10-Year-Old Boy Inspires the World to Donate Half a Million Books for Kids

 

“Kindness is a virtue we can all possess. If we are willing to…” A ten-year-old boy is on a mission to share the joy of reading with hundreds of thousands of other kids.

Orion Jean, a young boy from Texas, won a student kindness contest in 2020, but he didn’t stop there with his kindness. Orion is hoping to get half a million books donated for other kids in Texas by the end of the month.

“I want to be able to share my love of literacy with as many people as possible,” Orion told CBS News.

When Orion won his kindness contest, with a $500 prize, he used his prize money to donate toys to a Dallas Children’s hospital. He’s also helped collect 100,000 meals for Texas families through food drives and partnering with a relief group.

Now, he wants to focus on bringing books home to children who may not have them.

“Why not start today. Because right now, it’s what we need more than ever,” he said.

So far, he’s already collected 120,000 books, but Orion is confident he will reach his goal.

Watch the GMA video below.

 

 

Boy Raises $700,000 for Hospice by Camping Out in a Tent Given by a Dying Man

 

An 11-year-old has spent over 500 nights in a tent, and it’s for all the right reasons. In 2020, just before the pandemic hit, Max Woosey’s parents were helping to take care of their neighbor who had terminal cancer.

Rick Abbott’s final wish was to live his last days in his own home, and the Woosey family came to appreciate helping their neighbor fulfill his last wish.

Before Abbott died, he gave Max a tent as a gift.

“My friend Rick gave me his tent before he died and made me promise to go have an adventure,” Max said.

When he heard that the fundraising events for the hospice got canceled and services shut down because of COVID-19, he decided to use the tent his friend gave, in hopes to raise £100 for charity.

He then began posting updates on his fundraising page, posting pictures of him with his stuffed animals, while waiting for the pandemic to be over.

When summer nights turned into chilly weather, the young bot refused to leave the tent, and that’s when donations poured in.

He wrote on the fundraising page, hoping to get £20,000 by the end of the year while continuing to camp out for a year.

“Thank you so much for all the donations. I can’t believe how much I have raised. I have decided to camp out for a year to see if I can get to £20,000.”

As winter came along, the 11-year-old’s tent had blown over one night, but he repatched it so he could continue on with spending his nights camping out. In fact, his dad kept him company during Storm Bella.

At one point his original tent ended up with a leak, so he went to purchase a new one. However, it didn’t stop his mission to raise £20,000.

During the Christmas season the young boy and his family decorated his tent with lights and Santa ornaments.

His mission to sleep in a tent grabbed the attraction of many, and in fact, he was invited to camp next to the lion’s enclosure at the London Zoo and in the Downing Street Garden.

Max has since celebrated his 500th consecutive night in his tent and has raised more than $770,000 from strangers around the world for his dedication to help for hospice.

Internet Meme Artist Raises $6 Million in One Day to Fly Afghans Out of the Country

 

A New York artist has launched a GoFundMe page to rescue Afghans by flying them out of the country as quickly as possible.

Since the launch of the campaign, Quentin Quarantino raised $550,000 in just two hours. By the end of the day, the total skyrocketed to more than $6 million.

This comes after twenty years of U.S. military intervention and their recent withdrawal, as the Taliban extremist group took control and targeted certain individuals and families.

 

 

This campaign is in hopes to help the human rights lawyers, translators, journalists, artists, activists, and those who are considered at “imminent risk” of being killed.

According to Quarantino, every $550,000 donated will buy two airplanes to Kabul, with “Every $1,500 raised representing a seat in one of the planes, and a life saved.”

Quarantino took to Instagram to share with his 767,000 followers the success the campaign has had so far.

 

 

“Raising five million dollars in less than 24 hours for this rescue mission has given us, and so many around the world, hope for humanity. Most importantly, it’s a direct line to attempt safe passage for Afghans in danger.”

For those interested in donating or learning more information, you can head over to the GoFundMe page.

 

This Canadian Teenager Thought He was in Trouble for Constantly Practicing Basketball. Instead, his Neighbors Gave him a Sweet Surprise

 

Anthony Muobike is a 14-year-old teenager boy who enjoys playing basketball. When the weather starts to get nicer and warmer outside, you can spot this young boy out in the streets of Edmonton, Alberta practicing his dribbling skills, almost seven days a week.

