on the many solutions that the Pacific Cup presents — indigenous wisdom and lots of sustainable and environmental connection and reverence for nature,” Soetoro-Ng tells PEOPLE.
The first childhood photo shows Obama with their mother, Ann Dunham, in the mid 1960s, and Soetoro-Ng is almost certain it’s when their mom graduated with her bachelor’s degree in anthropology. Dunham went on to earn two graduate degrees in the field.
“It would have been right before she made that long journey to Indonesia,” Soetoro-Ng recalls. Obama was about 6. Dunham was divorced from his father and later moved with him to Indonesia to live with her second husband, Soetoro-Ng’s father. Soetoro-Ng was born in Jakarta in 1970.
From their mother, “a pioneer in microfinance and in supporting women and children’s village and rural cottage industries throughout Asia,” Obama learned his “sense of compassion and social justice and inclusion,” his sister says.
In their new home, far away from their old one and her Kansas family, Dunham “built [a] bridge to give out the experiences from home that were familiar in a place which was different,” Soetoro-Ng says.
“I remember when it was, in Indonesia, hard to get Christmas things, [my mom] would get a sort of scraggly-looking pine tree and red and green construction paper because ornaments were hard to find back in those days,” Soetoro-Ng says. “And she would string the tree with red and green construction paper chains put together with Elmer’s glue and then she would hang red and green chili peppers all over the tree, which was, I thought, kind of a fun way to make the best of limited resources.”
Even decades later, from his early years in Indonesia, “embedded” in Obama’s leadership style is “that balance between rugged individualism and sort of a lot of Asian-specific collected community sensibilities,” his sister says.
“He understood by virtue of those four years of childhood here in Indonesia that beauty can be found in unexpected places and people, with little in the way of resources,” Soetoro-Ng says.
(And, she notes, “It’s funny, he’s not a huge eater — that’s why he’s so lean — but he gets very excited about Southeast Asian food. He will throw down.”)
Even those same chilis his mom hung popped up on an Obama family Christmas tree years later, in their way — this time as ornaments, his sister says.
“We spent a lot of time during those years scrambling around and on this temple,” Soetoro-Ng says. She and Obama went back to Prambanan in recent years with both of their families.
“[It] is sort of emblematic of the deep connection that we feel to the art and the beauty and the culture of the Asia Pacific region,” she explains, “and it demonstrates that our childhood learning was not simply through books. It was very much in place of community. And I love that these places are being also protected now.”
The third photo is back in Hawaii, where Obama attended middle and high school. The photo was taken around late 1972 or 1973, Soetoro-Ng says. It shows the two of them with their mother and maternal grandfather in a place that has been a constant in a family with many different homes and many different pasts.
“My brother has made a commitment to taking his kids to Hawaii every single Christmas,” Soetoro-Ng says.
With Malia and Sasha both in college this year, he and wife Michelle have been traveling in Asia recently — Tokyo, Vietnam, Kuala Lumpur, Singapore — before joining their girls in Hawaii.
There’s a bonfire, a big luau and guitar-playing, plus hiking and eating.
“There’s always time at Hanauma Bay, where our mother used to take us,” Soetoro-Ng says.
“Staff all pitched in and bought a bench, which they inscribed in memory of our mother that sits there now [by the bay],” Soetoro-Ng says. “It’s a place that looks out over the bay and where he can go and sit and reflect and contemplate.”
“He got teary when he got that gift,” she says. “It was so touching.”
Since leaving office, Obama’s life has certainly slowed, though he’s far from retirement. Wife Michelle published a record-breaking memoir, Becoming, last year, followed by a popular book tour. He’s writing his own memoir. Both are focused on the foundation’s work, including fostering the next generation of leaders.
As Mrs. Obama told Today this week: “Replacing ourselves, getting out of the way and letting some young people sit in some of these seats — we’ll be doing that, Barack and I, for the rest of our lives.”
There is also time, more and more, for travel on their own. The whole world, one person at a time.
“My brother … he’s a wanderer,” Soetoro-Ng says. She adds: “I think that if he had the choice, he would just set out and spend hours wandering. He is definitely not an in-a-hotel-spa tourist. He is definitely somebody who visits markets, sitting on the steps listening to street musicians. He loves museums, always did, and would definitely go see different sites, churches and temples. He would spend a majority of his time, if he could, just exploring.”
[size=48]Barack Obama's Sister Reflects on Rare Childhood Photos and Lessons Learned About Leadership & Love[/size]
Speaking with PEOPLE, Barack Obama's younger sister remembers their childhood and the life lessons that have shaped how they are teaching the next generation of leaders
By Sandra Sobieraj Westfall and Adam Carlson
December 12, 2019 07:00 PM
The roots of Barack Obama‘s family tree grow deep and wide — Hawaii, Kansas, Kenya, Indonesia — and his post-presidential life has been similarly expansive.
On Friday morning, he and younger sister Maya Soetoro-Ng will appear in Malaysia at his eponymous foundation’s 2019 Asia-Pacific leaders program. Their talk, which can be watched here, will focus on what it means to lead and the multicultural childhood they shared, which inspired the belief that leadership — good leadership — is fearless, humble, collaborative and creative.
“We’re really looking for leaders who are embedded, who are grassroots leaders who understand that although they may have a great many skills and accomplishments, that we accomplish more together,” Soetoro-Ng says.
An adviser to The Obama Foundation, Soetoro-Ng, 49, spoke with PEOPLE ahead of her Friday conservation with her brother. She previewed some of the childhood memories and rare photos that she and Obama, 58, will discuss. And she reflected on the legacy of the mother who raised them both — who was always “brave about loving people who were very different from her.”
• First Lady Michelle Obama has been on her own trip to Vietnam this week, to focus on girls’ education. For more, subscribe now to PEOPLE or pick up this week’s issue, on newsstands Friday.
[url=https://www.pinterest.com/pin/create/link/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fpeople.com%2Fpolitics%2Fbarack-obamas-sister-maya-soetoro-ng-shares-childhood-photos-memories%2F%3Futm_source%3Dpinterest.com%26utm_medium%3Dsocial%26utm_campaign%3Dsocial-share-article%26utm_content%3D20191213%26utm_term%3D7507766&media=https%3A%2F%2Fpeopledotcom.files.wordpress.com%2F2019%2F12%2Fobama-new-photos-3.jpg&description=Barack Obama%27s Sister Reflects on Rare Childhood Photos and Lessons Learned About Leadership %26amp; Love][/url]
From left: former President Barack Obama with his mother, Ann Dunham, in Hawaii in the '60s
COURTESY THE OBAMA FOUNDATION
COURTESY THE OBAMA FOUNDATION
Hawaii and Back Again
Of the photos that will be shown at Friday’s event, Soetoro-Ng points to three that show “our family’s complexity and hybridity, but also the importance of this work and connecting the United States with the Asia Pacific region.”Last year, the foundation mentored leaders in Africa. This year’s class of 200, from the private and public sectors, come from 33 nations and territories across the Asia-Pacific region who have been meeting in Kuala Lumpur this week.
“We can’t afford to move in isolation,” Soetoro-Ng says. “We need to be promoting and supporting rich dialogue and understanding. And so we hope that this program is a demonstration of that commitment between the United States and the Asia-Pacific region. Our desire to continue to support and learn from one another and to grow with mutual health and happiness and peace.”
The first photo she talks about is the earliest, in Hawaii, “an important starting point” where “so much of our family story takes place.”
“We really feel that although we’re in Southeast Asia now that so much of our program is infused with the spirit of aloha and the Pacific and we really want to uplift the Pacific Islands and shine a light on the many solutions that the Pacific Cup presents — indigenous wisdom and lots of sustainable and environmental connection and reverence for nature,” Soetoro-Ng tells PEOPLE.
The first childhood photo shows Obama with their mother, Ann Dunham, in the mid 1960s, and Soetoro-Ng is almost certain it’s when their mom graduated with her bachelor’s degree in anthropology. Dunham went on to earn two graduate degrees in the field.
“It would have been right before she made that long journey to Indonesia,” Soetoro-Ng recalls. Obama was about 6. Dunham was divorced from his father and later moved with him to Indonesia to live with her second husband, Soetoro-Ng’s father. Soetoro-Ng was born in Jakarta in 1970.
From their mother, “a pioneer in microfinance and in supporting women and children’s village and rural cottage industries throughout Asia,” Obama learned his “sense of compassion and social justice and inclusion,” his sister says.
In their new home, far away from their old one and her Kansas family, Dunham “built [a] bridge to give out the experiences from home that were familiar in a place which was different,” Soetoro-Ng says.
“I remember when it was, in Indonesia, hard to get Christmas things, [my mom] would get a sort of scraggly-looking pine tree and red and green construction paper because ornaments were hard to find back in those days,” Soetoro-Ng says. “And she would string the tree with red and green construction paper chains put together with Elmer’s glue and then she would hang red and green chili peppers all over the tree, which was, I thought, kind of a fun way to make the best of limited resources.”
Even decades later, from his early years in Indonesia, “embedded” in Obama’s leadership style is “that balance between rugged individualism and sort of a lot of Asian-specific collected community sensibilities,” his sister says.
“He understood by virtue of those four years of childhood here in Indonesia that beauty can be found in unexpected places and people, with little in the way of resources,” Soetoro-Ng says.
(And, she notes, “It’s funny, he’s not a huge eater — that’s why he’s so lean — but he gets very excited about Southeast Asian food. He will throw down.”)
Even those same chilis his mom hung popped up on an Obama family Christmas tree years later, in their way — this time as ornaments, his sister says.
[url=https://www.pinterest.com/pin/create/link/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fpeople.com%2Fpolitics%2Fbarack-obamas-sister-maya-soetoro-ng-shares-childhood-photos-memories%2F%3Futm_source%3Dpinterest.com%26utm_medium%3Dsocial%26utm_campaign%3Dsocial-share-article%26utm_content%3D20191213%26utm_term%3D7507766&media=https%3A%2F%2Fpeopledotcom.files.wordpress.com%2F2019%2F12%2Fobama-new-photos-2.jpg&description=Barack Obama%27s Sister Reflects on Rare Childhood Photos and Lessons Learned About Leadership %26amp; Love][/url]
The second of three photos Soetoro-Ng wants to talk about is from June 1972 and shows her and Obama with their mother, Soetoro-Ng’s paternal grandmother and the family’s nanny at the Prambanan, a Hindu temple in Indonesia, which is one of the United Nations’ World Heritage Sites.Barack Obama as a boy (top left) with his mother, grandmother, sister and a nanny in Indonesia in 1972
COURTESY THE OBAMA FOUNDATION
COURTESY THE OBAMA FOUNDATION
“We spent a lot of time during those years scrambling around and on this temple,” Soetoro-Ng says. She and Obama went back to Prambanan in recent years with both of their families.
“[It] is sort of emblematic of the deep connection that we feel to the art and the beauty and the culture of the Asia Pacific region,” she explains, “and it demonstrates that our childhood learning was not simply through books. It was very much in place of community. And I love that these places are being also protected now.”
The third photo is back in Hawaii, where Obama attended middle and high school. The photo was taken around late 1972 or 1973, Soetoro-Ng says. It shows the two of them with their mother and maternal grandfather in a place that has been a constant in a family with many different homes and many different pasts.
“My brother has made a commitment to taking his kids to Hawaii every single Christmas,” Soetoro-Ng says.
With Malia and Sasha both in college this year, he and wife Michelle have been traveling in Asia recently — Tokyo, Vietnam, Kuala Lumpur, Singapore — before joining their girls in Hawaii.
