People Are Awesome

[jj3]

 

[RIP_Cabrini_Green]

 

[RIP_Cabrini_Green]

 

[RIP_Cabrini_Green]

[Stromboli1]

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-3559045/Father-melts-hearts-strapping-disabled-son-torso-play-football.html

[Prettyphile]

Just now, Stromboli1 said:

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-3559045/Father-melts-hearts-strapping-disabled-son-torso-play-football.html

Next level Dad right there

[Stromboli1]

13 minutes ago, Prettyphile said:

Next level Dad right there

 

Yeah he's awesome.

[RIP_Cabrini_Green]

 

[Stromboli1]

[Stromboli1]

Michael Vaudreuil hopes anyone who hits rock bottom hears his story. “You go through life and you say, ‘someday I’m going do this. I’m going do that,’ and very often in life you’re hit with a curveball that kind of throws you off track.”

 

It was the recession that threw Vaudreuil off track. “It left our heads spinning. It happened so fast.”

 

In 2007, his plastering business went under. Within six months, so did everything else. “We lost our home, bankruptcy, and our personal vehicle… decimation was completed. I was just a shell of a person at that time.”

 

He took the only job he could find, a custodian at Worcester Polytechnic Institute. To cut the boredom, he signed up for a tuition-free class WPI offers employees. That brought him to a new world, and the lab where he designed his own prototype of a reusable dust fuel cartridge.

After eight years of classes all day and cleaning all night, Vaudreuil now emerges a mechanical engineer. He graduated Saturday, May 14th, with a class of students less than half his age. “It’s a lot. It’s a lot to comprehend,” says his wife, Joyce.

 

http://boston.cbslocal.com/2016/05/13/custodian-graduates-from-worcester-polytechnic-institute/

[La Vie Est Belle]

3 hours ago, Stromboli1 said:

What a cutie pie. His prosthesis are pretty cool. 

[Stromboli1]

Raising Men Lawn Care Service changes the landscape of charity

May. 3, 2016 at 5:03 PM

Jenna Fratello

TODAY

 

They say the grass is greener on the other side, but for one group of young men in Huntsville, Alabama, that grass is only greener if it's freshly cut.

 

Last fall, Rodney Smith Jr., 26, noticed an elderly man struggling to cut his lawn one afternoon — when he had an idea.

 

"My father always told me, 'If you have an idea, go for it,'" Smith told TODAY. "When I saw that man, it hit me. I felt I needed to do something and I went for it."

 

 

The next day, Smith took to Facebook, where he offered to provide free lawn care services for the elderly, disabled or single mothers in need who lacked the time, ability or resources to maintain their own yards.

 

In a little over a month, Smith surpassed his goal of mowing 40 lawns before the winter season arrived. But that didn't mean he ended his mission early. Instead, he challenged himself to a new goal: complete 100 lawns before the arrival winter. And he accomplished that, only two short months later.

 

By December, Raising Men Lawn Care Service was born. Smith, his co-founder and friend Terrence Stroy, and their team of 20 young men (ranging in age from 7 to 17) keep their neighbors' lawns looking crisp on a biweekly basis. Their going rate, however, is $0. Instead, they sustain the business via donations on their GoFundMe page.

 

"It was amazing to see how many people were actually in need of help," he said. "You have no idea what someone could need unless you extend a hand."

 

Originally from the island of Bermuda, Smith came to the United States at the age of 16, and says that the "Bermudian" way of life has been his ultimate inspiration behind Raising Men's mission.

 

"When you come from a country with less than 65,000 people, everyone knows everyone, so everyone helps each other," Smith said. "We call it 'the Bermudian way.' It's a culture of giving back, of paying it forward."

 

That's why Smith decided to put the Bermudian way to good use, and sent out requests to local mothers asking if they had sons who would join him in giving back to the community.

 

"In some cities, you can pay a fine for having an unkempt lawn," Smith said. "Those who don't have the means to take care of it should not have to suffer, so that's where we come in."

 

Still, what has become essential to the team's objective goes beyond the free services: Smith says it's the influence on young men that keeps them going. In fact, that positive impact is the very reason why he's decided to find a way to incorporate young women into the team as well.

 

"They're young, but they say, 'It's cool to give back.' They see the faces of the single mothers, or the senior citizens when they finish the job and they know they've made a difference as part of a team," he said. "That makes them feel good, and I think it puts a good head on their shoulders."

 

That ethos caught the attention of Briggs & Stratton, a company that focuses on the engineering, manufacturing, and development of outdoor products. When they heard of Raising Men and its mission, they decided to not only provide them with brand new, state-of-the-art outdoor equipment, but they even paid off the team's GoFundMe fundraiser as part of their You.Powered campaign.