Recently he got a knock on the door from one of the neighbors, assuming they were tired of hearing him practice, but in fact, that wasn’t the case. Instead, the community got together to help him achieve his dreams.

Watch the video below to see what happened next.

 

 

 

This Actress Spent $2000 to Get Tyler Perry’s Attention and Has Now Landed a Lead Role in His New TV Project

 

An actress from Atlanta who was determined to get entertainment mogul Tyler Perry’s attention found a creative way to capture it.

In 2019, Raquel Palmer went viral after spending $2000 on a billboard, with the determination to star in one of Perry’s projects. The billboard read: “Attention Mr. Perry. Raquel Palmer is your next leading lady.”

Below the text was a link to her website as well as her social media platform.

Given the success of the billboard, Palmer got cast as the leading lady in the new BET+ series ‘All the Queen’s Men,’ which is set to release on September 09.

 

 

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A post shared by Rocki???? (@racquelpalmer_)


Prior to her leading role, Palmer had landed a guest role on Perry’s BET drama series ‘Sistas.’

Now, she’ll be playing the role of the head of security.

“I play Blue, who is her (Madam) head of security. I pick up any loose ends, I’m extremely loyal to Madam and anything that she needs to be done,” the actress told TMZ. “We never spoke of the billboard.”

“It’s just an actor and director relationship. It’s like it never happened.”

Watch the trailer of Perry’s new BET+ series ‘Sistas.’

 

 

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A post shared by Tyler Perry (@tylerperry)

Reddit Users Shower Boy with Stuffed Sea Animals After Learning His Mom Can’t Afford One

 

A single mom took to Reddit to post on the platform a picture of a gift she handcrafted after not being able to afford one for her son. She posted a photo of a stuffed manta ray made using one of her son’s old baby blankets.

“My son wanted a stuff manta ray for his 5th birthday but I didn’t have money to buy one so instead I converted his old baby blanket into one! (Hand sewn),” she wrote.

After two weeks, her post went viral, gaining more than 66,000 likes and thousands of supporting comments.

“This is cute!!! He’ll love it. And it’ll be a beloved stuffy that his parent went out of the way to create for him. I bet he’ll keep it forever,” one user wrote.

Soon enough, the mother who posted on the forum ‘PovertyFinance’ was flooded with requests from strangers requesting to send her five-year-old son stuffed sea animals. She then posted a follow up photo, grateful for all the “overwhelming love and support” she received from the internet.

“I posted here a few days ago about making my son a manta ray because I couldn’t afford one.

Look what y’all did for my baby. You are all amazing,” she said. “I never expected this to get more than a few views, honestly thought I’d get roasted. Thank you for making a mom who has been fighting like hell for her kids and is exhausted and defeated feel loved. You guys are amazing. Truly, even if it sounds cringe, I know it’s just Reddit but y’all have lifted my spirits tonight and I cannot overstate how thankful I am for that.”

Watch the video below of her son playing with the Reddit birthday gifts.

 

 

Polish Olympian Auctions Prized Medal to Pay for Young Boy’s Surgery

 

After securing the silver medal in the javelin throw at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, Polish Olympian Maria Andrejczyk is auctioning off her prized medal to help save a toddler’s life.

The Olympian made the announcement on her Facebook page, writing she’s chosen to raise funds for an 8-month-old baby boy, who needs to travel for heart surgery from Poland to Stanford University in California. Andrejczyk wrote that although she doesn’t know Miloszek Malysa, she knows this is the right choice to make after reading online pleas for help from his parents.

She said the cost to cover the transportation and treatment was 1.5 million Polish zlotys, about $385,000,

“The true value of a medal always remains in the heart,” the Olympian told the Times of London. “A medal is only an object, but it can be of great value to others. This silver can save lives, instead of collecting dust in a closet. That is why I decided to auction it to help sick children.”

On August 17, an announcement was made by Andrejczyk saying she’s closed the auction, as a Polish convenience store chain, Zabka, made the winning bid.

The convenience store confirmed the news on Facebook, stating they gracefully declined to accept her medal.