[url=https://www.pinterest.com/pin/create/link/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fpeople.com%2Fpolitics%2Fbarack-obamas-sister-maya-soetoro-ng-shares-childhood-photos-memories%2F%3Futm_source%3Dpinterest.com%26utm_medium%3Dsocial%26utm_campaign%3Dsocial-share-article%26utm_content%3D20191213%26utm_term%3D7507766&media=https%3A%2F%2Fpeopledotcom.files.wordpress.com%2F2019%2F12%2Fobama-new-photos-1.jpg&description=Barack Obama%27s Sister Reflects on Rare Childhood Photos and Lessons Learned About Leadership %26amp; Love][/url]
Back home, Soetoro-Ng says, Obama reconnects with old school friends, sees extended family and relishes local traditions. (Even though he abstains from most sugar, he allows himself shaved ice with the kids.)Barack Obama (left) with his sister, mother and grandfather in Hawaii in the 1970s
COURTESY THE OBAMA FOUNDATION
COURTESY THE OBAMA FOUNDATION
There’s a bonfire, a big luau and guitar-playing, plus hiking and eating.
“There’s always time at Hanauma Bay, where our mother used to take us,” Soetoro-Ng says.
A Tearful Gift and Wandering the World Now
When Obama was preparing to leave the White House, actually, staffers there got together on a sentimental gift to evoke his mother, who died in 1995.“Staff all pitched in and bought a bench, which they inscribed in memory of our mother that sits there now [by the bay],” Soetoro-Ng says. “It’s a place that looks out over the bay and where he can go and sit and reflect and contemplate.”
“He got teary when he got that gift,” she says. “It was so touching.”
[url=https://www.pinterest.com/pin/create/link/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fpeople.com%2Fpolitics%2Fbarack-obamas-sister-maya-soetoro-ng-shares-childhood-photos-memories%2F%3Futm_source%3Dpinterest.com%26utm_medium%3Dsocial%26utm_campaign%3Dsocial-share-article%26utm_content%3D20191213%26utm_term%3D7507766&media=https%3A%2F%2Fpeopledotcom.files.wordpress.com%2F2019%2F12%2Fobama_and_maya.jpg&description=Barack Obama%27s Sister Reflects on Rare Childhood Photos and Lessons Learned About Leadership %26amp; Love][/url]
From left: Barack and Michelle Obama with Maya Soetoro-Ng and her husband, Konrad Ng.
PETE SOUZA/ OFFICIAL WHITE HOUSE PHOTO
PETE SOUZA/ OFFICIAL WHITE HOUSE PHOTO
Since leaving office, Obama’s life has certainly slowed, though he’s far from retirement. Wife Michelle published a record-breaking memoir, Becoming, last year, followed by a popular book tour. He’s writing his own memoir. Both are focused on the foundation’s work, including fostering the next generation of leaders.
As Mrs. Obama told Today this week: “Replacing ourselves, getting out of the way and letting some young people sit in some of these seats — we’ll be doing that, Barack and I, for the rest of our lives.”
There is also time, more and more, for travel on their own. The whole world, one person at a time.
“My brother … he’s a wanderer,” Soetoro-Ng says. She adds: “I think that if he had the choice, he would just set out and spend hours wandering. He is definitely not an in-a-hotel-spa tourist. He is definitely somebody who visits markets, sitting on the steps listening to street musicians. He loves museums, always did, and would definitely go see different sites, churches and temples. He would spend a majority of his time, if he could, just exploring.”
- By Sandra Sobieraj Westfall
- By Adam Carlson@adam_a_carlson
annemarie- Over the Clooney moon
- Posts : 10309
Join date : 2011-09-11
Re: The Good News
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-7790333/Texas-boy-12-praying-adopted-says-God-reason-smiles-years-foster-care.html
This little boy's faith is really something.
By MARY KEKATOS FOR DAILYMAIL.COM
PUBLISHED: 14:39 EST, 13 December 2019 | UPDATED: 15:36 EST, 13 December 2019
A 12-year-old Texas boy, who is praying to be adopted, says God is the reason he's still smiling despite still being in foster care.
Jonah, whose last name wasn't provided, is currently in the custody of the Texas Department of Family and Protective Services and has spent four years waiting to be adopted by a forever family.
He sat down for an interview with WFAA 8 in Dallas for the station's Wednesday Child segment, which focuses on children hoping to be adopted.
He says that God keeps him grinning when he's feeling down.
'He's brought me through many, many things,' Jonah said, dressed in grey slacks, a grey vest, a blue button down shirt and a striped tie.
'As far as abuse before I came into [Child Protective Services]. He's brought me through a lot. Just a lot overall.'
Jonah, 12 (left and right), has been in the custody of the Texas Department of Family and Protective Services for four years. He says that God keeps him smiling when he's feeling down and credits God with helping him through hardships
+2
Jonah (pictured) is a straight As honor roll student who earned an award for multi-tasking
WFAA Privacy Policy
Jonah is an honor roll student who has straight As and says he even got an award for being a multi-tasker.
'I have a desire to have knowledge and wisdom,' he told WFAA 8.
Despite his hardships, he said he wakes up every morning smiling and credits God with helping him get through it.
'Waking me up this morning, you know what I mean?' he said.
Jonah said with as good as he feels, he wants other to feel the same way.
'I am a person who likes to uplift people,' Jonah told WFAA 8.
'The golden rule is to treat somebody the way you want to be treated and that's what I do or at least what I try to do the most.'
Jonah (left and right) says that he likes to make people happy and treat others the way they want to be treated. He says he still has hope that he will be adopted by a forever family
+2
More than 20,000 children exited the foster care system in Texas in 2019, and more than 6,000 were adopted. Pictured: Jonah
But, more than anything else, Jonah wants to be adopted and said he knows the right family for him is out there.
'Reason why I want to be adopted, is because I know there's a family out there that fits me in the best possible way that they can,' he said.
According to KVIA, newly released Texas CPS data shows that more than 20,000 children existed the foster care system in 2019.
Of those children, more than 6,000 were adopted, and at least half were adopted by relatives.
Compare that to the data provided by CPS just three years ago when over 19,000 children entered foster care. More than 18,500 left and about 5700 children were adopted.
For more information on Jonah, if you're already licensed, please send all approved home studies to La Queena Warren at laqueena.warren@dfps.state.tx.us and include his name in the subject time.
For information on how to become license to foster and/or adopt, contact Warren at (817)-304-1272.
This little boy's faith is really something.
[size=34]Find Jonah a home for Christmas! Texas boy, 12, who is praying to be adopted after four years in foster care says God is the reason he still smiles[/size]
- Jonah, 12, has been in the custody of the Texas Department of Family and Protective Services for four years
- He says that God keeps him smiling when he's feeling down and credits God with helping him through hardships
- Jonah is a straight As honor roll student who earned an award for multi-tasking
- He says he still has hope that he will be adopted by a forever family
- More than 20,000 children exited the foster care system in Texas in 2019, and more than 6,000 were adopted
By MARY KEKATOS FOR DAILYMAIL.COM
PUBLISHED: 14:39 EST, 13 December 2019 | UPDATED: 15:36 EST, 13 December 2019
A 12-year-old Texas boy, who is praying to be adopted, says God is the reason he's still smiling despite still being in foster care.
Jonah, whose last name wasn't provided, is currently in the custody of the Texas Department of Family and Protective Services and has spent four years waiting to be adopted by a forever family.
He sat down for an interview with WFAA 8 in Dallas for the station's Wednesday Child segment, which focuses on children hoping to be adopted.
He says that God keeps him grinning when he's feeling down.
'He's brought me through many, many things,' Jonah said, dressed in grey slacks, a grey vest, a blue button down shirt and a striped tie.
'As far as abuse before I came into [Child Protective Services]. He's brought me through a lot. Just a lot overall.'
Jonah, 12 (left and right), has been in the custody of the Texas Department of Family and Protective Services for four years. He says that God keeps him smiling when he's feeling down and credits God with helping him through hardships
+2
Jonah (pictured) is a straight As honor roll student who earned an award for multi-tasking
WFAA Privacy Policy
Jonah is an honor roll student who has straight As and says he even got an award for being a multi-tasker.
'I have a desire to have knowledge and wisdom,' he told WFAA 8.
Despite his hardships, he said he wakes up every morning smiling and credits God with helping him get through it.
'Waking me up this morning, you know what I mean?' he said.
R
'Starting me on my way. I'm in my right mind. I know who I am and I'm proud of being the person who I am.'Jonah said with as good as he feels, he wants other to feel the same way.
'I am a person who likes to uplift people,' Jonah told WFAA 8.
'The golden rule is to treat somebody the way you want to be treated and that's what I do or at least what I try to do the most.'
Jonah (left and right) says that he likes to make people happy and treat others the way they want to be treated. He says he still has hope that he will be adopted by a forever family
+2
More than 20,000 children exited the foster care system in Texas in 2019, and more than 6,000 were adopted. Pictured: Jonah
But, more than anything else, Jonah wants to be adopted and said he knows the right family for him is out there.
'Reason why I want to be adopted, is because I know there's a family out there that fits me in the best possible way that they can,' he said.
According to KVIA, newly released Texas CPS data shows that more than 20,000 children existed the foster care system in 2019.
Of those children, more than 6,000 were adopted, and at least half were adopted by relatives.
Compare that to the data provided by CPS just three years ago when over 19,000 children entered foster care. More than 18,500 left and about 5700 children were adopted.
For more information on Jonah, if you're already licensed, please send all approved home studies to La Queena Warren at laqueena.warren@dfps.state.tx.us and include his name in the subject time.
For information on how to become license to foster and/or adopt, contact Warren at (817)-304-1272.
annemarie- Over the Clooney moon
- Posts : 10309
Join date : 2011-09-11
Re: The Good News
This is a nice story, what's the good news? He has no home for the holidays.
Being separated from family and/or people you love has to be difficult. I hope wherever he spends the holidays, he will keep the same wonderful attitude.
Being separated from family and/or people you love has to be difficult. I hope wherever he spends the holidays, he will keep the same wonderful attitude.
heartlove- Clooney-phile
- Posts : 677
Join date : 2019-11-23
Re: The Good News
The good news for me is his faith in god that he will find his forever home.
annemarie- Over the Clooney moon
- Posts : 10309
Join date : 2011-09-11
Re: The Good News
It has to be tough when you come into the realization you don't have a forever home.annemarie wrote:The good news for me is his faith in god that he will find his forever home.
I hope only the best for those who find themselves without the home they've hoped for. It has to be especially difficult around the holiday.
It's tough when your faith and hope is in a home God has NOT meant for you. You can spend years hoping for something God intends to give to another. In that case even though you can't have the home you want, you place your faith God has a home made just for you.
In this young man's case, his faith is connected to the hope there is a possible forever home made just for him. It left me sad to know he's still looking for his forever home. I have to place my faith, in hope he will find his forever home.
heartlove- Clooney-phile
- Posts : 677
Join date : 2019-11-23
Re: The Good News
https://people.com/human-interest/80-year-old-woman-university-oldest-graduate/
[size=48]80-Year-Old Woman Becomes Alabama University’s Oldest Graduate — and She’s Magna Cum Laude!
Donzella Washington dedicated her new degree to her late husband
By Rachel DeSantis
December 23, 2019 02:44 PM[/size]
An 80-year-old woman is hoping to remind others that age is nothing but a number after she made history by becoming her university’s oldest graduate.
