A woman has raised over $100,000 in just two days to pay for taxi rides for Asian Americans, after constantly seeing news reports about the rise in anti-Asian hate crimes.
Maddy Park, a resident of New York City, felt scared seeing the spike in hate crimes across the country, and especially in New York.
She told ABC News’ New York City station WABC, “Last week I took the train. It was a 30-minute commute and I realized every minute of that commute I was terrified. I was scared that any moment in time someone might say a racial slur or attack me. Worst of all I thought that if something were to happen to me, nobody would stand up.”
The experience made Park consider using a taxi to get around. But she knew that while she could afford a taxi, many others in New York City — especially Asian American women and seniors — could not. So with $2,000 of her own money, and with the help of some friends, she started an Instagram page called @CafeMaddyCab with the purpose of paying for cab rides for the community.
“I just said look, I have $2,000, if you need a ride, just charge me on Venmo,” Park said.
Within 48 hours, Park raised more than $100,000 to pay for cab rides. “It really opened my eyes to how many people are actually supporting the Asian community in New York City,” Park said.
In fact, according to a post on their Instagram page, Park’s project has been so successful that donations had to be temporarily closed after running into the “weekly limit of payouts due to Venmo Regulations.”
The only other roadblock: not all senior citizens know how to use Venmo. But Park is looking at ways to expand payment options so that seniors who need the service will be able to access it.
When a student in the small town of Rigby, Idaho, opened fire at a middle school, a math teacher directed children to safety, rushed to help a victim who was wounded and then calmly disarmed the sixth-grade student with the gun, hugging and calming her down until police arrived.
Two students and the school custodian were shot on May 6, and have survived. And parents are giving credit to Krista Gneiting, saying that her bravery helped save lives.
When the first gunshot happened, Gneiting told ABC News that she was preparing her Rigby Middle School students for their final exams. When she looked outside the classroom, she saw the custodian lying on the ground. She then heard two more gunshots as she closed the door.
The police say a sixth-grade girl brought the handgun in her backpack and shot two people inside the school, and one outside. All three were released from the hospital within a few days.
Gneiting said she was trying to help one of the wounded students when she saw the girl holding the gun. “It was a little girl, and my brain couldn’t quite grasp that,” she continued. “I just knew when I saw that gun, I had to get the gun.”
She approached the sixth-grader, asking her, “Are you the shooter?” Gneiting then walked closer, put her hand on the girl’s arm, and “slowly pulled the gun out of her hand.” She said the girl didn’t give it to her but also didn’t fight it. “After I got the gun, I just pulled her into a hug because I thought, this little girl has a mom somewhere that doesn’t realize she’s having a breakdown and she’s hurting people,” Gneiting explained. “After a while, the girl started talking to me, and I could tell she was very unhappy – I just kept hugging her and loving her and trying to let her know that we’re going to get through this together.”
When the police got there, the math teacher told the sixth-grade student that an officer would need to put her in handcuffs, and she complied.
The girl has been charged in the shooting, however, neither her name nor the nature of the charges has been released.
Gneiting says she hopes people can forgive the girl and help her get the support she needs. “She is just barely starting in life and she just needs some help. Everybody makes mistakes.”
Watch Krista Gneiting’s interview with Good Morning America below.
A 12-year-old is starting her studies at Arizona State University, where she plans to major in astronomical and planetary sciences and chemistry.
Alena Wicker, of Arizona, completed high school this April through at-home schooling. Now she’s learning remotely at ASU. Her goal is to become a NASA engineer by the age of 16, where she hopes to employ her extraordinary skills to build rovers like the ones sent to Mars.
“I’ll be driving one of those future space mobiles by the time I graduate college,” she told ABC 7 News.
Alena’s mom told Good Morning America that her sights have been set on a career with the space agency since she was a little girl. “She would start saying, ‘I’m going to be the youngest Black girl to ever work for NASA – watch!’”
Alena’s early passion began with Lego, which she used to build intricate models of the Taj Mahal and the Disney Castle. Not surprisingly, she also built models of the Apollo 11 rover and a NASA rocket.
Even at 12, Alena sees the disparity in STEM opportunities for people of color and women. With that in mind, she wants to create social change alongside those future Mars rovers. She launched Brown Stem Girl to encourage others with similar interests to focus on fields from which they might have been excluded.
