Posts Tagged ‘Charity’
Man Runs From California To Georgia Raising Funds For Juvenile Arthritis [VIDEO]
Patrick McGlade is running a marathon. But you won’t find a pack of competitors in front of him or behind him. He’s running this one alone. He’s raising awareness and money for juvenile arthritis.
The idea came to him when he was running a marathon. Actually I was in the middle of a 24 hour race and I decided well if I can run for 24 hours straight, I think I can run a marathon a day. That’s when I started looking for charities,” says McGlade.
The Arthritis Foundation welcomed him with open arms. The charity has been there every step of the way lining up support, food and shelter for McGlade.
“For the most part, it’s been a very good experience.”
But very challenging, says McGlade. He runs 30 miles a day. He stops to take photographs along the way. He was drawn to a sign on the 13th Street Bridge recognizing the 2006 Little League World Series Champions from Columbus. Once he snapped his photos, it was back to work.
McGlade’s Huntington Beach, California to Tybee Island, Georgia run is expected to end April 23rd. His goal is to raise $50,000. So far McGlade has raised $17,000. To see photos of his journey, his route, and to donate, visit http://patricksrunblog.blogspot.com/
SOURCE: Man Runs From California To Georgia Raising Funds For Juvenile Arthritis
Kate And Leo help last Titanic survivor
“Titanic” stars Leonardo DiCaprio and Kate Winslet have pledged to help the last survivor of the sinking of the ocean liner.
The stars say they have thrown their support behind a fund that would subsidize Millvina Dean’s nursing home fees.
Dean was 2 months old when the Titanic sank beneath the waves on the night of April 14, 1912. She has been living at a nursing home in the English city of Southampton since she broke her hip about three years ago but has struggled to pay the fees.
In October she sold several Titanic mementoes to raise cash.
DiCaprio and Winslet said in a statement that they hoped Dean could rest easier knowing that her future was secure. The Millvina Fund was launched Monday in Belfast, Northern Ireland.
Read more: Kate And Leo help last Titanic survivor
Bike bell ringers break world record for charity [Video]
Over the past year, Leson Dunkley and her family have had a tough time. She was diagnosed with breast cancer around the time when her own mother died of the same affliction. But, Saturday they had a moment that may live in history.
“I think it’s beautiful. I think it makes it a more important record to break,” said Alys Hansen, one of Dunkley’s four children.
A total of 690 people turned up at New Vista High School Saturday to form the world’s largest bicycle bell ensemble of all time. They were divided in groups based on the sounds of their bells and played several songs including, “You are my sunshine,” and “She’ll be comin’ ’round the mountain.”
Each participant paid an entry fee which went directly to help Dunkley and her four children ages 10 to 19. Hansen says medical expenses have been mounting and they were in danger of losing their home.
Dunkley is going through her third round of chemotherapy. She is a teacher at the Boulder Community School of Integrated Studies. Last year, one month after she found out about her own breast cancer, her mother passed away.
Hansen says the outpouring of support from the community has been overwhelming.
“There are so many beautiful, loving people and that are so willing to give,” said Hansen.
The previous world record was 503 bicycle bell ringers, set by a small town in Germany. ‘The Guinness Book of World Records’ requires that the ensemble must play a recognizable song for at least five minutes. The effort in Boulder is the unofficial record till it is confirmed by Guinness.
“I think it’s an exciting incentive,” said Hansen. “It’s one of those things when I was a kid, you read the ‘Guinness Book of World Records’ and you never imagine you get to be a part of one. And, then here it is and I’m in the middle of it.”
The event raised a total of $18,298 for the family including a $2,500 grant from a local non-profit group called The Beanstalk Foundation.
“We love our mom so very much and we are so glad that this has happened, so grateful” said Hansen. “I don’t know how to articulate that any more than we are grateful.”
Read more and watch this story: Bike bell ringers break world record for charity
Girl’s dream to end childhood hunger gets national attention [Video]
Here’s one from one of my friends, Joey Sovine.
Ten-year-old Katie Stagliano dreams to end childhood hunger across the world.
The 4th grader from Pinewood Preparatory School in Summerville was recently featured in NBC Nightly News “Making a difference” segment.
Her dream began in her backyard where a 3rd grade project turned into a 40 pound cabbage.
“We decided that my cabbage was too special to be eaten so I contacted the organization fields to family. They are an organization that brings extra crops from farmer’s fields and other places to people in need and they told us that Family Crisis Ministries’ soup kitchen would greatly appreciate it,” explained Katie.
The 40 pound cabbage went on to feed over 275 people and triggered a dream that is spreading throughout her school.
With help from environmental science teacher Michael Newman, a garden has been constructed on the school’s property where Katie’s classmates help to grow food for the homeless.