Donzella Washington walked across the stage to get her bachelor’s degree in social work earlier this month at Alabama A&M University — an accomplishment she said was dedicated to her late husband, according to a release from the university.
“I wanted to finish in his honor,” she told Good Morning America of her late husband Jeff, who died in 2011.
She likely would have made him very proud, considering Washington graduated magna cum laude with a 3.64 GPA — and a 4.0 in her final semester.
Over the years, Washington and her husband fostered 32 children together at their home in California, and she worked at a police department and in a bank, according to a release from the city of Birmingham.
After Jeff’s death, Washington moved to Alabama to live with her daughter, and eventually started taking college courses at Lawson State Community College in 2013.
“Learning is just really fun,” she told Fox affiliate WZDX.
She earned an associate’s degree in 2017, but felt no need to stop there, eventually enrolling at A&M.
“Even though there was a lot of tears and late-night studying at 1 or 2 o’clock in the morning, I was determined,” she said in the release from Birmingham. “I never felt like quitting.”
Her daughter Kimberly Washington praised her persistence, telling WZDX that her mother is a fine example of “commitment and strength and perseverance and dedication and compassion and passion.”
“It’s never too late,” Washington told WZDX. “You have a dream, please finish that dream. You can do it. You just have to believe in yourself.”
Moving forward, Washington said she hopes to obtain a master’s degree, and will spend her time volunteering in places like nursing homes.
“I want to inspire and motivate others that age is not a barrier,” she told GMA. “And I want to emphasize the life between the dash.”
[size=48]80-Year-Old Woman Becomes Alabama University’s Oldest Graduate — and She’s Magna Cum Laude!
Donzella Washington dedicated her new degree to her late husband
By Rachel DeSantis
December 23, 2019 02:44 PM[/size]
An 80-year-old woman is hoping to remind others that age is nothing but a number after she made history by becoming her university’s oldest graduate.
Donzella Washington walked across the stage to get her bachelor’s degree in social work earlier this month at Alabama A&M University — an accomplishment she said was dedicated to her late husband, according to a release from the university.
“I wanted to finish in his honor,” she told Good Morning America of her late husband Jeff, who died in 2011.
She likely would have made him very proud, considering Washington graduated magna cum laude with a 3.64 GPA — and a 4.0 in her final semester.
[url=https://www.pinterest.com/pin/create/link/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fpeople.com%2Fhuman-interest%2F80-year-old-woman-university-oldest-graduate%2F%3Futm_source%3Dpinterest.com%26utm_medium%3Dsocial%26utm_campaign%3Dsocial-share-article%26utm_content%3D20191223%26utm_term%3D7530276&media=https%3A%2F%2Fpeopledotcom.files.wordpress.com%2F2019%2F12%2Fgraduate.jpg&description=80-Year-Old Woman Becomes Alabama University%E2%80%99s Oldest Graduate %E2%80%94 and She%E2%80%99s Magna Cum Laude!][/url]
Donzella Washington
Over the years, Washington and her husband fostered 32 children together at their home in California, and she worked at a police department and in a bank, according to a release from the city of Birmingham.
After Jeff’s death, Washington moved to Alabama to live with her daughter, and eventually started taking college courses at Lawson State Community College in 2013.
“Learning is just really fun,” she told Fox affiliate WZDX.
She earned an associate’s degree in 2017, but felt no need to stop there, eventually enrolling at A&M.
“Even though there was a lot of tears and late-night studying at 1 or 2 o’clock in the morning, I was determined,” she said in the release from Birmingham. “I never felt like quitting.”
Her daughter Kimberly Washington praised her persistence, telling WZDX that her mother is a fine example of “commitment and strength and perseverance and dedication and compassion and passion.”
“It’s never too late,” Washington told WZDX. “You have a dream, please finish that dream. You can do it. You just have to believe in yourself.”
Moving forward, Washington said she hopes to obtain a master’s degree, and will spend her time volunteering in places like nursing homes.
“I want to inspire and motivate others that age is not a barrier,” she told GMA. “And I want to emphasize the life between the dash.”
annemarie- Over the Clooney moon
- Posts : 10309
Join date : 2011-09-11
Re: The Good News
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-7825299/Moment-grandmother-giddily-celebrates-getting-400-Brahmin-purse-shes-wanted-20-years.html
By MATTHEW WRIGHT FOR DAILYMAIL.COM
PUBLISHED: 23:22 EST, 24 December 2019 | UPDATED: 02:56 EST, 25 December 2019
A grandmother celebrating her 72nd birthday giddily jumped with joy as she realized that the present she was opening was a purse that she had wanted for more than 20 years.
Zahria Lavette Palmer, of Flint, Michigan, took to Twitter to share an adorable video on Monday of her grandmother opening her birthday present - a Brahmin purse that cost around $400.
'My granny turned 72 years old yesterday. Enjoy her opening the purse shes been wanting for 20 years,' she said in a video posted to Twitter on Monday, which has since been viewed nearly 3 million times.
Scroll down for video
+5
+5
Zahria Lavette Palmer took to Twitter to share an adorable video on Monday of her grandmother opening her birthday present - a Brahmin purse worth around $400
[size=10][size=18]Grandma has hilariously overjoyed reaction to birthday gift purse
L[/size][/size]
The brief clip shows the excited grandmother opening her present with anticipation, immediately launching into a scream once she realizes what is inside.
'I knew it,' she exclaims before launching into her celebratory screams again.
Taking the purse out of its bag, Palmer's grandmother snatches her prized possession and starts jumping with joy.
+5
+5
The brief clip shows the excited grandmother opening her present with anticipation, immediately launching into a scream once she realizes what is inside
+5
Still in shock over the gift, the grandmother opens her purse and puts it over her head as she sits. She continues screaming as the clip comes to a close
The ecstatic matriarch looks all over her new purse, checking the inside to see if it is real.
As her family claps in the background, the grandmother continues screaming with excitement and is unable to stop jumping up and down with glee.
'She done caught the holy spirit,' one of her family members jokingly declares as the gran continues screaming over the gift.
'Awwww so adorable and most of all I’m sure she deserves it,' asserted rap legend Missy Elliott
In the comments under the post, Palmer explained that her grandmother had been eyeing the purse for quite some time
Still in shock over the gift, the grandmother opens her purse and puts it over her head as she sits. She continues screaming as the clip comes to a close.
Many have called the video 'adorable,' loving the palpable energy that the gran is giving off.
'Awwww so adorable and most of all I’m sure she deserves it,' asserted rap legend Missy Elliott.
Even Brahmin Handbags was feeling the holiday spirit, asking for the grandmother's information so they could send her a 'little something!'
In the comments under the post, Palmer explained that her grandmother had been eyeing the purse for quite some time.
'It’s a $400 bag she been wanting for herself but she never mentioned it to anyone until telling my auntie not too long ago so she got it,' she said.
Even Brahmin Handbags was feeling the holiday spirit, asking for the grandmother's information so they could send her a 'little something!'
'We'd love to help spread the holiday cheer,' the company stated.
[size=34]Adorable moment ecstatic grandmother, 72, celebrates on her birthday as she unwraps $400 Brahmin purse that she's wanted for 20 YEARS[/size]
- Zahria Lavette Palmer took to Twitter to share an adorable video on Monday of her grandmother opening her birthday present - a roughly $400 Brahmin purse
- The clip shows the excited grandmother opening her present with anticipation, immediately launching into a scream once she realizes what is inside
- 'Awwww so adorable and most of all I’m sure she deserves it,' asserted rap legend Missy Elliott
- Even Brahmin Handbags was feeling the holiday spirit, asking for the grandmother's information so they could send her a 'little something!'
By MATTHEW WRIGHT FOR DAILYMAIL.COM
PUBLISHED: 23:22 EST, 24 December 2019 | UPDATED: 02:56 EST, 25 December 2019
A grandmother celebrating her 72nd birthday giddily jumped with joy as she realized that the present she was opening was a purse that she had wanted for more than 20 years.
Zahria Lavette Palmer, of Flint, Michigan, took to Twitter to share an adorable video on Monday of her grandmother opening her birthday present - a Brahmin purse that cost around $400.
'My granny turned 72 years old yesterday. Enjoy her opening the purse shes been wanting for 20 years,' she said in a video posted to Twitter on Monday, which has since been viewed nearly 3 million times.
Scroll down for video
+5
+5
Zahria Lavette Palmer took to Twitter to share an adorable video on Monday of her grandmother opening her birthday present - a Brahmin purse worth around $400
[size=10][size=18]Grandma has hilariously overjoyed reaction to birthday gift purse
L[/size][/size]
The brief clip shows the excited grandmother opening her present with anticipation, immediately launching into a scream once she realizes what is inside.
'I knew it,' she exclaims before launching into her celebratory screams again.
Taking the purse out of its bag, Palmer's grandmother snatches her prized possession and starts jumping with joy.
+5
+5
The brief clip shows the excited grandmother opening her present with anticipation, immediately launching into a scream once she realizes what is inside
+5
Still in shock over the gift, the grandmother opens her purse and puts it over her head as she sits. She continues screaming as the clip comes to a close
The ecstatic matriarch looks all over her new purse, checking the inside to see if it is real.
As her family claps in the background, the grandmother continues screaming with excitement and is unable to stop jumping up and down with glee.
'She done caught the holy spirit,' one of her family members jokingly declares as the gran continues screaming over the gift.
'Awwww so adorable and most of all I’m sure she deserves it,' asserted rap legend Missy Elliott
In the comments under the post, Palmer explained that her grandmother had been eyeing the purse for quite some time
Still in shock over the gift, the grandmother opens her purse and puts it over her head as she sits. She continues screaming as the clip comes to a close.
Many have called the video 'adorable,' loving the palpable energy that the gran is giving off.
'Awwww so adorable and most of all I’m sure she deserves it,' asserted rap legend Missy Elliott.
Even Brahmin Handbags was feeling the holiday spirit, asking for the grandmother's information so they could send her a 'little something!'
In the comments under the post, Palmer explained that her grandmother had been eyeing the purse for quite some time.
'It’s a $400 bag she been wanting for herself but she never mentioned it to anyone until telling my auntie not too long ago so she got it,' she said.
Even Brahmin Handbags was feeling the holiday spirit, asking for the grandmother's information so they could send her a 'little something!'
'We'd love to help spread the holiday cheer,' the company stated.
annemarie- Over the Clooney moon
- Posts : 10309
Join date : 2011-09-11
Re: The Good News
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-7825525/Postal-worker-raises-500-nine-year-old-boy-asked-Santa-food-clothing.html
By LAUREN EDMONDS FOR DAILYMAIL.COM
PUBLISHED: 16:58 EST, 24 December 2019 | UPDATED: 18:07 EST, 24 December 2019
A Pennsylvania mail carrier gave one family an invaluable Christmas gift when she answered a nine-year-old boy's wish for food and clothing for his family.
Melissa Stinsman, an employee at the Bloomsburg Post Office, enjoys answering children's adorable letters to Santa Claus during the holiday season.
Stinsman, 26, voluntarily spends four hours after her shift answering the letters as Kris Kringle from the North Pole.
+4
Melissa Stinsman (pictured), an employee for Bloomsburg Post Office in Pennsylvania, went answered a nine-year-old boy's letter to Santa
She told Yahoo Lifestyle: 'I usually tell the kids to keep up their grades and to listen to their parents. One asked for a science kit so I told him that one day, he could become a scientist.'
But one letter she received from a young boy tugged at her heart and left a lasting impact.