 

"It's about the millions of people doing great things to help their neighbors and communities with the assistance of outdoor power equipment," the company's president of marketing, Rick Carpenter, told TODAY about the campaign. "Maybe it's snow-blowing a neighbor's driveway. Maybe it's helping single moms, the elderly and kids — like Rodney has done."

 

In a video for the campaign, the team was able to spread their message to more than 400,000 people. Now, Smith says he hopes this will motivate volunteers from across the country to join their team and expand Raising Men's outreach.

 

 

In the meantime, Smith is studying computer science at Alabama A&M University, a field which he credits for helping him set up the logistics of the organization. But he tells TODAY that he's had a change of heart since launching Raising Men. After graduation this month, he says he plans to go back to school and obtain a master's degree in social work because he wants to devote his life to helping and supporting not just many people, but many communities.

 

But for now, Smith says that he's fulfilled seeing the seemingly small but effective impact that Raising Men is having on his local community.

"I'm just happy knowing that we're making other people happy," he said. "That's what helping people is all about."

[RIP_Cabrini_Green]

 

Beautifully spoken. Mesmerizing. Intellectually stimulating. Inspiring. Well done.

[PinkCouture]

Concerned Mom Leaves Note for Three Teen 'Mean Girls' at Starbucks: 'I Was Crawling Out of My Skin'

http://www.people.com/article/mom-leaves-note-mean-girls-starbucks

 

[MauiKane]

Her Grandson Was Killed in Orlando. What These Passengers Did On Her Flight to His Funeral? TEARS!

What these JetBlue passengers did for the grandmother of a man slain

in the Orlando shooting at Pulse will restore your faith in humanity.

 

     Funerals are beginning for the victims of this week’s tragic mass terrorist shooting in Orlando, and family members from across the country have begun their sad journeys to say goodbye. In the midst of their great grief, the support of their communities and even strangers are bringing much comfort to these bereft relatives of lost loved ones. Perhaps the most shining example thus far, one that truly restored faith in humanity, is the treatment of victim Luis Omar Ocasio-Capo’s grandmother on her JetBlue flight to Orlando. JetBlue employee Kelly Davis Karas detailed the extraordinary event in a Facebook post, saying:

 
    Today my dear friend Melinda and I had the sad privilege of attending to his grandmother on our flight as she made her journey to Orlando to join her family during this unspeakable time.

 

    Knowing she was making this hard journey alone, JetBlue employees made sure to be at her side every step of the way. Melinda stood quietly by her wheelchair while we waited until it was time to board. Kellie, the gate agent, boarded with her and helped get her settled. Melinda and I gave her a blanket, a pillow, a box of tissues and water so she could be as comfortable as possible. She was understandably distraught, but met us with kindness and gentleness. And gratitude.

 

    But here’s where our flight got truly inspiring. I had the idea to pass around a piece of paper to everyone on board and invite them to sign it for this grieving grandmother. I talked it over with Melinda and she started the process from the back of the plane. As we took beverage orders, we whispered a heads up about the plan as we went.

 

    Halfway through, Melinda called me, “Kel, I think you should start another paper from the front. Folks are writing PARAGRAPHS.” So I did. Then we started one in the middle. Lastly, running out of time on our hour and fifteen minute flight, we handed out pieces of paper to everyone still waiting.

 

    When we gathered them together to present them to her, we didn’t have just a sheet of paper covered in names, which is what I had envisioned. Instead, we had page after page after page after page of long messages offering condolences, peace, love and support. There were even a couple of cash donations, and more than a few tears.

 

    When we landed, I made an announcement that the company had emailed to us earlier in the morning to use as an optional addition to our normal landing announcement, which states “JetBlue stands with Orlando.” Then with her permission and at the request of a couple of passengers, we offered a moment of silence in Omar’s memory.

 

 

 

    As we deplaned, EVERY SINGLE PERSON STOPPED TO OFFER HER THEIR CONDOLENCES. Some just said they were sorry, some touched her hand, some hugged her, some cried with her. But every single person stopped to speak to her, and not a single person was impatient at the slower deplaning process.

 

    I am moved to tears yet again as I struggle to put our experience into words. In spite of a few hateful, broken human beings in this world who can all too easily legally get their hands on mass assault weapons – people ARE kind. People DO care. And through our customers’ humanity today, and through the generosity of this wonderful company I am so grateful to work for, I am hopeful that someday soon we can rally together to make the world a safer place for all.

 

    I will never forget today. #Orlandoproud

 

foreverymom.com

 

[RIP_Cabrini_Green]

FUCK YEAH 'MERICA

 

 

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[PinkCouture]

 

[Stromboli1]