Katie has now helped to feed over 800 people and hopes to inspire more people to grow food for those less fortunate.
Watch this story: Summerville kid dreams to end childhood hunger
Mystery woman hands out $100 bills at coffee shop
A mystery woman drove around Edmonton handing out $100 bills Tuesday in coffee shops.
“She left us with our mouths hanging open,” said Karen Wentland, who watched her friend get one of the bills at Tim Hortons at South Edmonton Common.
Other callers to Global News and a radio station reporting seeing people get the bills in a Tim Hortons in Terwilligar, on Whyte Avenue and in South Edmonton Common.
For Wentland, a stay-at-home mom, and her friend Lorraine Weslosky, a substitute teacher’s aide, the surprise happened at about 1 p.m. on Tuesday.
The two were sitting with their backs to the window and didn’t notice the woman until she was standing beside them, but a man nearby saw a black limousine stop outside the door and watched the woman beeline to Weslosky.
She reached down to shake Weslosky’s hand, then said, “I just want to wish you a happy spring,” and handed her the crisp $100 bill.
“I just sat there with my hands open. I didn’t know what to think,” Weslosky said.
The woman had long, black hair, wore dark sunglasses and a bright pink shirt or blazer. She looked about 50, said Wentland. A man standing beside the mystery woman motioned for them to leave, and they walked through the restaurant, out a second door and got into the waiting limousine.
Weslosky watched them drive away.
She has no idea why she was chosen, or why the woman was handing out money. “Just a lady with a kind heart who wants to make people happy,” she said.
She doesn’t know what she’ll buy with the money either, she said. “Something to remember her by.”
Read more: ‘Happy spring,’ as mystery woman hands out $100 bills
Bartender shatters cocktail record
Bartender Chris Raph is used to working busy nights at the Shout House, a dueling piano bar in downtown Minneapolis. But on Thursday night, keeping up meant proving himself the world’s fastest bartender.
Amid screaming girls and with sweat streaming down his forehead, Raph, 31, of Burnsville, shattered the Guinness World Records feat for the most drinks made in one hour before a crowd of about 300.
After hearing about such a record last summer, Raph contacted Guinness about making his own attempt. It took him months to prepare. In the meantime, a bartender in Munich, Germany, set the new world record with 389 drinks.
Raph broke the record with a citrus orange cranberry fizz for drink 390, then went on to pour a total of 662 cocktails by the end of the hour.
The Shout House auctioned off the record-breaking 390th drink for $225, with the proceeds going to charity.
Raph couldn’t just make several hundred vodka Red Bulls, since the Guinness rules state that each drink must be different. However, most of the drinks on his list were quickies made from two or three ingredients.
Raph established a breakneck pace, finishing each drink in about five seconds. Behind the bar he stockpiled 110 bottles of vodka and tequila, as well as gallons of fruit juice. Three bar-backs worked in unison to clear drinks and clean glasses.
So who got to taste all those cocktails? Only a few people. Most were dumped out so the glasses could be washed and promptly re-used.
Family finds the Easter Bunny’s nephew? [Video]
Doctor Carrie Sutor lives across the street from where the baby bunny debuted.
It was certainly the hours-old bunny’s misfortune to become separated from his mother who must have built her nest in the mulch pile, but the fact that Doctor Sutor is a veterinarian may have proven lucky for the little guy.
“He got into the right mulch delivery,” Dr. Sutor said.
Unfortunately, a second baby rabbit who rolled out of the mulch didn’t make it.
The Sutor children were thrilled with the unexpected arrival and have named the bunny Sweetie Pie, although Floppsie might be more appropriate.
“I thought it was the Easter Bunny’s nephew because it’s little,” Olivia Sutor said.
In 11 years of practice Dr. Sutor has never had a patient or pet this tiny. Giving Sweetie Pie some oxygen was a challenge. Instead of wearing a mask, the bunny sat inside the mask. He also got some fluids.
“He’s looking better than he did yesterday afternoon, so I think he’s going to do okay,” Dr. Sutor said.
In a couple of weeks, the Sutors will know if the bunny can be domesticated or must be set free. Of course, the children are hoping they can keep him.
Dr. Sutor will take Sweetie Pie home over the weekend so she can keep an eye on him, so the lucky bunny will spend Easter with his new, if not accidental, family.
Watch this story: Baby bunny surprise for doctor’s family
Woman finds $357,959 cashiers check and returns it
As she walked from a post office, Talon Curtis thought she’d found one of those gimmicky sweepstakes offers on the ground that scream something like “$357,959.55″ in big bold letters and “This is not a real check” in much smaller type. But just as she was about to do her part for a cleaner planet and deliver the paper from the parking lot to a trash can, she noticed it was a real cashier’s check with a real signature.