'Dear Santa,' the note read, 'I am going to star the top 3 items I really want!
Among those items were typical gifts like a phone and a trampoline, but the thoughtful child also left stars next to 'food for family' and 'clothing for family.'
+4
Among other gifts like a trampoline, the young boy asked Santa Claus for food and clothing for his family this Christmas
Also enclosed in the envelope were two other letters addressed to Santa Claus.
One letter said: 'Dear Santa, last year you didn't notice me. So this year I hope this year you notice me. And this year I will be good, pinky promise.'
'Santa I love you with all my heart. I believe in you. Santa, you really are like the jelly to my peanut butter,' he continued.
A separate letter was written by his five-year-old brother.
'When I read the letter, I cried,' Stinsman said, adding that she wanted to help but the envelope had no return address.
+4
Community members began donating clothing, toys and gift cards to the Bloomsburg Post Office after word about the nine-year-old boy's Christmas list came out
Luckily, the young boy provided his full name and after asking around, another mail carrier recognized the last name from their route.
On Tuesday, Stinsman tentatively knocked on the family's front door with a heartwarming offer.
'I said, "Hi, this sounds weird but I work for the post office and I got your son’s letter. I’d like to help you guys this year",' she said.
The mother responded: 'Is this real?'
Stinsman initially planned to buy the family a $50 gift card, but when word got out about the young boy's letter several people wanted to pitch in.
+4
Stinsman (pictured) spends four hours after she shift answering children's letters addressed to Santa during the holiday season
A money pool began at the post office and community members began donating items, including clothing, toys and gift cards.
'We raised about $500 and people dropped off food at the post office,' Stinsman said.
Stinsman will deliver the gift cards to a local grocery store with enough time for the family to prepare Christmas dinner and the remaining packages will be brought to the family's home on Christmas Eve.
'I hope the kids will be distracted when I come. I want them to believe they came from Santa,' she said.
Stinsman hopes to start a Christmas tradition, saying: 'It’s doable if everyone comes together.'
[size=34]Postal worker raises $500 for nine-year-old boy after reading his letter to Santa asking for 'food and clothing for his family because last year you didn’t notice me'[/size]
- Melissa Stinsman, a mail carrier, answered a nine-year-old boy's sweet letter to Santa Claus
- The young boy asked for food and clothing for his family after Santa 'didn't notice' him last year
- Stinsman answers letters to Santa at the Bloomsburg Post Office in Pennsylvania for the holiday season
- She helped raise $500 for the family and collected donations at the post office
By LAUREN EDMONDS FOR DAILYMAIL.COM
PUBLISHED: 16:58 EST, 24 December 2019 | UPDATED: 18:07 EST, 24 December 2019
A Pennsylvania mail carrier gave one family an invaluable Christmas gift when she answered a nine-year-old boy's wish for food and clothing for his family.
Melissa Stinsman, an employee at the Bloomsburg Post Office, enjoys answering children's adorable letters to Santa Claus during the holiday season.
Stinsman, 26, voluntarily spends four hours after her shift answering the letters as Kris Kringle from the North Pole.
+4
Melissa Stinsman (pictured), an employee for Bloomsburg Post Office in Pennsylvania, went answered a nine-year-old boy's letter to Santa
She told Yahoo Lifestyle: 'I usually tell the kids to keep up their grades and to listen to their parents. One asked for a science kit so I told him that one day, he could become a scientist.'
But one letter she received from a young boy tugged at her heart and left a lasting impact.
'Dear Santa,' the note read, 'I am going to star the top 3 items I really want!
Among those items were typical gifts like a phone and a trampoline, but the thoughtful child also left stars next to 'food for family' and 'clothing for family.'
+4
Among other gifts like a trampoline, the young boy asked Santa Claus for food and clothing for his family this Christmas
Also enclosed in the envelope were two other letters addressed to Santa Claus.
One letter said: 'Dear Santa, last year you didn't notice me. So this year I hope this year you notice me. And this year I will be good, pinky promise.'
'Santa I love you with all my heart. I believe in you. Santa, you really are like the jelly to my peanut butter,' he continued.
A separate letter was written by his five-year-old brother.
'When I read the letter, I cried,' Stinsman said, adding that she wanted to help but the envelope had no return address.
+4
Community members began donating clothing, toys and gift cards to the Bloomsburg Post Office after word about the nine-year-old boy's Christmas list came out
Luckily, the young boy provided his full name and after asking around, another mail carrier recognized the last name from their route.
On Tuesday, Stinsman tentatively knocked on the family's front door with a heartwarming offer.
'I said, "Hi, this sounds weird but I work for the post office and I got your son’s letter. I’d like to help you guys this year",' she said.
The mother responded: 'Is this real?'
Stinsman initially planned to buy the family a $50 gift card, but when word got out about the young boy's letter several people wanted to pitch in.
+4
Stinsman (pictured) spends four hours after she shift answering children's letters addressed to Santa during the holiday season
A money pool began at the post office and community members began donating items, including clothing, toys and gift cards.
'We raised about $500 and people dropped off food at the post office,' Stinsman said.
Stinsman will deliver the gift cards to a local grocery store with enough time for the family to prepare Christmas dinner and the remaining packages will be brought to the family's home on Christmas Eve.
'I hope the kids will be distracted when I come. I want them to believe they came from Santa,' she said.
Stinsman hopes to start a Christmas tradition, saying: 'It’s doable if everyone comes together.'
annemarie- Over the Clooney moon
- Posts : 10309
Join date : 2011-09-11
Re: The Good News
Classmates surprise boy who lost everything in fire with new toys
his class could teach us all a lesson in generosity.
When Tennessee third-grader Daniel Hunt’s home burned down, he lost everything — so his teachers and classmates planned a secret toy drive.
“The kids could not wait to do this for Daniel,” Philadelphia Elementary School counselor Kelly Jones tells Today. “It was amazing to witness the excitement these third-grade kids had while sneaking in toys.”
In the week following the devastating Sept. 21 house fire, the 8-year-old’s classmates “couldn’t love him enough,” Jones says. His fellow Philly “Warriors” held doors for him, got his pencil ready for him each morning, took his chair down from his desk for him to sit in — and made sure he played at recess.
One thing they didn’t do: spill the beans about all the toys they were stockpiling for him. “They kept the best secret,” says Jones.
On Friday, the third-graders excitedly waited for Hunt to enter the classroom before yelling “Surprise!”
Hunt was left speechless. When he found his voice, he called for a group hug. “I love it! Everyone come here,” he said, with his arms wide open.
“Every adult and even a few students had tears swelling up in their eyes who were in the room to witness this,” Jones says.
Gifts spilled across four desks and included a plush Pikachu, board games, toy cars and a football.
On the way home, Hunt was overwhelmed with happiness, telling his grandmother Marsha Hunt, “I have joy in my stomach.”
“He has looked at each and every toy big and small and he loves them all. Thank you so much,” Marsha wrote on Facebook.
“I feel extremely blessed to have witnessed the pure love and giving from the hearts of the third-grade students at my school,” says Jones.
his class could teach us all a lesson in generosity.
When Tennessee third-grader Daniel Hunt’s home burned down, he lost everything — so his teachers and classmates planned a secret toy drive.
“The kids could not wait to do this for Daniel,” Philadelphia Elementary School counselor Kelly Jones tells Today. “It was amazing to witness the excitement these third-grade kids had while sneaking in toys.”
In the week following the devastating Sept. 21 house fire, the 8-year-old’s classmates “couldn’t love him enough,” Jones says. His fellow Philly “Warriors” held doors for him, got his pencil ready for him each morning, took his chair down from his desk for him to sit in — and made sure he played at recess.
One thing they didn’t do: spill the beans about all the toys they were stockpiling for him. “They kept the best secret,” says Jones.
On Friday, the third-graders excitedly waited for Hunt to enter the classroom before yelling “Surprise!”
Hunt was left speechless. When he found his voice, he called for a group hug. “I love it! Everyone come here,” he said, with his arms wide open.
“Every adult and even a few students had tears swelling up in their eyes who were in the room to witness this,” Jones says.
Gifts spilled across four desks and included a plush Pikachu, board games, toy cars and a football.
On the way home, Hunt was overwhelmed with happiness, telling his grandmother Marsha Hunt, “I have joy in my stomach.”
“He has looked at each and every toy big and small and he loves them all. Thank you so much,” Marsha wrote on Facebook.
“I feel extremely blessed to have witnessed the pure love and giving from the hearts of the third-grade students at my school,” says Jones.
heartlove- Clooney-phile
- Posts : 677
Join date : 2019-11-23
Re: The Good News
It is nice to know there are kids out there with hearts and who care.
annemarie- Over the Clooney moon
- Posts : 10309
Join date : 2011-09-11
Re: The Good News
https://people.com/human-interest/calif-kindergartner-raises-17k-pay-off-school-districts-lunch-debt/
[size=48]Calif. Kindergartner Raises $17K to Pay Off School District’s Lunch Debt[/size]
“It’s all about kindness. With everything that’s going on in the world, we just need a little bit more kindness out there” mom Karina Hardee tells PEOPLE
By Rachel DeSantis
February 18, 2020 05:16 PM
[url=https://www.pinterest.com/pin/create/link/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fpeople.com%2Fhuman-interest%2Fcalif-kindergartner-raises-17k-pay-off-school-districts-lunch-debt%2F%3Futm_source%3Dpinterest.com%26utm_medium%3Dsocial%26utm_campaign%3Dsocial-share-article%26utm_content%3D20200218%26utm_term%3D7670272&media=https%3A%2F%2Fimagesvc.meredithcorp.io%2Fv3%2Fmm%2Fimage%3Furl%3Dhttps%3A%2F%2Fpeopledotcom.files.wordpress.com%2F2020%2F02%2Fimg_7827_v1.jpg&description=Calif. Kindergartner Raises %2417K to Pay Off School District%E2%80%99s Lunch Debt][/url]
Katelynn Hardee
KIKI’S KINDNESS PROJECT
A 5-year-old girl is making a difference in her community by making sure all student lunch debts are paid off.
Katelynn Hardee knew she had to help after learning that a mother at her school, Breeze Hill Elementary in Vista, California, was having trouble paying for the after-school program.
“She began asking me questions,” Katelynn’s mom Karina Hardee tells PEOPLE, “and I just tried to explain to her that sometimes people aren’t as fortunate as we are, and that we need to try to be kind and give when we can.”
With that in mind, Katelynn decided to launch a hot cocoa and cookie stand — and in December, pulled in $78, enough to pay off the lunch accounts for 123 Breeze Hill students, Jamie Phillips, director of child nutrition services for Vista Unified school District, told the San Diego Union-Tribune.
Since then, Katelynn’s project has seen massive growth, and she was able to expand her goal of paying off just the Breeze Hill negative lunch accounts to those of the entire district — something she accomplished in December, according to a Fundly page organized in support of what has been dubbed Kiki’s Kindness Project.
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The total sum to accomplish that goal was a little over $7,700, Karina Hardee told San Diego radio station 103.7 KSON.
“This issue is important to us as the kiddos of our community are our future and no child should have to worry about their lunch account or where their next meal will come from,” Karina tells PEOPLE. “We are fortunate to live in California, but in other states, some children are shamed and/or given a different lunch.”
Kiki’s Kindness Project even recently hosted an event called Cases for Love, which encouraged people to donate suitcases and bags for the foster youth of San Diego, who frequently have to move from home to home.
“My husband and I were so proud of her,” Karina Hardee told 103.7. “She’s sparked a little fire even into me to try and help.”