In addition to her career goals and projects, Alena is also taking her time to learn Spanish and Arabic. And on top of all that, she’s creating a children’s book titled “Brainiac World.” The word ‘brainiac’ is something kids teased her with when she was younger, and she says the book is her way of taking the word back and making it into something positive.
In their GMA interview, Alena and McQuarter hinted that NASA has already reached out to the 12-year-old, but also said that they can’t reveal too much.
Alena hopes to be an example to other girls, to not let the preconceived notions of others keep them from defining their own destinies.
“It doesn’t matter what your age or what you’re planning to do,” she told ABC7. “Go for it, dream, then accomplish it.”
Noor Shaik says that a phone call with her 83-year-old grandmother left her feeling heartbroken and helpless about the conditions in India. And the medical student at Thomas Jefferson University’s Sidney Kimmel Medical College in Philadelphia decided that she wanted to do something about it.
“Here I was, enjoying my life and my family in the United States, while over there, everyone was worried about going into lockdown,” she told The Lilly.
“In India, the spread of COVID-19 right now is so terrible. I just felt really sad.”
Since February, deaths have spiked and the transmission of the virus variants is at a high. There is a lack of vaccines, oxygen, and other medical supplies – and the country is recording grim records, including over 4,200 deaths in one day.
After learning of the worsening crisis in India, Shaik told her mother: “We have to do something.”
Shaik went to her medical student adviser, and told him about her desire to help her relatives — and others in India — who had no access to vaccines and PPE. Soon after, she was in a room with 900 pounds of donated supplies like masks, gowns, and medical equipment. All of this would soon be shipped to hospitals in and around Bangalore, a city of 8 million where Shaik’s grandmother, aunts, and uncles live.
It wouldn’t have been possible without Shaik’s adviser, Wayne Bond Lau, who contacted medical equipment suppliers in the Philadelphia area. When Shaik reached out to Lau, he told her he was more than willing to do whatever he could.
“We’re so lucky to have the vaccine here, and yet it’s appalling that we have so much that it’s being thrown away,” she said. “On the other side of the world, people are dying and trying to get a gasp of air.”
Dimerco Express, an export company in New York, offered to send the first shipment of supplies to Bangalore for free, and will charge a reduced rate for sending additional pallets, Shaik said.
She’s been sharing the latest through blog updates on the Breath for Humanity project, and she says she’s going to continue helping until she knows her grandmother — and others in Bangalore — are finally able to receive a vaccine. “To actually see my grandmother vaccinated and feel free to move around outside her home again — that is my ultimate goal and dream.”
Former Indy car driver Sam Schmidt was left paralyzed from his shoulders down after a racing accident in 2000. But after more than two decades, he’s now able to stand up and take his first steps due to the help of a team of engineers from Arrow Electronics, who’ve designed him an exoskeleton that supports his legs.
The exoskeleton allows Schmidt to stand and walk forward, while someone helps him balance from behind.
Schmidt told TODAY he’s run out of words to describe the feeling of being able to walk again. “Epic. Mega. Unbelievable. After 21 years, I didn’t remember what the view was like,” he said. “I haven’t gotten a full-body hug in 21 years, you know. And we got some of those today.”
Despite the accident, racing continues to be a passion for Schmidt. A few years ago he drove a Corvette, specially designed by Arrow to allow him to control the vehicle using only the movements of his head.
Schmidt even began racing again in 2018, saying that racing has been his dream since he was 5 years old. “Everybody thought it was insane. Why would I go back to the sport that put me in a wheelchair?” he told Harry Smith from TODAY. “In 21 years, I never had a dream where I was in a wheelchair.”
Schmidt describes his new exoskeleton design as a “1.0,” saying the engineers are working on even more advanced versions of the device. He says the engineers’ goals are for Schmidt to balance without the support of anyone else, and for him to operate it on his own.
This device has already helped Schmidt achieve one of his major dreams – dancing at his daughter’s wedding.
An 18-year-old soccer player from Saudi Arabia has become the first female brand ambassador for Adidas in the country.
Farah Jefry has been playing soccer for over 10 years, and has spent the last 3 with the Jeddah Eagles. Women’s soccer in Saudi Arabia is still in its infancy — the Women’s Football League (WFL) just completed its inaugural season — but Jefry is already turning heads with her speed and creativity.
Despite her age, she’s been with the Eagles for three years already. Being younger than her teammates was tough, she says. But equally tough was the pressure that comes with being a female footballer in Saudi Arabia. “Many people keep telling me that this sport isn’t for women. However, the way I view it is that this sport isn’t for a specific gender; just like any other sport, at the end of the day I’m doing what I love, and I shouldn’t be judged based on the fact that I am a woman.”