“I couldn’t believe it. I almost passed out,” Curtis said. “I have never seen a check that big. Not in my possession, anyway.”
She immediately set out to find its rightful recipient, but it was Saturday afternoon and the banks were closing. On Monday, with help from KCAL-TV reporter Dave Malkoff, she located the check’s owner, who had arrived at her bank in a panic.
“I think she had walked in at the same time the bank manager called me back,” Curtis said. “I could hear her walking up to him. and I could hear all this commotion in the background.”
Curtis said she spoke briefly with the woman on the phone about a possible meeting, but Pacific Mercantile Bank instructed her to mail the check to them instead.
Not willing to take a chance on the mail, Curtis delivered it personally. A bank employee confirmed it had arrived.
Curtis said she never thought of keeping the check for herself, and she declined the woman’s offer of a reward. Still, she’s just a little disappointed.
“I just wanted to see her face,” Curtis said, laughing. “I just wanted to let her know that there are honest people left in this world.”
Read more: Woman finds $357,959 cashiers check and returns it
Wheelchair is no obstacle in triathlon [Video]
About 1,500 athletes are in South Florida this weekend to compete in a Triathlon that will raise money for children, but for one man, it’s also about proving that his wheelchair is not his obstacle.
“This is where the fun starts,” Renzo Martinez says as he took his wheelchair through the finish line.
He was already set up in advance of the event.
“I choose to live and live to the best of my abilities,” said Martinez who has been competing all his life. His first competition was as a race car driver, until a spinal cord injury took away his ability to walk 20 years ago.
“I broke my back, so I have no sensation from my waist down,” said Martinez.
But that didn’t stop this athlete. In fact, he has a way for all of us to overcome any obstacle.
“Usually, you get your obstacle right in front of you and, usually, you get your goals ahead of you. If you look past it and look at your goals, you realize your obstacle disappears,” he said.
Martinez uses that philosophy to gear up for the Nautica South Beach Triathlon, which is a half-mile swim, a 19 mile bike ride, followed by a 4 mile run.
He is an inspiration, after winning several of the 35 marathons in which he has competed.
“Having a guy like Martinez, just makes your challenges seem so light and insignificant and it inspires you to go harder and faster and to finish,” said Michael Epstein, who is the executive producer of the Nautica South Beach Triathlon.
This is just training for Martinez’s next goal. He is raising $30,000 dollars to compete in an Iron Man Competition next year.
Read more and watch this story: Wheelchair Is No Obstacle In SOBE Triathlon
Girl makes special greeting cards for sick Dad
This is a remarkable young girl who is shining in the face of a major tragedy. This story is heart-wrenching, but there is something strangely inspirational about it.
If you can… please take the time to buy a stack of cards or donate to the family. I know that I will!
Watch this story with some tissue near by.
It would be hard to say no to Reese Schroeder, a beautiful 5-year-old girl with a big smile and her father’s green eyes. But it would be impossible to turn her away from your doorstep once you hear why she wants to sell her cards.
“Because I wanted to raise money for my dad because he’s in the hospital. But now, he’s not in the hospital anymore because he died,” she said.
Jon Schroeder died early Tuesday morning months after he’d been admitted to the hospital for pneumonia. He was 29 years old.
While at the hospital, he suffered a collapsed lung and was diagnosed with Acute Respiratory Distress Syndrome (ARDS), a rare and almost fatal disease.
During her father’s long stay at the hospital, Reese’s kindergarten art teacher decided an art project might help. She kept Reese after kindergarten for two weeks and helped her draw pictures of animals that would be printed on cards.
Julie Bauman didn’t even know the Schroeders but knew she wanted to do something to help.
“Stacie (Reese’s mom) is now a single mom with little three kids and I just knew there would be a lot of possible expenses to keep the house going, I just figured anything we could do to help,” Bauman said.
Bauman got a local printer to donate the card printing and then recruited volunteers to put the packets of cards together. She also brought Reese to her Monticello neighborhood to sell the cards to her neighbors.
“I think it’s really sweet, really sweet of her teacher and it’s really sweet that she’s able to go out and do that for her dad,” said Stacie Schroeder. “He would have been so proud of her.”
Jon never saw all of the cards while he was in the hospital because he was too sick. But he’ll be buried with them with a special note from Reese.
“I feel kind of happy that he chose to go with Jesus, but I do feel kind of sad that he’s not with us,” she said.
You can make a donation to the Jon Schroeder Benefit Account at:
Wells Fargo Bank
12916 Main St
Rogers, MN 55374You can also buy Reese’s card from the Albertville Primary School, 763-497-2688. They are $10 for a pack of 6. The money will go to help Stacie Schroeder raise her three kids.
Watch this story: Girl Makes Special Greeting Cards For Sick Dad