The page as a whole has so far raised $17,308 from 74 different donors.
“It’s all about kindness,” says Karina. “With everything that’s going on in the world, we just need a little bit more kindness out there.”
[size=48]Calif. Kindergartner Raises $17K to Pay Off School District’s Lunch Debt[/size]
“It’s all about kindness. With everything that’s going on in the world, we just need a little bit more kindness out there” mom Karina Hardee tells PEOPLE
By Rachel DeSantis
February 18, 2020 05:16 PM
[url=https://www.pinterest.com/pin/create/link/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fpeople.com%2Fhuman-interest%2Fcalif-kindergartner-raises-17k-pay-off-school-districts-lunch-debt%2F%3Futm_source%3Dpinterest.com%26utm_medium%3Dsocial%26utm_campaign%3Dsocial-share-article%26utm_content%3D20200218%26utm_term%3D7670272&media=https%3A%2F%2Fimagesvc.meredithcorp.io%2Fv3%2Fmm%2Fimage%3Furl%3Dhttps%3A%2F%2Fpeopledotcom.files.wordpress.com%2F2020%2F02%2Fimg_7827_v1.jpg&description=Calif. Kindergartner Raises %2417K to Pay Off School District%E2%80%99s Lunch Debt][/url]
Katelynn Hardee
KIKI’S KINDNESS PROJECT
A 5-year-old girl is making a difference in her community by making sure all student lunch debts are paid off.
Katelynn Hardee knew she had to help after learning that a mother at her school, Breeze Hill Elementary in Vista, California, was having trouble paying for the after-school program.
“She began asking me questions,” Katelynn’s mom Karina Hardee tells PEOPLE, “and I just tried to explain to her that sometimes people aren’t as fortunate as we are, and that we need to try to be kind and give when we can.”
With that in mind, Katelynn decided to launch a hot cocoa and cookie stand — and in December, pulled in $78, enough to pay off the lunch accounts for 123 Breeze Hill students, Jamie Phillips, director of child nutrition services for Vista Unified school District, told the San Diego Union-Tribune.
Since then, Katelynn’s project has seen massive growth, and she was able to expand her goal of paying off just the Breeze Hill negative lunch accounts to those of the entire district — something she accomplished in December, according to a Fundly page organized in support of what has been dubbed Kiki’s Kindness Project.
RELATED VIDEO: This 11-Year-Old Girl Helps Get School Kids the Simple Things That Most of Us Take for Granted
[size=32][size=32]Play Video[/size][/size]
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The total sum to accomplish that goal was a little over $7,700, Karina Hardee told San Diego radio station 103.7 KSON.
“This issue is important to us as the kiddos of our community are our future and no child should have to worry about their lunch account or where their next meal will come from,” Karina tells PEOPLE. “We are fortunate to live in California, but in other states, some children are shamed and/or given a different lunch.”
[url=https://www.pinterest.com/pin/create/link/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fpeople.com%2Fhuman-interest%2Fcalif-kindergartner-raises-17k-pay-off-school-districts-lunch-debt%2F%3Futm_source%3Dpinterest.com%26utm_medium%3Dsocial%26utm_campaign%3Dsocial-share-article%26utm_content%3D20200218%26utm_term%3D7670272&media=https%3A%2F%2Fimagesvc.meredithcorp.io%2Fv3%2Fmm%2Fimage%3Furl%3Dhttps%3A%2F%2Fpeopledotcom.files.wordpress.com%2F2019%2F12%2Fkatelynn-hardee.jpg&description=Calif. Kindergartner Raises %2417K to Pay Off School District%E2%80%99s Lunch Debt][/url]
Katelynn has continued her mission, raising $636 at a January =68.ARC-re7UKta8-BbEeQI5Vs_jz8K6UwAe-XPh89pvxULvM_s075KzRqHpKJxgJ4-PdgzsiF2rvDbsQTdlYi3yyMC7Q_HPGKHzxqJpLHxDgQa_LtDkyiNpYgCU-skGbcE72H_JDHD62EbWbJ9dRafASD64HH0D3iMrN5f7Wbo7E_rniLWWTJs2nVkqTeP_XnOn3N-2zFlpqrO6vEopF1tlBQ_OaeopkMJw38lKEfB3ipfnpFyP3dCEHRixYe12C9v_Cxfhj5zi9xA0Ma9ndaX91FVpVQuXg7rrXQtDI71ops2yTaHQnO40XmKUBaqcV5KGZTH9K-oeKUDMXOlIqyBdcx4&__tn__=-R]fundraiser at a local trampoline park that will go “back to Breeze Hill programs that are being cut due to budget cuts,” her mom told the station.Katelynn Hardee
KARINA HARDEE
KARINA HARDEE
Kiki’s Kindness Project even recently hosted an event called Cases for Love, which encouraged people to donate suitcases and bags for the foster youth of San Diego, who frequently have to move from home to home.
“My husband and I were so proud of her,” Karina Hardee told 103.7. “She’s sparked a little fire even into me to try and help.”
The page as a whole has so far raised $17,308 from 74 different donors.
“It’s all about kindness,” says Karina. “With everything that’s going on in the world, we just need a little bit more kindness out there.”
- By Rachel DeSantis@Santis_DeRachel
annemarie- Over the Clooney moon
- Posts : 10309
Join date : 2011-09-11
Re: The Good News
https://people.com/human-interest/boy-opens-thrift-shop-for-low-income-families/
[size=48]11-Year-Old N.Y.C. Boy Opens Thrift Shop for Low-Income Families: 'I Wanted to Be a Hero'
Obocho Peters initially started his venture as an online shop, but opened his first physical store in December
By Rachel DeSantis
February 28, 2020 02:00 PM[/size]
[url=https://www.pinterest.com/pin/create/link/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fpeople.com%2Fhuman-interest%2Fboy-opens-thrift-shop-for-low-income-families%2F%3Futm_source%3Dpinterest.com%26utm_medium%3Dsocial%26utm_campaign%3Dsocial-share-article%26utm_content%3D20200228%26utm_term%3D7696061&media=https%3A%2F%2Fimagesvc.meredithcorp.io%2Fv3%2Fmm%2Fimage%3Furl%3Dhttps%3A%2F%2Fpeopledotcom.files.wordpress.com%2F2020%2F02%2Fochobo-peters-1.jpg&description=11-Year-Old N.Y.C. Boy Opens Thrift Shop for Low-Income Families%3A %27I Wanted to Be a Hero%27][/url]
Obocho Peters
GOFUNDME
Obocho Peters is a fifth-grader on a mission to make sure those who are less fortunate are able to dress to impress.
With that in mind, the 11-year-old from Brooklyn, New York, runs Obocho’s Closet, a thrift store selling affordable donated clothes and shoes for kids for under $10, according to Good Morning America.
The project initially started in 2018 as an online thrift shop, but has since outgrown its digital life, and in December (on his birthday!) Obocho opened his first brick-and-mortar store in the Brooklyn neighborhood of Flatbush, according to the outlet.
“It makes me feel like the hard work I’ve been doing in this community… it finally paid off,” he told WNYW at the store’s grand opening, which even had Brooklyn Borough President Eric Adams in attendance.
Obocho was able to get his dream off the ground thanks in part to a GoFundMe page, which explained the inspirational backstory to his mission.
The student wrote that after seeing Avengers: Infinity War, he asked his mom Sasha Peters for eight toys from the film.
When Peters said she couldn’t afford the toys, Obocho took matters into his own hands, selling clothes and shoes he no longer wore to pay for them himself.
RELATED
“I realized that other families must face these same challenges when taking care of their children,” he wrote. “That idea turned into the mission I have today — to help the community GROW.”
“I was inspired by all the superheroes helping to make the world a better place,” he added to GMA. “I wanted to be a hero myself by helping my mom.”
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Peters, a single mom from St. Thomas, U.S. Virgin Islands, helped her son launch his website, and, spotting an entrepreneurial spirit, signed him up for business classes after school, according to GMA.
“You have to nurture kids when they come up with ideas and you have to pay attention to everything they say because they’re telling you how to groom them to be a better version of themselves,” she told the outlet.
RELATED: 13-Year-Old Creates School Closet Full of Clothes and School Supplies for Classmates in Need
Because Obocho’s Closet is a for-profit business, Obocho wrote on his GoFundMe page that he found a different way to give back to the community: hosting free financial literacy seminars “geared towards teaching parents and kids how to save for college or pursue other goals like entrepreneurship.”
His efforts even earned reportedly him the title “Hero of the Month” in June from Adams.
“This young man personifies the great things young people are doing across our country and particularly in Brooklyn,” Adams told GMA.
[size=48]11-Year-Old N.Y.C. Boy Opens Thrift Shop for Low-Income Families: 'I Wanted to Be a Hero'
Obocho Peters initially started his venture as an online shop, but opened his first physical store in December
By Rachel DeSantis
February 28, 2020 02:00 PM[/size]
[url=https://www.pinterest.com/pin/create/link/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fpeople.com%2Fhuman-interest%2Fboy-opens-thrift-shop-for-low-income-families%2F%3Futm_source%3Dpinterest.com%26utm_medium%3Dsocial%26utm_campaign%3Dsocial-share-article%26utm_content%3D20200228%26utm_term%3D7696061&media=https%3A%2F%2Fimagesvc.meredithcorp.io%2Fv3%2Fmm%2Fimage%3Furl%3Dhttps%3A%2F%2Fpeopledotcom.files.wordpress.com%2F2020%2F02%2Fochobo-peters-1.jpg&description=11-Year-Old N.Y.C. Boy Opens Thrift Shop for Low-Income Families%3A %27I Wanted to Be a Hero%27][/url]
Obocho Peters
GOFUNDME
Obocho Peters is a fifth-grader on a mission to make sure those who are less fortunate are able to dress to impress.
With that in mind, the 11-year-old from Brooklyn, New York, runs Obocho’s Closet, a thrift store selling affordable donated clothes and shoes for kids for under $10, according to Good Morning America.
The project initially started in 2018 as an online thrift shop, but has since outgrown its digital life, and in December (on his birthday!) Obocho opened his first brick-and-mortar store in the Brooklyn neighborhood of Flatbush, according to the outlet.
“It makes me feel like the hard work I’ve been doing in this community… it finally paid off,” he told WNYW at the store’s grand opening, which even had Brooklyn Borough President Eric Adams in attendance.
Obocho was able to get his dream off the ground thanks in part to a GoFundMe page, which explained the inspirational backstory to his mission.
[url=https://www.pinterest.com/pin/create/link/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fpeople.com%2Fhuman-interest%2Fboy-opens-thrift-shop-for-low-income-families%2F%3Futm_source%3Dpinterest.com%26utm_medium%3Dsocial%26utm_campaign%3Dsocial-share-article%26utm_content%3D20200228%26utm_term%3D7696061&media=https%3A%2F%2Fimagesvc.meredithcorp.io%2Fv3%2Fmm%2Fimage%3Furl%3Dhttps%3A%2F%2Fpeopledotcom.files.wordpress.com%2F2020%2F02%2Fochobo-peters-2.jpg&description=11-Year-Old N.Y.C. Boy Opens Thrift Shop for Low-Income Families%3A %27I Wanted to Be a Hero%27][/url]
Obocho Peters
GOFUNDME
GOFUNDME
The student wrote that after seeing Avengers: Infinity War, he asked his mom Sasha Peters for eight toys from the film.