The midfielder told Arab News that she’d aways dreamt of becoming a professional soccer player, and that signing with Adidas was an honor. She hopes that being supported by a well-known company will inspire and encourage more female soccer players to follow in her footsteps.
A piece of advice she gives other soccer players is to be consistent and practice as much as possible.
“Don’t be discouraged by people or opinions – there might be some obstacles, but in the end, it is all worth it. If you’re passionate enough just chase your dream. Everything else will align with that sooner or later,” she said.
When it comes to thinking of your mental and physical wellbeing, meditation is known to be one of the methods to improve your mental health.
Usually, meditation practices are recommended if you’re overwhelmed, feeling anxious, depressed, or to regulate your anxiety and emotions. This tool is known to be a great way to bring in some self-care, especially if you’re having a stressful or a busy day.
Meditation is about training your mind to achieve awareness and reduce stress, increase concentration and improve sleep quality – which has in fact been very beneficial to many successful celebrities.
Here are five influential celebrities who practice meditation and have found comfort through it.
Katy Perry
Perry is someone who’s been practicing meditation for a while now. However, when Perry turned into a new mom, sleep has been a major challenge for her since welcoming her eight-month-old daughter Daisy Dove. The singer opened up about her challenges with the newborn and sleeping, in a conversation with actor Hugh Jackman and his wife Deborra-Lee Furness at the David Lynch Foundation’s Meditate America virtual benefit event in December.
She says she’s turned to transcendental meditation (TM) to help her find time to take a break during the day, and said that as a new mother, she takes 20 minutes of her time to meditate, giving her “the deepest rest.” She’s also mentioned how in the past, Transcendental Meditation has helped her through anxiety. She describes this method as a great workout, calling this practice the “cure for common stress.”
Watch the video below to see what else Katy Perry says about Transcendental Meditation.
Shawn Mendes
Canadian singer Shawn Mendes has been a huge advocate for mental health, especially when it comes to mindfulness and meditation. Back in January, the singer shared a community phone number on his Instagram stories with the caption “text me on the community app. Especially if you like coffee and meditation!!!” Now, both he and his girlfriend Camila Cabello, have teamed up with the app Calm, sharing their journey to mindfulness with the calm audio series. The series includes 13 sessions from Cabello, and 11 from Mendes, sharing their personal experiences overcoming fear, coping with anxiety, practicing gratitude, building self-love, staying mindful and Mendes also includes guided meditations on overcoming fear, compassion, and personal discipline.
In a recent press release for him joining the Calm team as an ambassador, Mendes says “meditation has really changed my life and has made me both a better performer and has helped me immensely off the stage as well.” “My goal is for anyone to feel empowered to embrace these tools, create their own mental wellness routines, and look out for others.”
Shawn Mendes is not the only celebrity to have teamed up with Calm. In 2020, the British singer Harry Styles collaborated with the app reading a bedtime story called “Dream With Me.” The singer shares how important and special he finds meditation practices, and because of that he’s collaborated with the app saying “sleep and mediation are a huge part of my routine, whether I’m at home, in the studio, or out on the road.” In a statement about this collaboration, he continued by saying “Rest and recovery is important as doing the work. Finding a balance has been endlessly beneficial to both my physical and mental health. It’s changed my life.”
For years Oprah’s been an advocate of spreading messages of wellness, health, and mind-body balances with her talk shows, her television channel, Oprah Winfrey Network, and the O: The Oprah Magazine. She curated meditation and wellness content for her readers, and has teamed up with spiritual gurus like Deepak Chopra for meditation podcasts, retreats and Oprah’s explained in one of her articles about how meditation has changed her life for the better saying “Meditation is about getting still enough to know the difference between the voice and you.”
You can watch Oprah and Deepak Chopra’s free 21-day meditation experience below.
Jessica Alba
Similar to Katy Perry, Jessica Alba has opened up about how she uses meditation to cope with anxiety and stress. She told Byrdie in an interview “I like to listen to meditations” “I did transcendental meditation but I find it’s kind of tough to meditate on your own – for me – so I like headspace. And you can do five-minute meditations, 10-minute meditations…and you can go to whatever it is you’re dealing with. It’s pretty dope.”