“We were moved by the beautiful and extremely noble gesture of our Olympian,” the store wrote.

“We also decided that the silver medal from Tokyo will stay with Ms. Maria.”

These Italian Dogs are Trained to be Lifeguards and Save 20 Lives Every Year

 

Growing up we’ve heard of the sled dogs hauling supplies and medicine through the cold, saving people’s lives, but now we’re seeing dogs being trained to save the lives of those who could be drowning.

In Italy, a school known as the Italian School of Water Rescue Dogs (Scuola Italiana Cani Salvataggio, or SICS) has trained about 350 dogs to patrol beaches and work as lifeguards. The program takes about 18 months of basic training, and once the dogs have successfully completed these steps, they move onto an intensive program focusing on lifesaving techniques such as jumping from helicopters and leaping from speeding boats.

Out of 300 units, each one consists of a trainer and one dog, watching over approximately 30 of the busiest beaches across the country.

Earlier in August, there were strong wind and wave conditions, that pulled families and children 330 feet away from shore. Three canine lifeguards and their trainers rushed in to pull everyone back to safety. It took the dogs Eros, Mya, and Mira and their trainers about 15 minutes to save the day.

“To be able to use a dog in a water rescue mission gives the rescuer a leg up. The rescuer who operates on his own is alone. We are never alone. We are always in a team with our dog so it’s a six-legged unit. I can conserve my energy and become a more effective rescuer,” 59-year-old Ferruccio Pilenga, the brains behind the SICS program, told the Great Big Story. “To make [people] understand, I always say, ‘To pull a sled, it takes at least six dogs, to pull six people, you only need one dog.”

So far, Italy is the only country to recognize certified dogs as lifeguards, however, there are training centers being set up in the U.S., Germany, Switzerland, and the Azores.

Watch below the Great Big Story video about the lifeguard dogs below.

 

Waste Collection Agency Finds $25,000 Stashed in Discarded Freezer and Returns the Money

 

After an Ohio family accidentally threw away $25,000 in a discarded freezer, a local trash company found the money and returned it.

This happened after a customer had called Republic Services saying she lost something important in the garbage. It ended up being $25,000 in cash.

“They were cleaning out their house for their grandmother and they cleaned out the refrigerator, threw out all the garbage, grabbed all the freezer stuff and put it in a bag, and then the grandma was like, ‘Hey, there’s an envelope with $25,000 in there, don’t lose that,’ and she’s like, “Grandma, I already lost that, it’s in the garbage!” said operations supervisor Gary Capan the News 5 Cleveland.

They then got to work, in search of the missing money.

“One team was trying to track down the driver and find out exactly what his location was and if he made it to the landfill yet,” said Capan.

The driver hadn’t dropped his load at the Oberlin, Ohio landfill yet, so the team arranged to get the truck dropped off at their recycling center. Once the driver arrived and dumped out the waste in his truck, 10 workers began searching, until Dan Schoewe found the cash in a bag.

“Couldn’t believe it took 10 minutes and actually, I said, ‘Man, it looks just like that,’ pulled it off, opened it up and there was the package inside the money,” said Schoewe. “They were so happy they were tearing up.”

The employee’s incredible teamwork left the family so happy and grateful. “Makes us feel good here. Made myself feel good. I was like, ‘yeah that’s awesome.’ What a great story. And we’re just glad to help,” Capan said.

This Train Ticketing Startup Will Plant a Tree Every Time You Buy a Ticket

 

A startup company in the UK is offering green incentives to encourage travelers to go to their destination in a sustainable manner.

The new train ticketing startup, Trainhugger, is pledging to plant a tree for every journey booked through its site.

According to the startup, purchasing a ticket comes at no extra cost to the passenger, as the ends up costing the same as its competitors.

“This is a really easy way for people to change their behavior and become greener, without costing them anymore,” said Trainhugger CEO and founder, Ed Caldecott. “If you’re planning a trip, book your train ticket with us and we’ll plant a tree in your name.”

Trainhugger has teamed up with two Forestry Societies, the Royal Forestry Society and the Royal Scottish Forestry Society to optimize the planting and discuss which species of trees are best planted around the areas.

According to Trainhugger, you can currently book tickets through their official website, however, an app will be coming soon.