When Peters said she couldn’t afford the toys, Obocho took matters into his own hands, selling clothes and shoes he no longer wore to pay for them himself.
RELATED
“I realized that other families must face these same challenges when taking care of their children,” he wrote. “That idea turned into the mission I have today — to help the community GROW.”
“I was inspired by all the superheroes helping to make the world a better place,” he added to GMA. “I wanted to be a hero myself by helping my mom.”
[size=32][size=32]Play Video[/size][/size]
YOU MIGHT LIKE
MIKE SORRENTINO SAYS REUNITING WITH 'JERSEY SHORE' FAMILY AFTER PRISON WAS 'THE BEST'
JERSEY SHORE'S ANGELINA PIVARNICK ON HER WEDDING, MIKE'S RETURN & HOW CHRIS FEELS ABOUT VINNY
Peters, a single mom from St. Thomas, U.S. Virgin Islands, helped her son launch his website, and, spotting an entrepreneurial spirit, signed him up for business classes after school, according to GMA.
“You have to nurture kids when they come up with ideas and you have to pay attention to everything they say because they’re telling you how to groom them to be a better version of themselves,” she told the outlet.
RELATED: 13-Year-Old Creates School Closet Full of Clothes and School Supplies for Classmates in Need
Because Obocho’s Closet is a for-profit business, Obocho wrote on his GoFundMe page that he found a different way to give back to the community: hosting free financial literacy seminars “geared towards teaching parents and kids how to save for college or pursue other goals like entrepreneurship.”
His efforts even earned reportedly him the title “Hero of the Month” in June from Adams.
“This young man personifies the great things young people are doing across our country and particularly in Brooklyn,” Adams told GMA.
annemarie- Over the Clooney moon
- Posts : 10309
Join date : 2011-09-11
Re: The Good News
"And a little child shall lead them."
LizzyNY- Casamigos with Mr Clooney
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[size=48]Michael Che Pays a Month's Rent for Everyone in Building His Grandma Lived Before Her Coronavirus Death
The Saturday Night Live star shared that his grandma died of COVID-19 earlier this month
By Ashley Boucher
April 15, 2020 11:26 PM
[url=https://www.pinterest.com/pin/create/link/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fpeople.com%2Ftv%2Fmichael-che-pays-a-months-rent-for-everyone-in-building-his-grandma-lived-before-her-coronavirus-death%2F%3Futm_source%3Dpinterest.com%26utm_medium%3Dsocial%26utm_campaign%3Dsocial-share-article%26utm_content%3D20200416%26utm_term%3Dundefined&media=https%3A%2F%2Fimagesvc.meredithcorp.io%2Fv3%2Fmm%2Fimage%3Furl%3Dhttps%3A%2F%2Fstatic.onecms.io%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2Fsites%2F20%2F2020%2F04%2F16%2Fmichael-che.jpg&description=Michael Che Pays a Month%27s Rent for Everyone in Building His Grandma Lived Before Her Coronavirus Death][/url]
Michael Che is helping out New Yorkers with rent to honor his grandmother, who died of the novel coronavirus (COVID-19).
The Saturday Night Live star, 36, shared on Instagram Wednesday that he will be paying rent for all the residents in his grandmother’s former New York City apartment.
“It’s crazy to me that residents of public housing are still expected to pay their rent when so many New Yorkers can’t even work,” Che said.
“Obviously I can’t offer much help by myself,” he continued. “But in the spirit and memory of my late grandmother, I’m paying one month’s rent for all 160 apartments in the NYCHA building she lived in.”
RELATED: SNL Star Michael Che Says His Grandma Died from Coronavirus: ‘I’m Just Mad’
“I know that’s just a drop in the bucket,” the comedian acknowledged. “So I really hope the city has a better plan for debt forgiveness for all the people in public housing, AT THE VERY LEAST.”
Che then added a P.S. to his statement, calling on New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio, New York Governor Andrew Cuomo, and Sean “Diddy” Combs.
“Let’s fix this!” Che said. “Page me!”
Che announced that his grandmother had passed away from the contagious respiratory virus earlier this month.
“I’m doing ok, considering,” he wrote on Instagram on April 6. “I’m obviously very hurt and angry that she had to go through all that pain alone. But I’m also happy that she’s not in pain anymore. And I also feel guilty for feeling happy. Basically the whole gamut of complex feelings everybody else has losing someone very close and special. I’m not unique.”
“But it’s still scary,” he said.
The SNL star also shared his frustrations at the lack of information about COVID-19.
“I need a better story,” he said. “I’m just not willing to accept that right now. F— THAT. I need a better story. I know, I shouldn’t curse, but I’m grieving.”
New York is currently the epicenter of the virus, with at least 213,779 confirmed cases of COVID-19 in the state as of Wednesday, with 11,586 related deaths.
As information about the coronavirus pandemic rapidly changes, PEOPLE is committed to providing the most recent data in our coverage. Some of the information in this story may have changed after publication. For the latest on COVID-19, readers are encouraged to use online resources from CDC, WHO, and local public health departments. To help provide doctors and nurses on the front lines with life-saving medical resources, donate to Direct Relief here.
[/size]
[*]PEOPLE.COM
[/list]
[size=48]Michael Che Pays a Month's Rent for Everyone in Building His Grandma Lived Before Her Coronavirus Death
The Saturday Night Live star shared that his grandma died of COVID-19 earlier this month
By Ashley Boucher
April 15, 2020 11:26 PM
[url=https://www.pinterest.com/pin/create/link/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fpeople.com%2Ftv%2Fmichael-che-pays-a-months-rent-for-everyone-in-building-his-grandma-lived-before-her-coronavirus-death%2F%3Futm_source%3Dpinterest.com%26utm_medium%3Dsocial%26utm_campaign%3Dsocial-share-article%26utm_content%3D20200416%26utm_term%3Dundefined&media=https%3A%2F%2Fimagesvc.meredithcorp.io%2Fv3%2Fmm%2Fimage%3Furl%3Dhttps%3A%2F%2Fstatic.onecms.io%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2Fsites%2F20%2F2020%2F04%2F16%2Fmichael-che.jpg&description=Michael Che Pays a Month%27s Rent for Everyone in Building His Grandma Lived Before Her Coronavirus Death][/url]
Michael Che is helping out New Yorkers with rent to honor his grandmother, who died of the novel coronavirus (COVID-19).
The Saturday Night Live star, 36, shared on Instagram Wednesday that he will be paying rent for all the residents in his grandmother’s former New York City apartment.
“It’s crazy to me that residents of public housing are still expected to pay their rent when so many New Yorkers can’t even work,” Che said.
“Obviously I can’t offer much help by myself,” he continued. “But in the spirit and memory of my late grandmother, I’m paying one month’s rent for all 160 apartments in the NYCHA building she lived in.”
RELATED: SNL Star Michael Che Says His Grandma Died from Coronavirus: ‘I’m Just Mad’
“I know that’s just a drop in the bucket,” the comedian acknowledged. “So I really hope the city has a better plan for debt forgiveness for all the people in public housing, AT THE VERY LEAST.”
Che then added a P.S. to his statement, calling on New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio, New York Governor Andrew Cuomo, and Sean “Diddy” Combs.
“Let’s fix this!” Che said. “Page me!”
Che announced that his grandmother had passed away from the contagious respiratory virus earlier this month.
“I’m doing ok, considering,” he wrote on Instagram on April 6. “I’m obviously very hurt and angry that she had to go through all that pain alone. But I’m also happy that she’s not in pain anymore. And I also feel guilty for feeling happy. Basically the whole gamut of complex feelings everybody else has losing someone very close and special. I’m not unique.”
“But it’s still scary,” he said.
The SNL star also shared his frustrations at the lack of information about COVID-19.
“I need a better story,” he said. “I’m just not willing to accept that right now. F— THAT. I need a better story. I know, I shouldn’t curse, but I’m grieving.”
New York is currently the epicenter of the virus, with at least 213,779 confirmed cases of COVID-19 in the state as of Wednesday, with 11,586 related deaths.
As information about the coronavirus pandemic rapidly changes, PEOPLE is committed to providing the most recent data in our coverage. Some of the information in this story may have changed after publication. For the latest on COVID-19, readers are encouraged to use online resources from CDC, WHO, and local public health departments. To help provide doctors and nurses on the front lines with life-saving medical resources, donate to Direct Relief here.
[/size]
annemarie- Over the Clooney moon
- Posts : 10309
Join date : 2011-09-11
Re: The Good News
Brilliant!
Let's see Jared Kusher giving all his tenants a break from their exhorbitant rent for six months....
Let's see Jared Kusher giving all his tenants a break from their exhorbitant rent for six months....
party animal - not!- George Clooney fan forever!
- Posts : 12427
Join date : 2012-02-16
Re: The Good News
It's amazing, isn't it? There are other landlords stepping up and giving their tenants a rent hiatus or a reduction in rent even though their costs for running the buildings haven't gone down. There are still good people out there. drumpf's minions are not among them.
LizzyNY- Casamigos with Mr Clooney
- Posts : 8189
Join date : 2013-08-28
Location : NY, USA
Re: The Good News
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-8232239/Captain-Tom-Moores-charity-single-goes-straight-iTunes-chart.html
Michael Ball!!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qafA5zLmG4I
Michael Ball!!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qafA5zLmG4I
party animal - not!- George Clooney fan forever!
- Posts : 12427
Join date : 2012-02-16
Re: The Good News
[size=34]You'll Never Walk Alone: Captain Tom Moore's charity single with Michael Ball goes straight to top of iTunes - pipping Vera Lynn - as hero's fundraising passes £23million[/size]
- Fundraising hero Capt Tom Moore's charity song has shot to top of iTunes chart
- He collaborated with singer Michael Ball for a version of You'll Never Walk Alone
- It narrowly pipped Vera Lynn's stirring rendition of We'll Meet Again to top spot
- Capt Moore has raised over £23million for the NHS, despite aiming for £1,000
- Learn more about how to help people impacted by COVID
By SOPHIE TANNO and JAMES GANT FOR MAILONLINE
PUBLISHED: 06:01 EDT, 18 April 2020 | UPDATED: 12:27 EDT, 18 April 2020
Captain Tom Moore's charity single has gone straight to the top of the UK iTunes chart as the hero's fundraising total passed a staggering £23million.
The 99-year-old war veteran collaborated with singer Michael Ball for a heartwarming version of You'll Never Walk Alone.
It has narrowly pipped Vera Lynn's stirring rendition of We'll Meet Again to the top spot.
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The 99-year-old war veteran is raising millions for NHS Charities Together amid the coronavirus pandemic, after initially expecting to raise just £1,000 by completing 100 laps of his garden before his 100th birthday
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Captain Tom Moore's charity single, a collaboration with singer Michael Ball, has gone straight to the top of the UK iTunes chart
[size=10][size=18]Captain Tom and Michael Ball sing You'll Never Walk Alone for charity
L[/size][/size]
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The veteran collaborated with singer Michael Ball (pictured) for a heartwarming version of You'll Never Walk Alone
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Ball and Capt Moore's (pictured) single has narrowly pipped Vera Lynn's stirring rendition of We'll Meet Again to the top spot
Robert Jenrick says Captain Tom Moore will be guest of honour at Nightingale opening
Second World War hero Captain Tom Moore will be the guest of honour when the new NHS Nightingale Hospital for the Yorkshire region is opened in Harrogate next week.
The 99-year-old's bid to raise money for the NHS by walking laps of his garden hit £23 million this afternoon - less than two weeks after he started the challenge.