Transcendental meditation involves a 15 to 20-minutes mantra, allowing you to be in a state of restful alertness. According to Vogue, there are around six million practitioners, but has been a pop-culture staple for decades, having its initial rise in the late ’60s. Other celebrities who have learned this technique include Jennifer Anniston, Kate Hudson, Miranda Kerr, and Gwenyth Paltrow.
Here’s a fun TikTok video Alba shared on Instagram of her having some self-care time.
Angelina Jolie has covered herself in bees for a photo shoot with National Geographic. The actor was looking to shine a spotlight on World Bee Day, which took place on the 20th of May. The day celebrates bees and other pollinators while also raising awareness about the threats these insects face.
Pollinators are essential for propagating over 75% of food crops, and unfortunately, the extinction risk for these insects is rising as a result of human activities.
Jolie told National Geographic in an interview, “Pollinators of course are extremely vital to our life and our environment. And so, we have to understand scientifically what happens if we lose them.”
She has teamed up with the UNESCO-Guerlainprogram, a program that trains women as beekeeper-entrepreneurs and protectors of native bee habitats around the world. She wants to bring attention to the available solutions and is optimistic that concerted efforts can solve this urgent problem.
According to National Geographic, the program aims to build 2,500 native beehives and protect 125 million bees by 2025.
Dan Winters, an amateur beekeeper and photographer, said that during the shoot, “Angelina stood perfectly still, covered in bees for 18 minutes without a sting.” Winters was inspired by a famous 1981 Richard Avedon portrait of a bald California beekeeper, whose naked torso was covered in bees. The photo shoot had to be set in a quiet and dark area to keep the bees calm, and everyone but Jolie wore protective gear.
After the passing of beloved “Jeopardy!” host Alex Trebek, his wardrobe has been donated to The Doe Fund, a nonprofit organization providing support to people with histories of incarceration and homelessness.
Trebek’s suits, ties, and more have been distributed to those participating in The Doe Fund’s reentry program (called Ready, Willing, and Able), and will be worn during job interviews.
A total of 58 dress shirts, 300 ties, 14 sweaters and suits, 9 sport coats, and 9 pairs of dress shoes are included.
Executive producer of “Jeopardy!” Mike Richards told the Washington Post, “During his last day on set, Alex extolled the virtues of everyone opening up their hands and their hearts to those who are suffering. Donating his wardrobe to those who are working to rebuild their lives is the perfect way to begin to honor that last request.”
President of the Doe Fund Harriet McDonald says they are “so grateful for the ‘Jeopardy!’ and Trebek family’s commitment to lifting up the most vulnerable among us.” McDonald said about 28,000 men have gone through the organization’s reentry program.
Among them is George Tucker, a 55-year-old man who’s lived in Doe Fund housing since he was released from prison last March. He told the Washington Post that when he was incarcerated, he would sometimes watch “Jeopardy!” in the commons area.
“Alex Trebek was a sharp-dressed man, and now I’m wearing his suits? Amazing,” he said. “I’m very grateful for the opportunity. I’m hoping to better my life, and looking presentable in the workplace is a step in the right direction.”
“The men in our career training programs are always in need of professional attire, so they can shine in their job interviews and work with confidence once they’re hired,” McDonald explained. “This donation alleviates the obstacle of not having appropriate clothing.”
Thanks to Maine’s most famous horror author, a group of young writers will become published authors as well.
Stephen King is donating thousands of dollars to Farwell Elementary school, located in Lewiston, Maine, so that the students in its Author Studies Program can publish two books that they’ve written. The manuscript is about 290 pages, with the end result being an original and a sequel novel that are based on the kids’ own experiences during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Originally there was a Kickstarter campaign to raise money for the books’ publication, but King heard about the initiative and decided to cover the cost through his foundation.
The book is titled Fletcher McKenzie and the Passage to Whole, and is — fittingly — a story about a boy from Maine
Hailey LaBrecque, a fifth-grade student, said in an interview with WMTW 8 ABC News, “I’ve been in [the program] for the last four years, and only the people in my school have ever gotten to read what I’ve written, and it’s really cool to think that now pretty much anyone can read anything you write.”
Farwell Principal Amanda Winslow said she’s proud of the students for their accomplishments, as well as the dedication of librarian Kathy Martin and author Gary Savage, who advised the students. “It’s really wonderful to see this much effort and support put behind their writing,” she said.
The books are ready for publication. They will first be sent to a publishing company, and soon after will be available for purchase. In addition to King’s donation, the school has received other donations from a number of local groups that will be used for the Author Studies Program.