Mr Jenrick thanked Captain Moore for his fundraising efforts for the NHS, stating: 'We have all been humbled by the gestures, large and small, by people across the country to show support for those working so hard to protect the NHS and save lives.
'None more so than Captain Tom Moore, who has raised an astonishing £23 million this week for NHS charities.
'I can't think of a more worthy person to be the guest of honour at the opening of the new Nightingale Hospital in Harrogate next week.'
Capt Tom has been raising money for NHS Charities Together to help frontline medics battle the coronavirus pandemic, which has killed 14,576 in the UK.
He initially expected to raise £1,000 by completing 100 laps of his garden before his 100th birthday.
He finished the walk ahead of schedule on Thursday - after starting out on April 13 - and has seen more than a million donors help the fundraiser soar past £23million.
After capturing the hearts of the nation, Capt Tom joined forces with Ball to create their own uplifting version of You'll Never Walk Alone.
The pair recorded the duet of the 1945 Rodgers and Hammerstein tune, which has become an anthem for medical staff during the pandemic, featuring the NHS Voices of Care Choir.
The track has a spoken work introduction from Capt Moore, where he says: 'Hold your head up high and don't be afraid of the dark.'
It has already climbed to the top of the iTunes chart ahead of the Second World War veteran's 100th birthday on April 30.
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Originally from Keighley in West Yorkshire, Captain Moore trained as a civil engineer before enlisting in the Army for the Second World War, rising to captain and serving in India and Burma
[size=18]Michael Ball on how charity single with Tom Moore came about
Loa[/size]
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Captain Moore was posted to India where he fought in the Arakan Campaign of 1942 to 1943 during the Second World War
[size=18]Captain Tom Moore's NHS fundraiser hits £20 million
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Michael Ball sang You'll Never Walk Alone from his home to Captain Moore on Thursday, after telling him: 'It's an extraordinary achievement. I've been trying to think of a song which encapsulates your achievement and what you have done for us'
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The country has taken to the war veteran, with this sign in Piccadilly Circus in central London congratulating him
[size=18]Piccadilly Circus lights up for 'national hero' Captain Tom Moore
Loaded[/size]
West End star Ball, 57, had called for their joint single to reach number one in time for Cpt Moore's birthday.
He said: 'There isn't one of us who has failed to be inspired by Captain Tom Moore. It is one of the single greatest honours of my career to sing with this genuine national hero, supported by the incredible NHS Voices for Care Choir.
From Yorkshire to India: Captain Tom Moore's career in the military
Captain Tom Moore was conscripted into the British Army in June 1940 when he was 20, alongside all men aged 20 to 35.
He began his military career in Otley, West Yorkshire, where he joined the 8th Battalion, the Duke of Wellington's Regiment under Lieutenant Lord George Saville.
The Regiment was sent to train in Wadebridge, Cornwall where they were tasked with coastal defence amid a predicted German invasion.
A young Captain Moore was soon promoted to Corporal and sent to the officer cadet training unit in Droitwich Spa.
Here, he celebrated his 21st birthday after he passed as a Second Lieutenant.
In August 1941, he was sent to the DWR headquarters in Halifax where he joined the 9th Battalion at Winchcombe.
The infantry battalion then converted to an armoured regiment 146th Royal Armoured Corp, though the majority of the soldiers could not drive.
In October, the unit was posted to Bombay, now Mumbai, in India. The journey took six weeks by sea, with a four-day delay in Freetown, Sierra Leone and a four-day stop in Cape Town.
Captain Moore then took a train from Bombay to Poona, before arriving at Kirkee, a town now known as Khadki.
The 9th DWR formed the 50th Indian Tank Brigade under the command of Brigadier Schreiber.
Captain Moore was then asked by the Brigadier to start a motorcycling course for the Brigade due to his expertise for the sport.
The Brigade was then ordered to move to Calcutta - the road journey was in a monsoon and took three weeks.
His Battalion was stationed in the Lohardaga district near Ranchi.
They then took part in two exercises in the Arakan before moving further east and south to Rangoon.
Captain Moore was then sent on a course at the approved vehicle depot in Bovington, England.
He remained here as an instructor until it was closed.
'Not only is he the biggest single fundraiser in British history and a decorated war veteran, he is the most charming man you could ever wish to meet.
'Hopefully he can now add singing star to his many talents. Wouldn't it be wonderful if we could give him a number one record for his 100th birthday!'
Cpt Moore said: 'I never in my wildest dreams imagined I would be releasing a single with Michael Ball OBE, but I also never thought it possible for me to walk in the garden and raise millions.
'So why not sing, spread some cheer and again - raise money for our national heroes. NHS this one is for you!'
Capt Moore has been personally thanked by the Duke of Cambridge, where he was shown a pre-recorded message from William, in which he praised the veteran's achievement as 'incredible' and 'amazing'.
In the video, the Duke said: 'What I love also is that he's a 99-year-old war vet, he's been around a long time, knows everything and it's wonderful that everyone has been inspired by his story and his determination.
'I think he's a one-man fundraising machine.
'God knows what the final total will be but good on him, I hope he keeps going.'
Prime Minister Boris Johnson has said he is looking at ways to recognise his 'heroic efforts'.
Originally from Keighley in West Yorkshire, Captain Moore trained as a civil engineer before enlisting in the Army for the Second World War, rising to captain and serving in India and Burma.
Yesterday it emerged the hero could get a Spitfire flypast for his 100th birthday in 12 days time.
A team of aircraft restorers from the Biggin Hill Heritage Hangar hope to fly the plane past his home as a 'small gesture' to celebrate his achievements.
'It will be a bit of a moral booster for us all really, to see a Spitfire in the sky,' Alex Monk 21, from the Hangar, told The Telegraph. 'It's been a symbol of freedom in the past and quite an icon for Tom.'
The plan is for the Spirit of Kent, which was built in 1945 and flew in the memorial flight for the Battle of Britain, to fly at 500 feet and 250mph over the former tank commander's home in the Bedfordshire village of Marston Moretaine. They are waiting for permission from the Department for Transport.
Britons up and down the country have been joining the Second World War hero for his morning walk.
Fans of Captain Moore have started uploading videos of themselves on social media under the hashtag #walkwithtom.
Dozens have been sharing their walks in the morning and showing their appreciation of the veterans heroic efforts.
[size=18]People 'Walk With Tom' after he invites people to join him
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Spitfire Spirit of Kent (pictured at Biggin Hill Heritage Hangar, Surrey) may be flown over the World War Two hero's home in Bedfordshire to celebrate his achievement
[size=18]Kids 'walk with Tom' after captain invites people to join initiative
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Some shared messages of support for the war hero including one youngster, called Harry, who wore his own military costumer to complete a lap of his garden yesterday.
He told Capt Moore: 'My mummy is a nurse. I just wanted to say thank you for helping the NHS and for doing a great job. I hope you have a happy birthday.'
Others shared videos of themselves walking through local countryside as they cheered Captain Moore on and praised him for continuing with his challenge despite smashing his initial £1,000 target.
Cpt Moore has been praised by the Duke of Cambridge and a long list of celebrities, and Prime Minister Boris Johnson is looking at ways to recognise his 'heroic efforts'.
More than 800,000 have signed online petitions calling for 'Sir Tom' to be knighted.
Captain Moore, who turns 100 on April 30, only planned to raise £1,000 when he started out on his fundraising journey.
Yesterday footage emerged of Captain Moore watching a video in which the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge praised him for his remarkable achievement.
Overjoyed by the message, Captain Moore, whose appeal has also received an undisclosed donation from William and Kate, said it was 'absolutely amazing' to hear his 'super prince' say such kind words about his fundraising efforts.
Prince William said of Captain Moore's efforts in an interview with BBC Breakfast this morning: 'It's incredible. It's amazing.
'What I love also is that he's a 99-year-old war vet, he's been around a long time, he knows everything and it's wonderful that everyone has been inspired by his story and his determination.
'I think he's a one man fundraising machine and God knows what the final total will be but good on him. I hope he keeps going'.
To which Captain Moore responds, after watching the interview: 'Well that I think is absolutely amazing. That my super prince can say something like that.'
Prince William and Kate were speaking to the BBC about how they have dealt with the coronavirus pandemic.
The couple revealed they home schooled their children through the Easter holidays and spoke about fears for Prince Charles over his coronavirus diagnosis.
Kate also said the family had been through 'ups and downs' during the lockdown 'like lots of families' since it was imposed on March 23, but they had stayed in touch with other family members using online video calls.
[size=18]Captain Tom Moore reacts to royal praise over fundraiser
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[size=18]Duke and Duchess of Cambridge praise Captain Tom Moore
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Boris Johnson's official spokesman hinted at a possible knighthood for Captain Moore and said: 'Tom has demonstrated a lifetime of bravery and compassion. The PM will certainly be looking at ways to recognise Tom and his efforts'.
The veteran said: I'd be amazed to have such an honour and meet our absolutely marvellous Queen. It's unbelievable that it could happen.'
He added: 'I'm a huge fan of everything Her Majesty has done for this country. I don't think I'm a global phenomenon at all — just a grandad doing some laps of his garden,' according to The Sun.
Ladbrokes has now suspended betting on Captain Moore being knighted this year.
By yesterday morning, more than 890,000 supporters had donations to Captain Moore's appeal.
Speaking on BBC Radio 2's Zoe Ball Breakfast Show on Friday, He said: 'It really is absolutely enormous isn't it. That sum of money is very difficult to imagine but it's coming in so well.'
[size=18]War hero Captain Tom completes 100th lap to raise money for NHS
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His daughter Hannah Ingram-Moore said: 'Tom is clear that as long as people believe that he's worth investing in, he will keep walking because this is for such a phenomenal cause.
'We know that this story will have a life to it, so as long as people are donating we'll keep supporting my father to do it and he will keep walking.'
Speaking about the message from Prince William, he told Radio 2: 'Never ever in my life did I anticipate being in touch with such important and super people who've been making kind remarks like this.
'It really is out of this world.'
Addressing the public, he added: 'I say thank-you very much indeed because the object that we're contributing is so important and so necessary, and I appreciate and think you're all so kind and thoughtful in contributing to this cause.'
Before he started the final leg of his challenge in the morning sunshine on Thursday, he was saluted as he stepped out with his frame by four soldiers from the Yorkshire Regiment who had travelled to support him.
He was given a rousing greeting on the final stretch of his walk that has seen money donated from people in 53 countries. The Second World War veteran bowed his head and smiled as his chest of medals on his suit glinted.
How Captain Tom Moore's fundraising has gone from zero to £20million in a week
- April 9: Captain Tom Moore and his family launch the 'Captain Tom Moore's 100th Birthday Walk for the NHS' fundraising on JustGiving with a £1,000 target
- April 10, 2pm: Fundraising reaches £1,000 target in 24 hours, and family set new £100,000 target
- April 11, 7pm: The £100,000 target is reached and a new aim of £250,000 is set
- April 12, 2.30pm: Fundraiser hits £250,000 after Captain Moore appears on BBC Radio 2 and talks to the singer Michael Ball
- April 14, 12pm: Captain Moore's donations hit £1million
- April 15, 10am: Donations get to £5million
- April 15, 5pm: Health Secretary Matt Hancock praises him as an 'inspiration' as donations get to £8million
- April 15, 11pm: The fundraiser reaches £10million
- April 16, 7am: Donations get to £12million
- April 16, 12pm: The fundraiser hits £13million
- April 16, 3pm: It gets to £14million three hours later
- April 17, 4pm: It gets to £19million raising £5million in just 24 hours
- April 18: It passes the £20m mark
Speaking after finishing, an emotional Captain Moore told BBC Breakfast: 'I never ever dreamt I would be involved in such an occasion. We're doing so well, and knowing that the reason we started off was for the NHS.
He added: 'I think you've all got to remember that we will get through it in the end, it will all be right but it might take time. All the people finding it difficult at the moment, the sun will shine again and the clouds will go away.'
Michael Ball then sang You'll Never Walk Alone from his home, after telling him: 'It's an extraordinary achievement. I've been trying to think of a song which encapsulates your achievement and what you have done for us.'
Asked about the song, Captain Moore said: 'First of all, Michael is such a super singer. I think it's true that people, we will not walk alone, wherever you are there are other people thinking about you thinking that soon everything will be better and we will all be smiling again.'
After sitting down alongside his daughter he watched a compilation of sportsmen and celebrities praising him for his achievement, including cricketer Ben Stokes, former racing driver Damon Hill and TV personality Judge Judy.
The colonel of his former regiment, Brigadier Andrew Jackson, described him as a 'legend'. Later tears welled up in Captain Moore's eyes during a BBC Breakfast interview when told he had been an inspiration to millions.
Asked about what he thinks about potentially being knighted, Captain Moore told the programme: 'It would be marvellous to have such an honour but I don't expect anything like that. I think it would be absolutely enormous if i was knighted, to be Sir Thomas Moore, I have never heard of anything like that before
And speaking about the Queen, he added: 'I think the Queen is marvellous and doing such a terrific job because all the time she's been queen she has been the leader of the country - and I have the highest regard for her. I hope she continues as queen for a very long time.
And on his 100th birthday on April 30, Captain Moore said: 'Well originally we were going to have a big party here with all my friends and relations and we were all imagining what it would be like.
'For so long people have said 'are you going to have a birthday party?' probably hoping be invited, but I'm afraid that can't happen now because they all have to stay six metres away from me.
'But today really is something special with all you here and all the kind people watching and all you presenting money. And that is enough for me - and I hope you're all well enough to be here when we do have a proper party.
'But that won't happen for a while because we are going to be locked in for a bit longer. I do feel for people in a very confined space for week after week, it must be very, very difficult - and I present my congratulations to all of you who are sticking to the rules and staying in your own homes.'
Told that he was now the largest individual fundraiser ever on the JustGiving website, Capt Moore added: 'That is a nice record to break. Records are there to be broken and I'm very happy that it is this cause that has benefited so much.'
The 99-year-old gave the thumbs up and enjoyed a welcome hug from his daughter and grandchildren as he posed for the media following his 100th lap of his garden.
The war veteran had a rest after the exertions of his early morning walk to complete the 100 laps of his garden. 'Just a little rest,' he joked.
But within an hour he was back pushing his wheeled Zimmer frame around the paved area of the large garden as he chatted with his grandson Benji, 16, and granddaughter Georgia, 11.
Fundraising for NHS Charities Together
The NHS Charities Together coronavirus appeal to support frontline NHS staff has so far raised over £50m, less than a month after it launched.
NHS Charities Together, an umbrella body for NHS charities, launched an urgent fundraising appeal in March in light of the pandemic.
It's goal is to raise £100m.
How does it compare to other fundraisers?
BBC Children in Need's 2019 appeal raised an 'on the night' total of £47.9m.
The amount represents a £2.7m (5 per cent) fall on 2018, when a record £50.6m was raised on the night.
Cancer Research UK's Race for Live event raised £35 million in 2019, £32m in 2018 and over £50 million in 2015.
MacMillan's event The World's Biggest Coffee Morning raised a total of £27.5m in 2019
He had been thrilled to meet soldiers from the modern day version of the regiment he had served in after being conscripted in 1940 when he was 20 years old.
Captain Moore said seeing the soldiers give him a guard of honour had given him a boost as he walked the final lap.
'They were great lads and so nice that they could be here,' he said. 'I was with the Duke of Wellington's regiment that was formed into the Yorkshire Regiment where they are from. It was lovely to see them here.'
His grandson Benji said the war veteran was an inspiration to people his age, adding: 'I've always known what a strong character he was and if anyone was going to do this it was our granddad.
'He's a proud Yorkshireman and what he has achieved is just incredible and makes me so proud. I know he will want to keep walking so long as people are still giving money. He will not want to give up as he is giving so much hope to many others in these hard times.'
Claire Baxter, who works for his local surgery and spotted his skin cancer, said she was 'teary' about his achievements, adding: 'We're very proud of him, we adore him and we are honoured to be able to look after him.
'He is a true gentleman. I do truly love him. He is every time he comes in. He's seen me since May twice a week for dressings and he comes in always with a smile on his face - how I am, how my family are. We both enjoy Formula One, so we talk about that. He's a joy to see. We miss him very much but we're glad he's safe and well.'
Speaking about his health, Captain Moore told ITV's This Morning: 'My health is fine, I'm fine because of the NHS. When I broke my hip and when I got cancer on my head they treated me so well. They deserve every penny they get.
'Our own national service is absolutely beyond, it does so well and at the moment all the staff out there putting themselves in mortal danger every day, they go onto duty and they do it cheerfully whatever the outcome is.
'They will know that at that time they all came and did so well. All the doctors, nurses and backup staff are all doing a marvellous job for the whole nation.
'The war that we're dealing with at the moment, with this invisible enemy, the doctors the nurses who are putting themselves in mortal danger are on the frontline and we're the back up.
'It's our job to give them everything they need to do their job properly because they've done it with such bravery.'
Ian Lush, chairman of NHS Charities Together, which Captain Moore is supporting, said: 'It was extraordinary, I feel a particular personal connection because Captain Tom was in Burma in India at the end of the war, and so was my late father who was Major Cecil Lush of the engineers, and they may well have met.'
'It's extraordinary to see the amount of money and the outpouring of good will towards the NHS and towards all the NHS charities who will take good care of the money that he's raising.
Asked what happens to the money, he said: 'There are about 150 NHS charities which will benefit from this money, we are a membership organisation and now a huge fundraising organisation, I'm the chairman, and I run one of the 150 charities that's Imperial Health Charity - we support three hospitals.
'We're spending money on supporting the staff in the crisis time, we're supporting wellbeing, we're doing pods for them to sleep in the hospitals so they don't have to go home between shifts.
'We're doing counselling, we're doing all sorts of stuff, but we're also putting money aside so that we have money to see us through over the next 18 months or so to support the staff.
'We also support patients and families with our welfare grants, so there's lots of different ways the money will be used. We're all charities with a lot of experience of using this sort of funds, so we'll make sure it goes to the right places.'
His daughter Hannah Ingram Moore told MailOnline she was 'astonished' at the £12million so far raised by her father. 'It is just incredible and I'm sure it is going to go higher when he finishes the walk', she said.
She added that her father had become 'a beacon of hope for people' in challenging times and that the donations were 'beyond words' as the country battles through a pandemic that has claimed more than 12,000 lives.
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Captain Moore is pictured front centre during his days in the Army. He joined the Armed Forces in 1940 when he was aged 20
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Captain Moore married Pamela in 1968 and they had two daughters, Lucy and Hannah. The wedding is pictured in 1968
[size=18]Tom Moore has promised to keep walking past his 100-lap target
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Ms Moore also said the local postmaster had already been 'inundated' with messages ahead of Captain Moore's 100th birthday, which is coming up in a fortnight's time on April 30.
Major Ian Atkins from the Yorkshire Regiment, which is the equivalent of Captain Moore's in the modern day, said at his home yesterday: 'It's an honour and a privilege for us to be here to support Tom in an outstanding achievement.
'It's absolutely fantastic stuff but over £12million is staggering. We see Tom as a member of the regimental family so to be here to support him is a privilege.'
The uniformed soldiers were on hand to cheer on the 'captain fantastic' as he steadily completed ten lengths of the garden of his home.
Director-general of the World Health Organisation Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus tweeted his praise for Captain Moore, saying: 'This is such an inspiring story and extraordinary act of solidarity! Thank you so much Capt Tom Moore for such a wonderful idea and lesson of humanity! Together, against #COVID19! #ThanksHealthHeroes'.
Earlier, Captain Moore had said that NHS workers on the frontline 'deserve everything we can give them', telling ITV: 'I've always been one for having a future, I always think things will be good. We've fought so many battles and we've always won and we're going to win again.'
Such is the fame of Captain Moore, half a dozen police officers were stationed outside the front gate of the home he shares with his daughter and her family.
And Captain Moore told MailOnline rather than put his feet up for a well-deserved rest he plans to continue walking and raise even more money.
He said: 'I have completed my 100 laps, but I am going to keep walking because I know that I have the incredible British public behind me every step of the way.
'I am so completely overwhelmed by the support from everyone, and can't thank you all enough for supporting my mission to raise money for our beloved NHS'.
Hannah – whom he has lived with for 12 years - said she was bursting with pride at her father who celebrates his 100th birthday later this month.
She said: 'We knew he could do 100 laps of the garden - no doubt about it, but we never in a million years expected to raise this amount of money.
'The whole world is talking about Captain Tom Moore, and that makes me incredibly proud as his daughter. I have watched the whole nation fall in love my father, and he deserves all the love, recognition and support for his incredible mission. So thank you from us all.'
The Second World War hero, who joined the army in 1940 when he was 20 years old, had set out to raise £1,000 by slowly walking 100 lengths of his garden before celebrating his 100th birthday.
But inspired by messages of support flooding into his family he dashed off 90 lengths in a little over a week. He completed the final ten laps of the original challenge this morning.
He had wanted to raise the money to thank the NHS staff who had supported him through skin cancer treatment and a broken hip. As word of his fund-raising spread via social media he quickly surpassed the £1,000 total.
Ellie Orton, chief executive of the charity on the receiving end of Captain Moore's fundraising, said: 'I think I absolutely join the rest of the country in being truly inspired and profoundly humbled by Captain Tom and what he has achieved. Thank you for being an inspiration and a role model.'
Captain Tom began the final laps at 7.45am on Thursday, watched by film crews from BBC and ITV.
Before he started, he paid tribute to the NHS and said: 'I feel fine, being in the Army I'm used to getting up early.'
The former Army officer has admitted to being stunned by the response to his fundraising efforts saying the support has been 'absolutely fabulous'.
In a rallying call to the nation he added: 'Let's all carry on and remember that things will get better. We have had problems before - we have overcome them - and we shall all overcome the same thing again.'
You can donate to Tom's magnificent charity campaign by going to justgiving.com/fundraising/tomswalkforthenhs
annemarie- Over the Clooney moon
- Posts : 10309
Join date : 2011-09-11
Re: The Good News
PAN - I know! LOVELY, isn't it?! I first heard about Capt. Moore when Michael had him on his radio show last week and asked his listeners to donate if they could. I guess word spread (not just from Michaels's show, of course) and the money has just poured in. He also said "Wouldn't it be nice if we could give Tom a #1 record for his birthday?" - and it happened!!!!!!!! It's wonderful!
I heard the song yesterday, as Michael posted it on his Instagram page. I've heard him sing it several times before, but this is really special. Two men with huge hearts collaborating to do good. God bless them both.
I heard the song yesterday, as Michael posted it on his Instagram page. I've heard him sing it several times before, but this is really special. Two men with huge hearts collaborating to do good. God bless them both.
LizzyNY- Casamigos with Mr Clooney
- Posts : 8189
Join date : 2013-08-28
Location : NY, USA
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